Attendance
Did not practice: Physically Unable to Perform list — WR A.T. Perry (foot/ankle). Out — ILB Alex Singleton (thumb), ILB Drew Sanders (foot), OLB Que Robinson (unknown), Johnny Walker Jr. (unknown). Left practice — ILB Dre Greenlaw (quad)
In an alarming sight for an already-banged-up inside linebacker room, Greenlaw pulled up with a grimace after covering J.K. Dobbins on an LB-RB one-on-one pass-coverage drill. He attempted to walk it off, but eventually headed back to the locker room.
A source with knowledge of the situation told The Denver Post it was a flare-up of Greenlaw’s quad, after he’d missed all of Denver’s offseason activities with a quad strain. Payton, however, said it was a “different area” when asked after practice.
“I think he’s fine,” Payton said.
Robinson, meanwhile, missed his second straight day of camp after limping toward the end of Tuesday’s practice. Walker, an undrafted rookie from Mizzou, was placed on injured reserve. The Broncos signed former Nebraska OLB Garrett Nelson to fill his spot on the 90-man roster.
Newcomer impact
If there’s one thing Payton knows and loves, it’s big receivers. And 6-foot-4 undrafted rookie Joaquin Davis, amid a stable of undrafted wideouts all making cases for Denver’s practice squad, has stamped himself as a name to watch.
The routes aren’t completely fine-tuned yet. He never had more than 500 yards in any season at North Carolina Central. But Davis’ measurables rival anyone in Denver’s room — 4.36-second 40-yard dash and 40.5-inch vertical at his pro day — and he’s made several plays throughout camp. On Wednesday, he sprang free on a drag and motored downfield so quickly it sent veteran Courtland Sutton into a gleeful frenzy. On Thursday, he made a tough grab in the back corner of the end zone in red-zone work.
He’s a total long shot to make Denver’s initial 53-man roster. But as far as stash-and-hope investments go, Davis is in the mix.
Top Plays
A lil’ Bo-Pat: Thursday’s practice was far from a “salt day,” as Payton likes to call them. Staff anticipated players would be tired after a turned-up Wednesday bark session, and various team red-zone periods moved at about 80% intensity. Still, Nix’s legs provided one of the few true game-speed highlights of the day, as the quarterback rolled to his right on one rep and flung a ball roughly 20 yards down the right sideline to a leaping Pat Bryant. The rookie receiver has quickly developed chemistry with Nix and drawn heavy targets throughout camp.
Thumbs up
About this Wednesday: Speaking of salt, take any training-camp discussion of locker-room culture with a few hearty grains. But Wednesday down in Dove Valley felt like a level of intensity these Broncos hadn’t reached all offseason, emotions and bellows and yaps hinging on nearly every rep during team work.
This wasn’t simply external. Take it from tight end Adam Trautman, a longtime Payton loyalist dating back to New Orleans: He declared Wednesday’s practice the best he’d been a part of in his three years in Denver.
“That was like, ‘Oh, yes, we’re ready for this,’ all the expectations and everything,” Trautman said.
Thumbs down
Thin in the middle: Payton scoffed at any notion the Broncos’ ILB room was “injury-plagued” on Wednesday, telling reporters that Singleton would be back at practice in six days after breaking his thumb this week.
Perhaps injury-plagued isn’t the right term. Let’s go with “thin.” Greenlaw has been ramping up for most of camp after missing the offseason, and Sanders hasn’t been seen back at practice in any capacity since he was carted off Saturday. Levelle Bailey has seized the opportunity in their absence, and Justin Strnad is a trustworthy backup. But if Greenlaw’s flare-up lingers, the only rotational options left are undrafted rookies Jordan Turner, JB Brown and Karene Reid.
The Broncos brought in a few linebackers on a tryout Wednesday but didn’t elect to sign any. More reps for the kids, then.
Odds and Ends
• Malcolm Roach’s good-natured boisterousness has prompted one of the best camp mock-feuds in the NFL: Marvin Mims Jr. vs. Roach. Mims, a 180-pound man, called Roach fat at the podium Wednesday. Roach responded with a middle finger on Twitter. Mims responded he needed PR training.
It has Denver’s locker room equal parts perplexed and amused.
“I wouldn’t have picked Mims and Roach,” Payton smiled. “Like, I would’ve picked so many other combos. But when I read that one, that was surprising.”
• The Broncos’ running back competition is nowhere near sorted out, and Payton wants it that way. Second-year back Audric Estime continued to stack days Thursday across a recent run of impact reps, and the Broncos head coach said reserve back Blake Watson had “two or three exceptional runs” on Wednesday.
“When we finish playing New Orleans,” Payton said, referring to the team’s final preseason game, “we’ll have a better idea of how that’s going.”
• Eyioma Uwazurike continues to have a standout camp. The 2022 fourth-round pick was suspended in 2023 for gambling and played just four games in 2024, but he has been everywhere in his reps: stopping a run in an earlier practice with one arm and batting down a pass at the line of scrimmage Thursday. Denver has some uncomfortable roster decisions to make given its depth on the defensive line, and Uwazurike is making a compelling case for a spot on the 53-man roster.
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