The preseason is in the books.
The Broncos finished theirs with a 34-6 shellacking of Minnesota at Empower Field.
If this time of year is about roster depth, Denver boasted a vast superiority to the Vikings essentially from the opening kickoff.
Sean Payton’s team didn’t dress 30 players, most of them starters and key contributors, and still dominated. Minnesota, to be sure, also sat its top players, but this was backups on backups crime.
Now, tough roster questions are ahead.
“I look back to my first year here, and we were looking to claim (players),” Payton said Friday night. “And it was like that in New Orleans early on. As you build something that gets a little bit more polished, players are — gradually, the quality of your team, it becomes a harder roster to make.
“So those teams out there that have new coaches that are rebuilding. They’ll be more active and those are the teams sometimes that can end up with one of your players.”
Thatap the focus for the next few days. Then attention turns fully to Week 1 and Denver’s Sept. 14 trip to Kansas City for Monday Night Football.
Here are four takeaways from Friday night:
Sam Ehlinger authored quite a bounce back after a rough start
The Broncos head coach was afraid he’d end up in the stat book with a PBU. OK, maybe not quite, but as Payton watched Sam Ehlinger start moving to his left and then sprint back to his right on a fourth-and-3 in the second half Friday, Ehlinger kept getting closer and closer. Finally, he uncorked an off-balance throw to Cody Schrader for a 14-yard touchdown and basically fell into the coach’s lap.
That set off a raucous celebration after the second of Ehlinger’s three touchdowns on the night.
The Broncos quarterback started his night with an ugly interception.
Then he responded with three touchdowns and finished the night with 233 yards and a 134.5 passer rating.
The touchdown was a thing of beauty.
“I was standing on the white,” Payton said of the sideline. … “Two more feet and my concern was all of a sudden the ball hit my chest and I’m the reason he doesn’t throw it. I was excited for him. It was really good.”
So was Ehlinger overall.
“There’s one thing he does, I’ve said this to you guys before many times, when you’re in practice situations and plays don’t finish out, you see ‘X,’” Payton said. And then, for him, when you’re in a game situation, we don’t have to decide whether he was sacked or not. He wasn’t. And it was a touchdown pass. Thatap one of the things that I think has served him well in college and when he plays in games.
“Itap hard to simulate some of that. So I was excited for him.”
Ehlinger made a bad throw on the first drive and got under-cut on an out-breaker for an interception.
After that, though, he was sharp.
“Obviously you don’t want to start that way,” Ehlinger said. “But it was good to get that out of my system and then being able to get in the flow of the game, get the feel for coverages and how the game’s going was really good.”
Whether the Broncos keep two or three quarterbacks is among their most intriguing questions as the roster deadline approaches Sunday, but Ehlinger has said for the past week that he has trust in Payton and the Denver staff.
“When it comes down to the roster decisions and things of that nature, itap completely out of my control,” he said. “I don’t derive my confidence from the result of what happens with numbers or things of that nature.
“I have great confidence in this organization and the relationships we have and the way they’ve handled things with me to this point. I’m in a really good spot.”
If the Broncos do cut Ehlinger, a vested veteran who is not subject to waivers and thus can sign anywhere at any time, he said he’d look around to see what else might be available.
“Yeah, you have to look at all your options, right? Thatap what we’ll do,” he said. “Thatap what we did last year and I look forward to whatever opportunity there is.”
He’s also got much bigger things happening in his life, too, and soon. Ehlinger’s wife is pregnant with their first child and is due Tuesday.
So his upcoming days could well be very different than most of the guys sweating out the cutdown deadline.
“I might be in the hospital having my first son,” he said. “That’s what it could look like.”
Pat Bryantap ascension was on display in absentia Friday night
Payton bristles at categorizations like “third wide receiver” or “second running back.” He’s got roles defined for certain players and they fulfill them.
However, Friday night served as a final stamp of approval on a breakout August for second-year wide receiver Pat Bryant.
He didn’t need a big stat line to prove it. He did so with a ballcap and tennis shoes.
Payton and the Broncos didn’t dress three receivers for the game: Jaylen Waddle, Courtland Sutton and Bryant. Thatap as clear an indication as any that Bryant is going to factor heavily into Denver’s offensive plans.
Not that there’s been much doubt since the start of camp.
Bryant has made play after play, day after day.
Every player and every coach who’s been asked about him over the past month has had nothing but raves.
Troy Franklin, meanwhile, was out there playing and so, too, was Marvin Mims Jr. Mims was up mostly because he’s been hurt and hasn’t had much live action this summer.
Franklin hasn’t done anything wrong, either. He’s had a nice camp himself and is a versatile, valuable player.
Bryant, though, has had an undeniable training camp. He’s one of the players fans should be most intrigued to see on the field at Arrowhead Stadium in 16 days.
Marvin Mims Jr.’s camp started fast. Itap been a slog since.
Not many players were more impressive than Mims during the first week of training camp, n. Since then, itap been a slog. He took a couple of weeks to come all the way back from a groin injury. He made his preseason debut Friday against the Vikings and figured to get a couple of series. Instead, Jarrett Stidham overthrew him on his first target of the night and Mims hit the ground along the sideline and rolled over in pain.
Payton described the foot injury as “just a bruise” after the game and said the club was being cautious with the fourth-year wide receiver.
The veteran head coach also referred to Mims as a “front-line guy.” That much isn’t in question, even if Mims’ ultimate role in this offense is a bit of a mystery at this point.
Whatap also clear is that Mims was frustrated about having to head back to the blue medical tent. He hopped up and tried to jog off, shooing away a trainer. Then he reluctantly ducked into the tent and then headed back to the locker room early in the game.
If Mims plays a big role and has an impact this fall, this night will be quickly forgotten.
But for a guy going into his contract year, the training camp and preseason rigmarole that has cost him time on the practice field and in game action so far this summer could also easily become a source of frustration.
He (probably) won’t make the 53-man roster, but take a bow, Cody Schrader.
The only knock on Cody Schrader’s Friday night? After he caught the touchdown from Ehlinger, he threw the ball into the crowd. Brother, don’t you want to keep that one?
“I didn’t think to keep that thing,” Schrader said. “I was just kind of blacked out in the moment and super excited to get in the end zone.”
Schrader, 26, went undrafted in 2024 and bounced around. Like, really bounced around. He’s been cut seven times. At one point last year, he played for three teams in as many weeks, the last of which was Denver. But he stuck on the practice squad down the stretch, got a futures deal and has had a nice training camp. He could well end up on the Broncos’ practice squad and is in the mix with Jaleel McLaughlin and Tyler Badie.
Moreover, he’s been a needed bell cow in preseason as Denver managed the workload of several other backs.
He carried the ball 24 times over Denver’s three preseason games and churned out 74 yards. He also caught all nine of his targets for 101 yards and a touchdown.
Schrader led Broncos backs in snaps, too, in each of the first two games and likely did again Friday against the Vikings.
Schrader, who ran for 1,627 yards his senior year at Missouri, finished with a flourish, too. He had six catches for 90 yards plus 42 rushing for a total of 132 offensive yards and a touchdown.
“It definitely meant a lot,” Schrader said. “I’m so thankful for this organization, just in terms of how they take preseason. They treat it like the regular season and that means a lot to guys like me who’s competing and fighting for every opportunity possible. …
“We have a great room. We’re a brotherhood and I think all of us can play in this league.”
Schrader did the Broncos well this preseason and probably helped himself in the process, too.
