Player Attendance
Physically Unable to Perform list: OLB Baron Browning (knee). Non-Football Injury list: DL Mike Purcell (knee).
Did not practice: CB K’Wuan Williams, S Kareem Jackson (vet rest) and Justin Simmons (groin), corner Riley Moss (core), OLB Nik Bonitto (hip), RT Mike McGlinchey (knee), TE Chris Manhertz, WR Brandon Johnson (ankle). Reserve TE Tommy Hudson and DL Forrest Merrill were not seen at practice.
Returned to practice: WRs Courtland Sutton and Kendall Hinton and All-Pro CB Pat Surtain II were back to relatively normal practice loads after missing Monday.
Defensive lineman D.J. Jones (concussion) was in pads and had his helmet but did not do any team or contact work.
Safety Caden Sterns was in pads one day after dropping out of practice, but mostly was on the side field and did only walk-through team periods.
New Injury
The Broncos appear to have dodged another bullet in the secondary. Safety P.J. Locke went down during a 7-on-7 drill and had trainers look at his lower left leg before a cart took him to the locker room. Coach Sean Payton after practice said Locke, “is going to be fine.”
Top Play
Randy Gregory couldn’t believe Monday when Russell Wilson threw a dart up the middle past him for a big gain to tight end Greg Dulcich. The pair was at it again Tuesday in the passing game. Dulcich, the second-year tight end out of UCLA, had a quiet preseason opener, but he’s consistently making plays down the field in practice. As long as he stays healthy, he’ll be heavily involved. Payton on Tuesday called Dulcich a “primary” that will have packages designed to get him the ball.
Thumbs Up
Maher caps it. On the day Denver waived kicker Elliott Fry with an injury designation, the other Broncos kicker had a solid day. Veteran Brett Maher drilled a 59-yarder to end practice in a two-minute situation.
Thumbs Down
Twitter drills. Quinn Meinerz recently called one-on-ones for linemen “Twitter drills” because onlookers often jump to conclusions when really a player might be working on something small like footwork or hand placement. Maybe he just doesn’t like the setup. He struggled Tuesday
Odds and Ends
• Though the number of injured players on the side field still remains high, there’s good news to be found over there, too. Purcell has ramped up his activity substantially the past couple of days. Simmons, McGlinchey and Johnson are all doing much more than the were late last week, too. Does that mean they’ll play Saturday or at all in the preseason? We’ll see, but with three-plus weeks before Las Vegas comes to town, that becomes the more important consideration.
• Running back Javonte Williams continued to do team periods Tuesday.
• The Broncos were in full pads Tuesday and Payton said he expected the team would be again “a couple more times” this week before they head to the Bay Area late in the day Friday for Saturday’s preseason game against the 49ers.
• File under “promising” even though it didn’t lead to anything in the moment: Russell Wilson airing out a deep ball for rookie Marvin Mims, Jr., who just couldn’t quite run under the rainbow. Even still, Mims getting a step on a defender down the field is a good sign for the Broncos as his steady ramp-up after summer hamstring problems continues seemingly on a positive trajectory.
• Camp’s getting long and that will lead to the occasional scuffle. One broke out during the trench one-on-ones and appeared to feature a disagreement between center Luke Wattenberg and outside linebacker Randy Gregory. The benches cleared momentarily, but the drill then proceeded and everybody made nice at the drill’s conclusion.
• Cornerbacks Damarri Mathis and JaQuan McMillian also got into a tussle late in practice and Surtain and safety Delarrin Turner-Yell had to help separate them.
• Wattenberg, meanwhile, had a rough moment during Friday’s game when he got bowled over on Maher’s blocked field goal. This week in practice, he’s still been warming up with the centers and quarterbacks, but Kyle Fuller has taken over the No. 2 spot and rookie Alex Forsyth the No. 3 spot.
Wednesday schedule
The Broncos are back on the field Wednesday for another day of open training camp work. Practice starts at 10 a.m. and a ticket is required for entry. The parking lot opens at 8 a.m. and the gates at 9 a.m.
Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.
