ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Maybe Broncos Country was worried about Bo Nix and how far he’d come since having follow-up surgery on his ankle in April to clear up bone spurs and prevent them from being a problem for the season to come.
Well, fret no more. Nix is nicely on schedule, and he passed another mile marker Wednesday.
As the Broncos concluded their team-organized offseason work before scattering for the next six weeks, they offered a reassuring glimpse: four snaps and passes for Nix against a defense during the seven-on-seven period of a nearly-two-hour session at Broncos Park Powered By CommonSpirit. One of the passes landed in the grasp of RJ Harvey for a touchdown down the left flank, a reassuring sight that drew memories of last year, when Harvey caught five touchdown passes.
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“I said to [Nix], I’m glad we got that nice clip to RJ,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “We can throw that on our social media ‘b-roll’ for the next month and then calm the group. He’s doing good.”
Payton said it with the tone of someone who knows about the lingering public chatter about Nix’s ankle. Perhaps the period won’t silence all of the voices looking for drama. But it is a necessary step in Nix’s return.
EDGE RUSHERS AMONG THE BRONCOS’ STANDOUTS
Once again, Que Robinson, Jonah Elliss and Dondrea Tillman generated disruptive pressure on quarterbacks Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger on Wednesday.
Elliss had the best move of the day, a spin on a pass rush off the left side that allowed him to beat Mike McGlinchey and force Stidham into an incompletion. All three of the Broncos’ rotational edges stacked solid days in the four practices that were open to media observation, leaving evidence that the team is well-covered in case it has to do without embattled edge rusher Jonathon Cooper.
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SAYING GOODBYE TO OFFSEASON WORK … AND TO THE OLD BUILDING
The Broncos were scheduled to practice Thursday morning, but Payton cancelled it, ending the team’s formal offseason work.
Teams with returning head coaches are permitted 13 days of on-field, offense-vs.-defense work — 10 for OTAs and three for the mandatory minicamp. The Broncos used eight.
“I think there was a purpose for canceling [Thursday’s practice],” Payton said. “I like where we’re at relative to the installation. There’s still — as we’re rotating a lot of guys in — a number of times where in training camp we’re going to repeat something and maybe because of a time constraint here, we’re going to get on to the next play.
“But, yeah, I think all of us are anxious to get to where we’re in pads and, and you’re going to be able to get a better evaluation.”
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Payton often points to how the low-contact, no-pads work of OTAs offers diminishing returns for players closer to the core of a play, specifically offensive and defensive linemen, inside linebackers and edge rushers. The same is true for running backs, as the sessions don’t test them for the physical contact they’ll absorb once pads go on in six-and-a-half weeks.
But the Broncos also operate differently even before their three weeks of on-field work in June. During Phases 1 and 2 of OTAs, teams can hold position-group meetings. They can also conduct on-field work — albeit not with offense-vs.-defense at anything beyond a walk-through tempo — in Phase 2. Payton eschews that, desiring that his team focus on conditioning and workouts for Phases 1 and 2, and nothing else.
In his mind, the proof is in the pudding.
“They’ve got the nutrition and then they look at the (injury) data,” Paytons aid. “And three years in a row we’ve been first in the league with fewest games missed by starters.
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“If you can provide them the right information and it and it basically supports what your program is, then that’s a good thing.”
A moment later, Payton stepped off the riser and away from the lectern. His offseason was complete. A few moments later, Broncos personnel told media to make sure they grabbed all their gear and belongings; anything left behind wouldn’t be saved, as the Paul D. Bowlen Memorial Broncos Centre that the team has called its everyday home since 1990 will soon become rubble, as the Broncos are scheduled to move into their new home building that is in its final construction phases — although a death at the construction site is currently halting progress.
Soon, the Broncos will move. And once they do, their goal will be to maintain the progress made over the last three seasons in their old home.