Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Getting Reinforcements vs. Kansas City Chiefs, Secret Weapon Returning Soon?

Starting point is 00:00:00 As the Denver Broncos look to knock off the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs, they'll be getting some reinforcements back on Sunday. We'll break down the impact of PJ Locke's potential turn as well as a handful of others here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. What's happening in Broncos country? Welcome into another episode.

Starting point is 00:00:33 Lockdown, Broncos, your daily Denver. Broncos podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network where you know it's your team every day. And speaking of every day, thank you so much to everyone in Broncos country for making us your first listen. Thank you to all the everydayers out there. You make Locked-on Broncos exactly what it is. We appreciate you so much. I'm Cody Roark, Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports.

Starting point is 00:00:54 You can check out my daily written work and coverage over there, Milehysports.com. Joined as always by Sarah Bedinger, SciExpert over there, predominantly orange.com, where you can check out his written work as well as the NFL. spin zone. He's got you covered here. And we got you covered here. Lockdown Broncos, however, you get your podcast. Here is what you can expect on today's episode show. Broncos country, there's a big game on Sunday. Not sure if you knew that or not.

Starting point is 00:01:17 Chances are you're probably keeping tabs there. But Denver's taking on the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs and we'll give an update on the latest injury status on wide receiver Josh Reynolds. A potential secret weapon could be returning soon with Tyler Bode. We'll also talk about Drew Sanders coming back from his injury and what the timeline may look like for him in terms of seeing some game action, but we'll open things up today's episode show by talking about one of the bigger things here for the Broncos,

Starting point is 00:01:42 getting a key defensive player back this week ahead of Sunday's matchup against the Chief. PJ Locke returns to practice. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by our friends over there at LinkedIn. Jobs. LinkedIn helps you find the qualified canist you want to talk to. Faster, post your job for free. LinkedIn.com slash locked on NFL terms and conditions apply. Sarah, let's kick things off here.

Starting point is 00:02:03 Wednesday at practice. Look, it's been snow. all week here in Denver. And I want to put a little PSA out to people. Folks, if you're going to drive on the highway, make sure you wipe the snow off the top of your vehicles. Don't be a slap. And make sure you take care of business.

Starting point is 00:02:15 We don't need snow things flying at me like I was trying to dodge it on C470 or they go on my way to Broncos practice. But with that said, snowy conditions there have forced the Broncos indoors this week. And certainly they won't be playing indoors against Kansas City. It is expected to be a little bit of a rainy turf surface. I think on Sunday there's a college football game being played on Saturday the night before the game. So Broncos head coach Sean Payton says that they're monitoring that. But when we got indoors on Wednesday and Thursday, we were able to see number six back in

Starting point is 00:02:45 action for the first time since being sidelined with a thumb injury. Sarah, let's kind of touch on this a little bit. How big is it going to be for the Broncos to get PJ lockback this Sunday against Paschuk Mahomes and the Chiefs? Well, I think it'll be huge because we saw against the Baltimore Ravens. Obviously, we've brought this up a number of times. But Lamar Jackson, in case you hadn't heard, had a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating against the Broncos last week, which is unacceptable, but also indicative of a lot of miscommunication, a lot of guys being out of place on the back end. And to me, Cody, I mean, you correct me if I'm wrong. I feel like a lot of that was because the Broncos did things against the Ravens that they haven't been doing all season long in terms

Starting point is 00:03:25 of just the way that they were playing coverage, the lack of blitzing. Obviously, Devin Key was playing in place of the injured PJ lock for a second consecutive game. And a lot of plays, quite frankly, went over his head. So I just think that it'll be huge for the Broncos to get back a starter. I know PJ wasn't having the best year in terms of, I know he's had a really high quarterback rating allowed into his coverage. A number of big plays have gone his direction as well. But the Broncos defense can't deny has been quite a bit more successful when he's

Starting point is 00:03:56 been out there on the field along with Brandon Jones, as opposed to the alternative. Well, in Denver's defense, too, the way they played Baltimore was different than they've had to play anybody else this season because the number one threat, as we said it, last week going into it was you got to find a way to stop the run with Derek Henry. And then you have to account for not only when you factor in the run game of trying to stop Derek Henry. When you talk about Reid option looks, okay, you're worried about Derek Henry going downhill, but you're worried about Lamar Jackson getting to the outside. So your game plan was, hey, we're going to have to probably play some soft zone.

Starting point is 00:04:26 We're going to have to at times when we do send pressure, we're going to have to man up. there, but there were some miscommunications there by Denver secondary. Too many explosive plays allowed. And look, I think Denver this week, they can get back to playing defensively the way that they have. Like, the way that they've been calling a defense, the way they've been attacking quarterbacks, it's, you can go back to that same strategy here this week. And to be honest with you, I was watching that Tampa Bay Buccaneers game. I kept thinking to myself, I'm like, man, Denver can just get back to playing how they have been this year. And surely enough, like Patrick Mahones, he turned it on in that game against the bucks. But this is as beatable as

Starting point is 00:04:59 the chiefs have looked, even though that they are undefeated. I know that's something we've been saying all week long, but it is true. They're still finding ways to win, which is the mark of a good team. But they are beatable. And right now they have a losing streak against the Denver Brown because we're going to throw any little icing on top of the cake here on today's show. But my biggest thing is that you can get back to doing what you're doing. I'm very curious now, obviously, with the addition of DeAndre Hopkins into the mix,

Starting point is 00:05:21 you have to account for him. Part of me is wondering, now with that, are you going to put Patrick Sertan on Travis Kelsey? Are you going to put him on DeAndre Hopkins? I think that Denver more likely is going to probably put them on DHOP. Now I'm very curious to see what their plan is for Travis Kelsey. This is one where it's like if it was, if they didn't have Hopkins, I'd say, all right, hey, put PS2 on Kelsey. But at this point, it's like, all right, can Denver bounce back after giving up some big plays through the air last week?

Starting point is 00:05:46 Especially against one of the NFL's best third down offenses in the league. And that is the Kansas City Chiefs. Well, and that's just the thing right there is that, I mean, when you talk about Travis Kelsey and accounting for him, like, The chiefs are so good on third downs and in the red zone. And Travis Kelsey is just that's what he's, that's where he's made his hay in the NFL is moving the chains in key situations, right? And so you've got to be able to not only have somebody account for him, but you've got to be consistent against him.

Starting point is 00:06:14 And I just hated that every single time the Broncos play these guys. It's like, man, why is nobody guarding Travis Kelsey where they're, well, they're trying. They're trying out there. But it's tough to guard him, even though, I mean, I think Travis Kelsey, Cody, I think he and I are roughly the same age. So it's crazy, man. I just feel like, man, what have I done with my life? I'm not, you know, but, but Travis is obviously going to be the focus.

Starting point is 00:06:36 With DeAndre Hopkins, you kind of feel like Pat Sertan can hold his own in that particular matchup there. So will we see Jaquan McMillan going up against Travis Kelsey quite often? Will we see, obviously, PJ Locke coming back, or Brandon Jones, who can play up in those man-to-man situations because he's done quite well with that. So the matchup here, the chess game, we know that teams love. to force Patrick Mahomes to throw the ball underneath, that too high safety look, that Vic Fangio was like, you will not throw the ball past these safeties, right?

Starting point is 00:07:06 That's what teams do against Patrick Mahomes. They kind of force him to dink and dunk down the field and don't allow him to kind of just start ripping off big plays. The Broncos were probably going to see a lot of that, honestly. And so I can't help but wonder, you know, in those man-to-man situations, who is it going to be going up against, obviously, one of the best tight ends of this last decade plus. Well, and then you have a speedy option there in Xavier Worthy, who's obviously got ridiculous speed. We saw the Broncos struggle with speed this past week against a flower,

Starting point is 00:07:34 so I know that's probably going to be a major key emphasis for them in terms of their coverage. I mean, Kansas City, they don't have like the big name guys. I know that, you know, he's still Nicole Hartman, who's very electric. He's going to be probably your most dangerous guy. You don't want to punt to or you have to make sure your punt coverage is really great this week. He can play receiver for you. Judea Smith-Schuster has been on the injury report for them this week. We'll see where he's at throughout the week. So this is going to be a tough matchup here for the Broncos, regardless of how you put it,

Starting point is 00:07:59 even though the Chief's offense hasn't been as good as they have been in prior years, they're still very dangerous and it will be a big test here for the Broncos. So getting a guy like PJ locked back in the mix on the back end of the secondary, next to Brandon Jones is going to be, I think, a big, big component of this week's game. And now you can kind of just get back to playing your brand of football because you're not having to sell out necessarily against, you know, a six foot five, two hundred and eighty pound running back. And a guy in Lamar who's unbelievably elusive went outside the pocket.

Starting point is 00:08:28 They didn't even have to hurt the Broncos with his legs. The thing you have to account for here with Mahomes is the fact that, you know what? How many times have we seen it this year where it's third and 15? And he rattles off a 16, 17, 18 yards scramble because you're trying to play perfect coverage. And it's like, oh, no, like now he takes an alley and he gets up field. That's going to be very important, I think, for us to monitor here is one of those factors in

Starting point is 00:08:51 the game. road in a hostile environment in which Broncos rookie quarterback, Bo Nix, said he's excited about playing. You said you get a lot of energy from hostile environments. This is Denver's first divisional road game of the season as well, Sarah. They have a chance here to go two and one in the division to start the season. They have a chance with a win to rebalance their conference record to three and three versus two and three. And all seems a little bit right in the world, especially with some of the other teams below Denver, some of those matchups those teams have.

Starting point is 00:09:17 Denver gets a win here. It can be very, very big for their postseason aspirations here. starts on Sunday. One thing we are going to talk about here, though, Broncos country. It wasn't just PJ Locke who returned to practice. Second year outside linebacker Drew Sanders was back in the mix. What type of role could he have for the Broncos defense in the remaining stretch of the schedule? We'll break that down much more here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's show is brought to you by Arena Club.

Starting point is 00:09:42 And for those of us that like collecting cards, the idea of spending two grand or more on somebody's rookie card doesn't matter who it is. It's just not in the cards, right? And I love collecting, but that's some serious money to drop. But thanks to slab packs from arena club.com, now it's possible to score gemmints for a fraction of their retail price. And every card that I listed, it's been hit from last week's Arena Club Slab Pack drop. Arena Club is the only repack that provides real value, a complete view of all possible cards, and clear hit rates for each one. Arena Club slab packs, they're revolutionizing the repack game with transparency.

Starting point is 00:10:21 And after your polls are revealed, they'll immediately be placed in your showroom for safekeeping, selling, trading, or auction. The Arena Club grading process, it's accurate, fast, transparent, and with a full grade rationale provided an explanation of how your card was scored. So whether you're buying, selling, trading, or displaying Arena Club is the card collecting platform that you have to check out today. And right now, you can get 10% off your first slab pack or card purchase by going to ArenaClub. com slash locked on NFL and use code locked on NFL. That's arena club.com slash locked on NFL code locked on NFL for 10% off your first purchase. Today's show is also brought to you by Hems and Broncos country. You might be bricked up for Bow Nicks, but guys, do you ever feel like you ever need another

Starting point is 00:11:11 little boost in the bedroom? Well, it's time to stop worrying about your performance and get hymns so that you can feel confident knowing that you can get hard and stay hard whenever you're in the mood. And Hymns, it's changing men's health care by providing you with access to affordable sexual health treatments from the comfort of your couch. Hymns provides access to a range of doctor-trusted ED treatments like chewable hardmints, Viagra, Seales, and all their generics for up to 95% cheaper. The process, it's 100% online, so there's no need for those uncomfortable doctor visits, right? Just answer a series of questions on their site, and a medical provider

Starting point is 00:11:49 will determine the right treatment option. If prescribed, your medication is shipped directly to you in discrete packaging and for free. So no insurance needed. One low price, it covers everything from treatments to ongoing care. And with hundreds of thousands of trusted subscribers, HIMS can help you find the ED option that works for you. So start your free online visit today at HIMS.com slash locked on. That's HIMS.com slash locked on for your personalized ED treatment option. Hymns.com slash locked on.

Starting point is 00:12:22 As we jump into the second core reaction here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos will highlight Drew Sanders and the impact we think he might be able to have in a little bit of a rotational role down the stretch for the Broncos defense. Real quick, I want to say thanks once again to everyone in Broncos country. Thanks for making us your first listen every single day for all the Broncos news content coverage analysis and more that you need here. Obviously, there's a lot of excitement about the Broncos where they're headed. and there's a lot of people are anxious to see where this defense can continue to go here.

Starting point is 00:12:52 But now obviously after the NFL trade deadline, the Broncos have made the decision to move on from Baron Browning. They give Jonathan Cooper a four-year extension. And now second-year linebacker Drew Sanders back at practice for the first time on Wednesday since suffering a torn Achilles. Right before the NFL draft in April, there were a lot of questions about what position he'd go back to. It has been officially confirmed. He's working with the edge rushers. He's going to be in that room a lot. alongside Donne Tielman, Jonah Ellis, Nick Benito, and now Jonathan Cooper.

Starting point is 00:13:23 Sarah, his 21-day window has officially been activated. Your thoughts here on maybe what we can see in terms of how the Broncos may look to use him in the second half. If they do, in fact, bring him off to 21-day winter, right? Because I think a lot of people are unclear about that. You activate the 21-day window. You have from that point forward to determine what you bring him to the active roster. If not, he automatically reverts to IR and his. is ineligible to come off for the rest of the year and would be out for the season.

Starting point is 00:13:52 What path do you see the Broncos taken here? I want to see Drew Sanders be a bat out of hell on that defense, Cody. I want to see him out there just wrecking havoc, playing fast and playing free. We know that he started off his collegiate career at Alabama under Nick Sabin, playing off the edge was kind of stuck behind Will Anderson, Jr., who's a pretty darn good player. So he ends up transferring, obviously, to Arkansas, becomes an All-American as kind of a hybrid off-ball linebacker.

Starting point is 00:14:18 was frequently attacking the line of scrimmage, but kind of doing a little bit of everything for those guys with the razor backs. And I just want to see him as a bat out of hell, right? And what do I mean by that? I want to see him creating chaos out there. Just frazzling the opposing offensive line. I don't care if the Broncos stand him up and blitz him. I don't care if they put him off the edge. I don't care if they line him up over the center, over the tackle, or if they kind of bring him in as like a nickel defensive back looking type of thing, just make sure that whatever you do with Drew Sanders, it's probably going to be on a limited number of snaps. So you might as well confuse the offense when he's out there.

Starting point is 00:14:54 Like put him in different spots. Let him use his rare athletic talents and traits to be able to cause problems for the opposing team. Now, do we expect it right away? I mean, that's tough to say because he's coming off an Achilles injury that he's now, just now starting his practice window. So you hope that you can see that effectiveness right away from him, Cody. But I think it's just especially important for him to get some confidence building out there.

Starting point is 00:15:17 play some special teams, go out there and play fast and free defensively. That's going to be fun to see, even if it's just a limited number of snaps here for Drew Sanders. Yeah, and I'm going to be very curious to see what the plan is, right? Because Sean Payton mentioned it to us on Wednesday in his press conference talking about, you know, when you bring guys along from an injury, you have to factor, okay, where are they at in the recovery? You know, what's the ramp up period look like? Like I would say, like the last week, DeLery and Turner Yale returned for the first time, right? Coming off PEP since the ACL injury, he was limited.

Starting point is 00:15:47 all last week, but so far this week, he's been a full participant. So that, you know, I think it's a sign like, okay, hey, they're back on the field. We just want to gradually work him up. I think it'll be two or three weeks before we see Drew. But, I mean, Sarah, the thing is he's tall and he's Jack. Like, he got absolutely ripped in his upper body this offseason. And I think that's going to be a good thing. Like you watch him in the individual drills here, you know, they have the one man sled.

Starting point is 00:16:12 And, you know, I'm watching guys like Jonathan Cooper and Nick Benito push the sled. you strike it, shed the block, stand up. Drew looks powerful in his upper body, right? And I think that obviously outside linebacker coach Michael Wilhoi, he's very excited about getting him back into the mix here. On top of that, you're also going to need him to play special teams, right? So while you have to be careful about ramping him up for defense, he also needs to ramp up to be able to play special teams

Starting point is 00:16:38 because that's where Denver's going to need that contribution. And I would say, too, even last year, you know, when he was playing, heck, he was a prominent guy on special teams. He even had a fumble recovery against the Kansas City Chiefs. So I think that with a guy like Drew, you see the size, the athleticism that he certainly has. And look, he moves really well. You know, I think that's always one of the things is how do you move coming off from the Achilles? When I was watching him, he looked like he was moving well, moving crisp, tight down the line of scrimmage on certain things.

Starting point is 00:17:06 It's just about getting more comfortable. Hey, you're wearing pads and a helmet for the first time in a while. You're wearing the cleats again, like, okay, ease yourself into it. It probably ain't going to be this week where we see him, but maybe next week. two weeks from now, we will see him obviously suit up on Sundays. That's going to be a fun thing to watch here. But I also think it's a testament right now to the Broncos commitment with their edge rush depth. I mean, Sarah, you and I know we had questions really going to the offseason

Starting point is 00:17:29 and saying, what is this going to look like? We didn't, we didn't know what is going to look like because of the injury to Drew Sanders. And it's like, all right, you have Baron Browning. You have Nick Benito. You have Jonathan Cooper. The position room has kind of really played itself out. Bonito and Cooper, the long term starters here. You draft Jonah Ellis, who I think has shined in a role player type of position. I've been so pleased with what I've seen from Jonah Ellis. Dondre Tillman's been impressive in the little sample size he's gotten, but part of me is going to think I will probably see Drew Sanders get reps,

Starting point is 00:17:57 I think before Dundre Tillman, you know, when he is fully back, I think that's going to be an interesting dynamic to watch here. Yeah, and I think those are much needed reps for Drew Sanders, obviously, because when he went down with injury,

Starting point is 00:18:10 you and I talked about this months ago that, man, it's almost like an injury for Drew Sanders. I don't know if it could happen to a worst player on the team. And I know that there's bigger implications for other guys, obviously your quarterback or your star players like Pat Sartan, but specifically in Drew's context, he's a kind of a, you know,

Starting point is 00:18:28 traits based guy who we didn't even know going into the offseason, like what position is he going to play? Is he going to be an offball linebacker? Is he going to play edge? We saw a little bit of the edge position last year when he finally got onto the field and things like that as a rookie. So the thing for him getting injured is like, this guy needs to be on the field, like getting reps.

Starting point is 00:18:48 And it sucked when he went down with a long-term injury because then you can't even like practice. It's not just, hey, you're inactive on game days or, hey, you're going to be, you know, doing this with the practice squad and the scout team. Like, you are unable to practice and do those things. So reps are so critical for a guy who is kind of like just the Broncos drafted this ball of clay that they wanted to mold in the third round of last year's draft. And immediately after selecting him, Sean Payton noted that what is Drew Sanders? What did he call him a pressure player?

Starting point is 00:19:20 So whether or not he was playing edge or inside linebacker, the Broncos believes him to be a pressure player coming out of college. You need him to get those reps, though, because he kind of did come into the NFL as a positionless player. Yeah. And then you switch him positions in the middle of his rookie season from inside to, you know, off the edge. Luckily, he's played that before at the college level. I played against D1 prospects there at Alabama there.

Starting point is 00:19:44 But obviously, we saw him really burst onto the scene at Arkansas where he had, what, nine and a half sacks in his one season there at inside linebacker. Like, it's like, all right, hey, this is a guy who's got the traits to do it. He's strong. He's athletic and he's tall as hell, which I think is an exciting development for the Broncos to be able to follow. But in terms of the injury side of things, look, Broncos country, the second half part of the schedule.

Starting point is 00:20:03 Look, it gets tougher. The buy week isn't for another few weeks. But man, the Broncos, they're in a position to get some other. their key players back healthy and they're staying healthy right now, which is a good thing. It's a good side for the Broncos. We'll share our latest update on wide receiver, Josh Reynolds, and Tyler Biday here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's show is brought to you of our friends over there at LinkedIn Jobs.

Starting point is 00:20:23 And when you're hiring for your small business, you want to find quality professionals that are right for the role. That's why you have to check out LinkedIn jobs. LinkedIn jobs has the tools to help you find the right professionals for your team faster and for free. LinkedIn isn't just a job board. LinkedIn helps you hire professionals that you can't find anywhere else, even those who aren't actively searching for a new job, but might be open to the perfect role if it opens up in a

Starting point is 00:20:47 given month, over 70% of LinkedIn users, they don't visit other leading job sites. So if you're not looking on LinkedIn, you're looking in the wrong place. And on LinkedIn, 86% of small businesses, they get a qualified candidate within 24 hours of posting a job. So hire professionals like a professional on LinkedIn. LinkedIn knows the small businesses are wearing so many hats and might not have the time or the resources to hire. LinkedIn is constantly finding ways to make the process even easier. They even just launched a feature that helps you write quick job descriptions,

Starting point is 00:21:17 which makes the process easier and more efficient for you. So check it out today. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com slash Lockdown NFL. That's LinkedIn.com slash Lockdown NFL to post your job for free terms and conditions apply. Today's show is also brought to you by our friends over there at Fandulul, Sportsbook. And as you know what, Fandual, they are America's number one sportsbook. And they want you to get ready to tackle the NFL action inside of their app because right now, new customers, when they sign up, can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your $5 bet wins.

Starting point is 00:21:49 That Fanduala Sportsbook app gives you everything that you need to place live bets on the NFL all in one place as it's all happening. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats. You can view live play by play and so much more on the same page where you place your your bets. And you can get in on the action on this week's game against the Denver Broncos in Kansas City Chiefs. You believe the Broncos can go into Kansas City as underdogs and upset the undefeated Chiefs. You believe that. You can go in and get it on the money line. Or if you think the Broncos can cover the spread, you can also do that inside the app. And when you do that, you'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. So just visit fandul.com.

Starting point is 00:22:25 Today, once again, that's fandul.com. Never waste to hunch and make every moment more with fan duel an official sports book partner of the NFL. As we jump on the fourth quarter action on today's episode, lockdown Broncos. Once again, Broncos Country, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to make us your first listen of the day. Thank you for becoming an every day or here.

Starting point is 00:22:45 We appreciate you so much, Broncos Country for making the show what it is. When you want objective, Broncos news content coverage analysis and more, you can't get it anywhere better than Lockdown Broncos. Thank you so much. Your team every day. Stare, my friend,

Starting point is 00:22:58 hey, look, a lot of Broncos fans are had been curious. Look, I think Drew Sanders was a name on the injury front just a few weeks ago. People are like, wait, Drew Sanders on the side field. Well, now you got some other players getting the mix. We talk about Josh Reynolds. And unfortunately, the very scary situation that he went through just several weeks ago being the victim of a shooting. The Bronco was providing him with every resource possible. But even after the shooting, it's like we saw him on the side field. He's running sprints and, you know, he's being around the team. And I think that's a good thing for him at this point. It's good to see him out there. This week, he's been on the side field.

Starting point is 00:23:29 field, especially on Wednesday, but there is a promising development as well, another player who's been on the side field that's been working his way out there. And that's been Tyler Badegh, who suffered that scary back injury back against the New York Jets. And just good to see him back on the football field once again, sprinting, running, wearing a helmet, shoulder pads. Obviously, Denver is very close to getting these two guys back from the injuries that they've been dealing with as well. I mean, your thoughts on the impact that these guys can have if and when they return to the lineup? Well, we talked about at the trade deadline, you know, wanting to see the Broncos maybe get a playmaker if they possibly could. But at the same time, understanding like, hey, there are some in-house guys that could still yet step up for this team.

Starting point is 00:24:10 Obviously, we haven't seen Josh Reynolds for a handful of weeks here, but he's somebody of the Broncos signed in free agency to kind of be a veteran presence there and somebody who can move the chains, make plays downfield. We saw him catch a touchdown not long before he went down with the injury, right? It was actually on that play. It was on that play. So unfortunately, you know, he went out with a, you know, on a high note there for the Broncos, but we want to see more of that. We need to see more of that. We need to see more of guys making catches like that, especially in the red zone

Starting point is 00:24:40 where those opportunities are not being taken advantage of. So you got Tyler Biday, Josh Reynolds. We've talked about guys on the practice squad like A.T. Perry and Donald Parham Jr. I don't know if or when or at all. We'll see those two guys. but man, there are some in-house options in addition to, hey, the young guys on this team that we believe that they can step up over the second half of the season like Troy Franklin and obviously Devon Bailey, the rookies from this year's class, as well as, I mean, shoot,

Starting point is 00:25:08 at this point, maybe even we do see something from Marvin Mims or even Greg Dolsich down the line. I don't know what's going to happen there, but there's still, the Broncos didn't get rid of those guys yet. So obviously there's a chance that we could see that development over the course of the season. can't say they're a lost cause just yet. So I read into this as, all right, you've got all these players on the roster. You've got to figure out if somebody can step up for you in an area of desperate need. Well, and look, the Broncos, I mean, they have dealt with some injuries this year. Sarah, it's obviously been evident.

Starting point is 00:25:39 But I think the overall in terms of impact on games lost, I mean, there really hasn't been someone outside of Alex Singleton and Quinn Bailey that have been placed on like season ending IR, that, you know, you've had long-term implications. I think Denver has been, gosh, man, it's been so drastic since Bo Lowry has come on. It's been so drastic seeing just the difference in terms of how guys recover, how quickly they're coming back. I mean, especially from an Achilles injury. Like we just talked about Drew Sanders in the last segment. That's impressive. You know, Josh Reynolds is obviously making progress. He's going to be back sooner to the point where I think it's going to probably be Cortland Sutton.

Starting point is 00:26:13 Josh Reynolds, Devon, Valey, Troy Franklin probably is the four receivers that are going forward. I think with Reynolds injury that had happened. I think initially that put little Jordan Humphrey into that number two role, where that's really supposed to be Josh Reynolds at this point. So I think you are going to maybe start to see more of these guys into the game plan and maybe a little bit less of little Jordan Humphrey as an emphasized player. I think he'll still play, but I don't think he's going to have as much of an emphasis in terms of Denver's game plan there.

Starting point is 00:26:39 Tyler Badegh, I mean, we just talked about it this week. Sean Payton has mentioned, Audric Estimate is getting more looks as someone he wants to see more get more touches. Jillo McLaughlin's also a guy. I think you can factor into that. but can we see Tyler Biday maybe come in and compete with Jalil and Javante, maybe for some extra touches at this point, right? Just to get a spark.

Starting point is 00:26:57 We'll see. I'm very curious to see how Denver is going to maneuver this. But on the other side of things, too, I mean, I think we also have to talk about, Sarah, we're approaching week 10 in the Broncos injury situation. And I feel like it's been the best. It's been in years. Like, this is a different story than what we've seen from this Broncos team. And look, they're playing good football right now.

Starting point is 00:27:17 They have a winning record. They have a chance to upset the. Kansas to Chiefs, and they're getting more guys back healthy that have been on the shelf for like short-term stuff. So to me, the most brutal stretch of the season coming or the most crucial stretch, I like where Denver is at from a positional standpoint. I think they're in a good position right now to control their destiny. One of the biggest things that helps teams actually just get to the playoffs is, I mean, there is an element of luck involved in staying healthy. But like you mentioned with Bo Lowry and his staff, the work that they're doing and getting guys back on the

Starting point is 00:27:48 field quickly. I mean, that training staff, it seems like a little bit more than just the Broncos being lucky in terms of guys staying healthy and then guys stepping up when there are injuries, like the injury to Luke Wattenberg at the center position where Alex Forsyth has played very well in his absence or even you look at the injury earlier this year to Mike McClunchy where Alex Palchowski came in, played well. Then Alex gets hurt and Matt Pert, you know, those guys, they play well. So I think that you have the depth on this team that hasn't been there before and you've also got the quick recovery ability of the staff and the players to get back on the field, which has been absolutely huge. So that war on attrition that kills teams in the NFL every single year.

Starting point is 00:28:29 Some of the best teams in the NFL, man, they just don't, they aren't able to get to the dance because they don't have enough guys to get there, right? The Broncos, they may be in a position right now where that is an advantage for them, just being healthy, having their starting squad out there for the majority of games. And that could be a difference. As you talk about this tough stretch, getting beat by the Ravens on the road, like there's no shame in that. I think that, man, to say that to write this team off completely after that game, Cody is a brutal take just because, yeah, you got beat by maybe the best team in the NFL. I mean, let's be honest. I know the Ravens have three losses, but my gosh, they probably had the best offense in the NFL for sure if they're

Starting point is 00:29:10 not the best team. So, and then Sean Payton talked about the fact that like, hey, because of their offense. That's why they statistically look the way they do defensively because they're getting teams in such deep holes that everybody's got to throw against them. So yeah, of course they're going to have the 32nd ranked past defense. The team's throwing on them every single game because they have to catch up, you know, and play catch up in that way. So I just think with this team, man, it speaks to the bigger picture right now. Can you go into Kansas City? Can you stay healthy? can you prove to these doubters, I guess, or to yourselves that you belong in these big games once again?

Starting point is 00:29:47 That's the key here. And look, obviously, Luke Wattenberg's another name who's been back at practice, his 21-day window officially open. I wanted to ask you this question, too, because I certainly have my own opinion on it. But with Luke Wattenberg returning, obviously he was the starting center before his injury, I think Alex Forsyth has done a really good job.

Starting point is 00:30:03 I don't know. Like, I personally at this point, would not up in Alex Forsyth for Luke Wattenberg, I think Luke is going to probably have to sit and maybe wait and maybe earn his roll back because I think Alex Forsyth has played well enough. And the last thing you need right now is you're still trying to get your offense going is to take one guy out, put somebody in who hasn't played for four weeks. And that wasn't necessarily the greatest was having some ups and downs before his injury. What do you think the Broncos and Sean Payton should do when it comes to this position?

Starting point is 00:30:30 Obviously, the dilemma that you have here between Forsyth and Wattenberg. Yeah, I think you've got to stay the course, right? Because, right, that's the center quarterback exchange as well. And like you mentioned, you're going into the toughest stretch of your season. You want to make a change between the battery mates, you know, and risk a potential botched snap or a bad snap or something like that being a reason why you potentially lose a one score game or give an extra possession to the other team. Like, that's not something that I would personally do. I know Luke did win the starting job at the beginning of the year, but it's a unique position because, I mean, he hadn't been the starter up until the beginning of this year. And now Alex Forsyth has done very well.

Starting point is 00:31:07 So I'm going to be fascinated to see what the Broncos do there, Cody, but I would just stay the course with Forsyth right now. And I've loved everything I've seen on film from Forsyth. It has been impressive. You haven't really seen anything where he's gotten pushed back or Dominique. Like he's been very good and he's been really, he's operated well next to Ben Powers and Quinn Miners. They have really good communication right now with that offensive line group.

Starting point is 00:31:29 I don't think you want to go in and change it right now. So we'll see what happens when he does officially return to the active roster here, Broncos country. But with that said, that'll wrap up today's episode of the show. The next time you will see Sarah or myself will be having you covered every step of the way here with the postgame report. The Broncos take on to Kansas City Chiefs at 11 o'clock a.m. Mountain time on Sunday.

Starting point is 00:31:49 Can they upset Kansas City? That is the hope. Can the Broncos extend their winning streak against the Chiefs to two games in a row? That's how crazy things have been over the course since Peyton Manning has retired here. But Broncos Country, we appreciate you so much. Thanks for making us your first listen. For your second, listen. Go check out lockdown NFL wherever.

Starting point is 00:32:06 you get your podcast. We'll see you for the postgame report, or unless there's breaking news before the game even begins. We'll have you covered here. Lock on Broncos.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Getting Reinforcements vs. Kansas City Chiefs, Secret Weapon Returning Soon?

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.