Denver’s veteran players reported to training camp Tuesday and the first of 12 open practices is Friday.
The roster will be sliced and diced and analyzed in all sorts of ways between now and the cutdown from 90 players to 53 on Aug. 29.
Today, a look at five Broncos bounce-back candidates.
QB Russell Wilson
This list has to start with Wilson, who turned in the worst season of his career in 2022. Coach Sean Payton has said all along that nobody involved with that team got away without some dirt on their hands. He ratcheted up that rhetoric , saying Wilson still has “gas in the tank.” Added Payton: “There’s so much dirt around that. There’s 20 dirty hands, for what was allowed, tolerated in the fricking training rooms, the meeting rooms. The offense. I don’t know (Nathaniel) Hackett. A lot of people had dirt on their hands. It wasn’t just Russell. He didn’t just flip. He still has it.” That would certainly be a welcome development for the Broncos. Receiver Courtland Sutton said Wednesday that he thinks Wilson has a chip on his shoulder. Does the 12th-year veteran have to get back to an All-Pro level? No, but if he’s somewhere around his career average of 30 touchdowns and nine interceptions and takes even 10 fewer sacks (55 in 2022), Denver will probably be in good shape.
RB Javonte Williams
Williams not only was a limited participant through the offseason program, but he avoided the injury list heading into training camp and during Denver’s ramp-up workouts was out there running and cutting with a brace on his surgically repaired knee. Payton said his workload will be monitored carefully, likely especially once the pads come on. But Williams is on an impressive track currently. Does that mean he’s going to be the tackle-breaking machine of old when September rolls around? Not necessarily, but if he shows that form at any point this fall, it will count as good news for Denver. As Sutton, who’s been through an ACL rehabilitation himself, warned, these processes aren’t usually smooth. Still, the picture is much more heartening now than it was in the months following Williams’ gruesome injury against the Raiders.
WR Tim Patrick
Patrick is coming up on the one-year mark of his early-August ACL tear in training camp last summer. It was the start of what would turn into a team-wide rash of injuries and it was an early blow for an offense that saw almost nothing good happen the rest of the season. Patrick is not just a reliable receiver, but he’s got an edge and toughness to his game that the Broncos need. He can do the dirty work in the run game, play inside or outside and provides another big target for Wilson. The Broncos are going to have options in the passing game between Patrick, Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, Greg Dulcich and others, but Patrick figures to be a key part of the broader offensive plan if he continues to clear the benchmarks set out for him during camp.
OLB Randy Gregory
Gregory’s debut season in Denver started with such promise. He was a game-changer across from Bradley Chubb leading one of the NFL’s stingiest defenses. But then he injured his knee in Week 4 against the Raiders — within minutes of Williams’ knee injury, as it happens — and missed 10 games. When he returned, he clearly did not look comfortable and contributed to the Christmas Day meltdown against the Los Angeles Rams that sealed Hackettap fate when he repeatedly fought with opposing players. Now itap a new day for the veteran pass-rusher and he’s had a healthy offseason. Of course, Gregory’s task now is to stay on the field. He’s never played more than 14 games in a season — some due to suspensions earlier in his career and some due to injury — and has dealt with knee and shoulder issues in recent years. A healthy 2023 from Gregory changes the outlook for a Denver defense that figures to be solid but has questions in terms of its pass-rush ability.
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