D.J. Jones comes from a family of food aficionados.
His father was a chef, including for the .
Jones himself knows his way around the kitchen, the smoker, whatever your palate desires.
The man, all 6-foot-flat and 305 pounds of him, knows what he’s talking about when it comes to eating.
He says the Broncos defense is going to feast this fall.
“We’ve got what it takes,” Jones said in August. “We’ve tasted it. Now itap time to cook the meal, eat it and take a break. You know how you eat a good meal, and you lay down after, take a good nap, then you wake up and go eat again? We’re about to eat again. Itap time. We’ve got the numbers, we’ve got the men, we’ve got the willpower. We’ve got the free will to go do it.
“Itap up to us, and we’re going to do that.”
The Broncos are seasoned, to be sure.
They return as many as 10 starters from Week 1 last year and must replace only John Franklin-Myers on the top line. So far in training camp, they look like they’ll do that with a combination of Malcolm Roach and a true breakout candidate in Eyioma Uwazurike.
For the most part, though, the core of this group is entering its fourth season under defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. That includes Zach Allen and Jones up front, inside linebackers Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad, outside linebackers Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper plus corners Pat Surtain, Riley Moss and Ja’Quan McMillian.
It is a rare and enviable continuity the Broncos have built defensively.
“You’re not coming into camp kind of stressed about learning,” Singleton said. “That’s the hardest thing when you go to a new team or have new guys where you’re teaching guys, ‘Hey, this is our check in this situation.’ No, instead all 11 guys know.
“So, we’re one step ahead of where we would’ve been last year or the year before that at this time of the year.”
Really, the question for this group is whether it can stave off any hint of complacency that could accompany such continuity. That certainly wasn’t an issue last season, when Denver backed up a high-quality 2024 with an even better 2025. They jumped in rankings across the board, jumped from 10 wins in the regular season to 14, and broke their own single-season sack record by going from 63 to 68.
Can they make it three in a row? Defensive performance has tended to be more volatile in the NFL than offensive, but Joseph’s group so far has stayed sharp year-over-year.
“Thatap the really cool thing about this group is we’re just constantly trying to find new ways to get better,” Allen said. “It all starts with ‘V.J.’ He sets such a high standard. Yeah, we were good last year, but there were still a lot of things that we could have been better at and cleaned up. We want to be as consistent as we can be and play at the highest level that we can.”
Broncos coaches and players see the early stages of training camp as a kind of rite of passage. Despite the experience returning, part of the key to setting out on a new season is going through all of the basics. Every install gets a full explanation. Every page of the playbook gets a fine-tooth comb, regardless of how many times most of the players have been over it.
“When we’re installing, take those notes again,” Singleton said. “Rewrite the little basics of the calls because then, when the intricate stuff happens, and stuff happens during the game — the basic stuff is easy. That’s the stuff that’s already locked in; that’s muscle memory.
“Now you’re learning the nuances and all the stuff that really will define what we are this season on the critical plays during the season.”
Sometimes, though, second nature kicks in. They just can’t help it. An early August training camp day still features an array of checks and calls. You can go back over the basics, but once you’re on the field, the more advanced stuff is going to come out, too.
That, Singleton says, is part of preparing for what the Broncos will see later in the season.
One common theme over the past two seasons: the group has looked a little rundown in the stretch run of the regular season. Denver has given up 30 or more points eight times in 37 games over the past two seasons, including the playoffs. Six of those have come across 13 games played in either December or January.
The other major goal for the Broncos this fall: Take the ball away more. Head coach Sean Payton is adamant about it. Joseph knows itap important, too, though with a caveat: He’s going to play the way he plays — he talks frequently about making sure Denver is playing “good football,” which for him means a lot of match coverage. Sometimes that means fewer interceptions than teams that are more zone-heavy and consistently have more eyes on the quarterback.
The Broncos turned on the takeaway faucet in the postseason last year and beat Buffalo because of it. Then they snuffed New England for most of the AFC title game — the Patriots’ lone touchdown came on a 12-yard drive after a Jarrett Stidham fumble. If Joseph’s group is playing like that again in late January 2027, the Broncos are going to be right in the mix for a chance at a championship.
“Itap a great unit, but they’re motivated, and they’re not satisfied with what we did last year,” Joseph said. “Our talks and meetings are always about, ‘It might not look like it did last year as far as all the numbers, but the play style should be the same and the end result can be the same.’ It can be different as far as where we ranked. Thatap not important for us.
“Itap about winning games and getting back to where we were. It may look different, and thatap OK, but the goal’s the same.”
