Four plays. Three new Broncos. Two minutes. 97 yards.
Last week, Denver was in a San Jose hotel in which the smooth-ish sounds of jazz rattled the windows of their hotel room until midnight. This week, the Broncos scampered around for a couple of hours trying to contain Kyler Murray. They’d held two joint practices in the span of the week, and so head coach Sean Payton went against a traditional Payton doctrine: He rested most of his offensive starters against the Cardinals for Saturday’s 27-7 preseason win.
It meant no Bo Nix. It meant Jarrett Stidham, and mostly the second-teamers, lighting up Empower on Saturday night. But Payton still had more he wanted to see from a few select new toys in Denver’s offense.
“I want to get Evan (Engram) a few touches in the game,” Payton said Tuesday. “How do I get (Pat) Bryant a few receptions in the game? How do I handle the running-back rotation this week? Different than last week?”
He was a man of his word. On the first play from scrimmage, Stidham hit running back RJ Harvey in the flat for a couple of yards. On the second play, Stidham rolled out and found Engram on a drag — and the free-agent tight end promptly went galloping down the right sideline for 58 yards.
Stidham then hit rookie Bryant for 29 over the middle, Harvey dashed up the gut from the 8-yard line, and three key offseason additions gave Denver a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter.
Receiver Troy Franklin also dressed, and rolled his standout training camp into a standout day at Empower Field, catching a 27-yard touchdown down the left sideline in the first quarter and adding a 17-yard score in the second. Beyond Engram, Harvey, Bryant, Franklin and tight end Adam Trautman, though, the majority of the Broncos’ key offensive pieces sat, including the entire first-team offensive line.
Every single projected starter on the Broncos’ defense, too, stood on the sideline in sweats, as coordinator Vance Joseph got a long look at his reserves. Notably, rookie Jahdae Barron received a heavy workload as starting nickel Ja’Quan McMillian sat.
The Broncos showed their roster depth, racking up 562 offensive yards and holding the Cardinals to 135. No. 3 quarterback Sam Ehlinger carried the torch for efficient quarterback play in the second half, completing 14 of 16 for 162 yards.
Injury tracking: A few days after having a bone spur removed from his foot, outside linebacker Nik Bonitto was out and signing autographs in pregame warmups at Empower Field. Payton said he’ll get some work against New Orleans next weekend in the Broncos’ final preseason game. Again — no contract hold-in here.
“He’ll be up and at it next week,” Payton said this week. “He’s been fantastic.”
Cornerback Reese Taylor, who’s missed a week with an undisclosed injury, didn’t dress again after missing last Saturday’s contest with San Francisco. Linebacker Dre Greenlaw also wasn’t dressed, but should return to practice next week, according to Payton.
