Pity the Broncos defense. In a mostly non-contact training camp, they have to settle for assuming their physical domination.
In front of perhaps the largest Dove Valley crowd of the season, the Denver defense ran right through, over and around their offensive counterparts Saturday in a variety of drills. They just didn’t get the satisfaction of hitting anybody.
In a hurry-up offense drill, cornerback Bradley Roby intercepted Mark Sanchez’s pass to the flat and easily strolled into the end zone. It barely warranted trash talk. Roby finished the play and jogged back to start over again.
“I did my job and read the quarterback,” Roby said.
And after tight end Virgil Green caught a pass at the sideline near midfield, he promptly fumbled with pressure from safety T.J. Ward, who picked up the loose ball and ran back untouched to the end zone.
Two defensive touchdowns in less than 30 minutes.
“We wanted to treat it like a game today,” Roby said.
The Denver defense, while showing off in turnovers, never had a chance to finish blitzes. But as Sanchez and Trevor Siemian struggled to cycle quickly through their pass progression options, the Broncos defensive linemen and linebackers, from both first and second units, crashed into the backfield. If tackles were allowed, sacks would have multiplied. The quarterbacks could have been steamrolled.
The Broncos defense, the NFL’s best last season, returns basically intact, save for defensive end Malik Jackson and linebacker Danny Trevathan. But their roles have been ably filled in training camp. Shane Ray, at outside linebacker, hustled to the sideline Saturday to knock down a Sanchez pass to the right side that seemed safe but fell incomplete.
With Sanchez and Siemian splitting a majority of passing reps — Sanchez had most of the first-teams snaps — neither stood out. Siemian stumbled most. He often hesitated, seen most obviously when he overthrew Ronnie Hillman as a fourth option in a 7-on-7 drill, then threw high and late to 6-foot-5 tight end Jeff Heuerman on a crossing route through the end zone.
In seven-on-seven drills, the defense doesn’t get to rush from the line. Lucky quarterbacks.
Also, the Broncos punt-return depth chart solidified some with Cody Latimer standing at the front of the line in special teams drills, followed by, in order, rookie Kalif Raymond out of Holy Cross, Durron Neal, Bennie Fowler and Bralon Anderson.
And the Broncos remained thin on the offensive line, with presumptive starting right guard Ty Sambrailo on the sidelines in a right elbow brace, right tackle Donald Stephenson out with an ankle injury, and tight end John Phillips also down with an ankle issue.
