The Broncos defense was out for blood Tuesday and proved perfectly capable of drawing it.
From the start of practice, the tenor was intense. As it grew more chippy throughout, a scuffle or two felt inevitable.
Rookie tight end Justin Joly was in a scrap during a one-on-one, which the defense apparently did not appreciate. The first time he caught a pass in the ensuing team period, he got rocked.
The real fireworks started in another round of team drills, however.
On the first snap for the top offense, the defensive line collapsed the pocket and ran into quarterback Bo Nix, who got knocked to the ground. He got up yelling at defensive players and spotted Malcolm Roach celebrating. Nix fired the football he was holding at the defensive tackle.
Two plays later, Nix was intercepted by Alex Singleton. On the other side of the field, guard Calvin Throckmorton ended up at the bottom of a pile with his helmet off and the fracas was on.
Nik Bonitto ran to the pile and appeared to jump on right tackle Mike McGlinchey. Nix ran after and grabbed Bonitto by the leg, trying to pull him off the pile.
Nix, for his part, downplayed the whole thing after practice.
“I love it. Itap football,” Nix said. “Itap getting me ready for the games coming up. Itap a physical practice out there played by physical people. It got intense and we were just really enjoying it.
“Sometimes in the dog days of summer, practice gets long and the intensity runs high.”
Any apologies issued afterward from his end?
“Uh, no,” Nix said with a smile.
It took a minute or two to pull the groups apart and tempers clearly ran high. McGlinchey and Nix both had to be walked away from defensive players. Throckmorton was bleeding from his face and was taken back into the facility with a bag over his eye by training staff.
Several veterans stood by themselves for a couple of minutes once the No. 2s were in.
It was as spicy a scrap as there’s been here since Payton’s been the head coach.
“Itap going to happen. We just can’t cross the line,” offensive coordinator Davis Webb said. “Sean said that and I agree. I’m glad we’re fiery. I love the competition out here. Itap been unbelievable to watch both sides of the ball win some plays and win some periods. But we can’t cross the line.
“Thatap offense and defense. … We all had a part in that. We’re going to handle this in that meeting.”
Vance Joseph said there will be a reminder not to hit the quarterback, but he also wants his side of the ball to play aggressively.
“When we’re playing our style of football, itap aggressive and itap downhill,” Joseph said. “But you can’t hurt your team. ..
“Bo’s our quarterback and we don’t want anyone near Bo.”
On with the rest of the camp report.
Attendance
PUP — OL Nick Gargiulo.
IR — DL Matt Henningsen and OL Michael Deiter.
Did not practice — OLB Drew Sanders, C Alex Forsyth, ILB Levelle Bailey, WR Michael Bandy, TE Caleb Lohner.
Left practice — C Calvin Throckmorton.
Several key Broncos appear to be moving back toward full participation but aren’t there yet. C Luke Wattenberg did individual work but not the live inside run drill or team periods. Same for WR Marvin Mims Jr. Other veteran players had modified workloads Tuesday including DT Zach Allen.
Forsyth is one to watch because, after nearly getting the green light to play Friday, he was back to full participation on Monday. Then he wasn’t seen at practice Tuesday. Sanders, who has only played in four regular-season games the past two seasons, has not practiced the past two days after registering a sack Friday at Atlanta.
Defenses closes the day with dominant stretch
After the fight, the Broncos closed practice with a two-minute situation. The offense started at its own 36-yard line with 1:19 on the clock and trailing by seven.
Joseph’s group thoroughly dominated.
Nix’s set of plays with the No. 1 offense started with a McGlinchey false start — more on that later — to set up first-and-15.
From there, it was four-and-out for the offense with three break-ups by the defense. Pat Surtain II easily knocked down a pass for Courtland Sutton on first down. Brandon Jones followed with a break-up against Jaylen Waddle in the middle of the field on second-and-15. Then after a 6-yard completion to RJ Harvey on third-and-15, Ja’Quan McMillian finished the series with by knocking the ball away from Troy Franklin on fourth-and-9.
Jarrett Stidham got the next series with the offense and the No. 2s, too, went four-and-out.
Davis Webb said they saw the 13-yard run from Jonah Coleman in the preseason game and on the headset everybody said “we’re good.”
— Parker Gabriel (@ParkerJGabriel)
Thumbs Up
Webb lays down the law. Mistakes happen all the time in football, but some errors are less forgivable. When McGlinchey false started to open the late two-minute drill, Webb pulled him out of it. Alex Palczewski took over. McGlinchey then was put back in with the No. 2s for the next run. Earlier in practice, Webb did the same to LT Garett Bolles and TE Evan Engram. Those three, mind you, have a combined 26 years of playing experience under their belts.
That doesn’t change Webb’s approach. You jump, you’re getting yanked.
“That’s not our standard,” he said. “There’s been really good offensive production here through the history of this organization and we went through it in OTAs.
“If we’re not up to that standard, you will be taken out. I don’t care if you’re a starter or a back-up.”
The false starts aren’t good, obviously. But a first-year offensive coordinator laying down the law with veterans who are just about his age? That’ll pay off.
Thumbs down
Make the play. Rookie tight end Justin Joly hasn’t made many splash plays in camp, though he did add a good one ot his reel Tuesday. He got out in front of a wide receiver screen and did a good job running cornerback Brent Austin out of the play. That allowed wide receiver Kyree Duplessis to catch the ball, get up the field and score.
Overall, though, it was a rough day for Joly. He started the chain of events that led to the boiling over in team late in practice. He also had a chance to make an impressive catch over the middle when he went up high to haul in a pass from Jarrett Stidham. He had both hands on it when he hit the ground, but couldn’t reel it in. In a wide open tight end room, Joly is a pretty good bet to make the roster as a fifth-round pick, but there are still a lot of machinations to go in that room.
Vance Joseph on Jahdae Barron: “He plays multiple spots for us and thatap going to be valuable. He’s a nickel, he’s a dime, he’s sometimes a safety. Last year when Pat was out for three games he played corner. Thatap his role right now. He wants more and I want more for him.”
— Parker Gabriel (@ParkerJGabriel)
Odds and ends
* Allen appeared to play a limited number of snaps in team settings Tuesday. DT Tyler Onyedim stepped in and made a play in his absence. The third-round pick out of Texas A&M ripped through on the first 11-on-11 snap of the day and probably had a sack — at least a pressure — on Nix. Onyedim had a quiet day stats-wise in his preseason debut Friday, but has shown signs of his potential through camp.
“I just try to take everything from (Allen’s) game,” Onyedim told The Post last week. “Just seeing him on film, seeing himi work between periods and things like that, itap real motivating. Seeing the great things he’s done over the past years and just wanting to be the next one up. I try to ask him all the questions I can ask him and take it all in. Itap been great.”
Allen was a third-round pick who worked his way to All-Pro status and a $100 million contract. Thatap the kind of thing that gets noticed by a rookie third-round pick who plays in the same position group.
“He tells me all the time that he feels like I’m doing good and just keep going,” Onyedim said. “Play fast and we’ll figure out the rest out later.”
* Itap been said more than once during training camp, but Riley Moss is playing at a really high level.
After an interception on Friday night in the preseason opener against the Falcons, he kept at it Tuesday. Moss during one-on-ones easily blanketed Troy Franklin as Nix waited and waited to deliver the ball. Finally he did, and Moss batted it down.
* A good news/bad news moment unfolded for undrafted rookie wide receiver Cam Ross on Tuesday. Ross got some run with the top offense, which meant he found himself on the receiving end of a target from Nix. In the second half of August, thatap a good sign. Except on Tuesday, Ross dropped the ball. Not so good.
All the same, Ross got run with the top offensive group against the Falcons, too. His two catches went for just a yard, but he also got a carry that went for 28 and he’s a capable kick and punt returner. He’s one to watch the next couple of weeks.
* The Broncos run of center depth issues continued Tuesday. Wattenberg appears near a return but was still limited. With Forsyth out, Throckmorton stepped into the No. 1 role. But then he needed attending to after the fracas, which meant undrafted rookie Gavin Ortega got the call for the two-minute situations late in practice. Reid Holskey also took snaps early in practice Tuesday. He’s doing what he can to get in the mix for a practice squad spot. He spent most of last year on the New York Giants’ practice squad and has played tackle, guard and center this summer.
* The Broncos final open practice of training camp is Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. Lots open at 8 a.m. and gates at 9 a.m.
