Unlike some years in the past, the Denver Broncos will practice on their final day of mandatory minicamp on Thursday.
Some teams, under previous coaches, had taken the day to participate in group activities and bond as a team. Those days, mostly called field day by the fans, included events like bowling as a team. They were something both Vic Fangio and Nathaniel Hackett did with the Broncos short amount of time together in June.
But Sean Payton is a bit more serious than those two men. With it, the Broncos have finally found some success on the field, returning to the playoffs last fall for the first time since 2016. That approach begins in the offseason, with a choice such as a third day of practice during minicamp or field day.
“No, there’s no sugar days,” Payton said. “The sugar days went away in 2011, tomorrow’s a salt day, no sugar.”
Payton then turned to Broncos legend Steve Atwater to question why the media would even ask about this. A doubling down of just how serious Payton is about Denver’s short time together during the summer.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton after Day 2 of mandatory mini-camp, confirming Denver will practice again tomorrow: “There’s no sugar days. They went away in 2011… Tomorrow is a salt day, no sugar.” pic.twitter.com/vZzHzzSDxb
— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) June 11, 2025
Funny enough, the defensive star who wore No. 27 saw a new man wear that jersey on Wednesday, with J.K. Dobbins donning the digits. The former Chargers running back signed this week. He’s not the first to wear two-seven; Damarri Mathis even wore it last year.
But going back to field day, evoking Atwater, one of the toughest players in team history, and calling it a salt day, tells you all you need to know about Payton’s approach as he tries to take the Broncos back to the top.