Attendance
Did not practice: OLB Nik Bonitto (left leg injury), WR Courtland Sutton, C Luke Wattenberg (undisclosed injury), CB Jaden Robinson, OLB Dasan McCullough, TE Caleb Lohner (lower-body injury)
Limited in practice: OLB Dondrea Tillman (hamstring injury)
Left practice: WR Jaylen Waddle (muscle tightness)
A fascinating development unfolded Wednesday, as star receiver Waddle was seen walking into the locker room with his helmet off but no visible signs of pain. Minutes passed. Team periods passed. And Waddle never re-emerged, a massive warning sign for the most important skill-position weapon on Denver’s roster.
Head coach Sean Payton said after practice he believed Waddle was dealing with some “muscle tightness.”
“We’ll evaluate him,” Payton said. “I think he’s fine.”
Bonitto, meanwhile, wasn’t in pads Wednesday but was seen observing and moving around without any signs of obvious discomfort after suffering an apparent left-leg injury during Tuesday’s practice. Sutton, meanwhile, was mysteriously watching practice in a baseball cap and no pads for the second straight day of practice Wednesday, but Payton said the star receiver will be back practicing Thursday. Denver appears to be taking considerable efforts to load-manage Sutton.
Lohner, meanwhile, has been spotted watching the last two days of practice with a boot on his left foot.
Roach ready to tackle a bigger role
Breaths caught across Dove Valley Wednesday when Broncos defensive tackle Malcolm Roach bumped into the one man who needs no hint of contact in Denver’s camp: quarterback Bo Nix.
The two fell to the grass, briefly. And got up without any real incident. Still, it wasn’t something that exactly delighted head coach Sean Payton.
“He wasn’t trying — he wasn’t going to tackle Bo,” nose tackle D.J. Jones said after practice. “But, I mean, it got quiet. It got quiet real quick. Everybody stopped.”
The fact that absolutely nothing came of it in the moment — no pushing and shoving, no dismay shown from offensive linemen — perhaps spoke to the roster’s respect for the 28-year-old Roach. He bumped into Nix, after, all, because he got to the quarterback, a sight that played out often Wednesday. Roach was responsible for forcing a would-be safety later in that team period, and has shown a clear ability to create interior pressure while working with the first-team defense in camp.
Jones, often Roach’s rotational partner at nose tackle for the last two seasons, offered a point-blank endorsement of Roach as a starter for 2026.
“I believe he’s going to take that JFM job,” Jones said, speaking of the departed John Franklin-Myers. “And he’s going to run with it. Like, he’s doing a great job as we speak.”
Roach came to Denver in 2024 known primarily as a run-stopper, but has developed rapidly on passing downs across the last two seasons. He finished 2025 with a career-best four sacks, and had a standout playoff run: two sacks, five quarterback hits and three tackles for loss in two Denver postseason games.
“We got to work out a little bit before the season started … he was focused on his pass-rush,” Jones said. “And itap shown.”
Top play
Denver’s first-team offense has still not quite rounded out of offseason form, as coordinator Vance Joseph’s defense has swallowed up virtually any run looks the Broncos have tried across the first few days of camp. And after a hot start, quarterback Bo Nix has fallen back into inconsistency, with even fewer windows available in Wednesday’s team periods given the absences of his two top receivers in Waddle and Sutton.
That gave third-year cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine a ready-made opportunity to pounce, as Nix dropped back during one rep and stared down receiver Marvin Mims Jr. on an out route. Abrams-Draine, in sticky coverage, read Nix’s eyes the whole way. And on the toss, Abrams-Draine jumped the route, sailing the other direction for the first interception off Nix of training camp.
The Broncos rested star cornerback Pat Surtain II for several team periods Wednesday, on the longest day of training camp thus far. That gave a heap more outside reps for youngsters Jahdae Barron and Abrams-Draine. And the Mizzou product capitalized, just as he’s done across a handful of spot starts in his first two NFL seasons.
“He’s one of those players — the ball kinda finds him, too, with his instincts,” Payton said. “And I would say, he’s got tremendous hands. He’s gotten stronger since his first year.”
Thumbs Up
An old favorite has learned new tricks. If the Broncos are keeping a counter on reception leaders through the first five days of camp, veteran Lil’Jordan Humphrey is likely at the top. The 28-year-old Humphrey took full advantage of increased WR reps Wednesday, snaring at least five passes and cycling through all three sets of offensive units.
In little surprise, Denver re-signed Humphrey on a one-year deal in March, a 6-foot-4 receiver who’s become well-known as one of Payton’s favorites. Long known as a blocking specialist, though, Humphrey appears to have added some tangible juice to his game further into his career. In fact, he’s actually measured faster in top-end speed the past two years — via the team’s Catapult trackers — than he did in Denver in 2023 and 2024, according to Payton.
“He’s extremely smart,” Payton said. “Thatap probably one of his superpowers. Like, he can play all three positions, and he’s a big target.”
Can Humphrey beat out any of Denver’s young corps of Pat Bryant, Troy Franklin and Marvin Mims Jr. for a spot? Almost certainly not. But as long as Payton remains the Broncos’ head coach, Humphrey will have dzkind of role.
Thumbs Down
Running into several walls. Here’s the flip side of Denver’s early defensive-line dominance. Payton has pointed several times throughout the offseason to the need for a more consistent run game, and has even hinted that Davis Webb’s promotion to play-caller could bring new and productive ideas on the ground. So far in training camp, though, that has yet to materialize.
It’s hard to measure run success in pads beyond first contact, but the Broncos’ offensive line appears to be losing more battles than they’re winning against Denver’s defensive front. J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey haven’t had any standout rushes thus far, although rookie Jonah Coleman has flashed some promising tenacity between the tackles. Any offensive progress in this area will be hard to measure until Denver’s first preseason game.
Odds and Ends
*Payton continued to insist that there’s “no official battle” for the Broncos’ QB2 spot, and the team is simply rotating reps. That’s growing harder to believe, as Sam Ehlinger once again worked with Denver’s second team offense Wednesday and Jarrett Stidham slid back to operating the third-string unit.
Maybe it’s not a battle. But Denver wouldn’t be switching reps if they didn’t want to get a better look at Ehlinger’s development.
“The spaghetti sauce is the other stuff thatap one of his superpowers — he gets in and out of some plays, maybe,” Payton said, noting Ehlinger’s freestyling. “He can move. I like how he’s looked. You don’t get to appreciate a quarterback like him until you’re out there, and everyone’s on the sideline, and then the ball moves.”
*Nose tackle Jones is not one to wax excessively poetic about any of his teammates to reporters. Ears should perk up, then, at his comments on fellow defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike, who seems directly poised to take on a greater role in 2026.
“He can’t be blocked,” Jones said. “He’s a man. He’s a grown man. I think it took some time for hi, but now he’s falling into his role of not being blocked. He can play every position. So, he scares you.”
To Jones’ point, Uwazurike single-handedly blew up one run-sweep to Harvey in a 9-on-7 period, arriving in the backfield the near second Harvey even touched the ball.
“The leap he’s taking right now,” Jones said, “it’s pretty scary.”
*Payton reiterated Wednesday that the Broncos’ practice plans this week won’t change, despite his planned Saturday absence for Drew Brees’ Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The head coach told reporters that six other members of the Broncos’ staff will join him in Canton this weekend, as New Orleans ties run deep through his coaches in Denver.
“We have more coaches than we know what to do with out here,” Payton said, “so we’re going to be fine without seven.”
*Receiver Troy Franklin, who has had a first-hand look at the development of CB2 Riley Moss the past three years, said he’s seen a clear leap from Moss entering his fourth season in the NFL.
“Riley’s definitely been playing tighter coverage,” Franklin said Wednesday.
