Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos' Marvin Mims RETURNS, WR Snap Count Prediction

Starting point is 00:00:00 Denver Broncos wide receiver, Marvin Mims was back at practice on Monday, which is a good sign of his status for Sunday's game against Tennessee. We'll tell you what his role may be and more here on today's episode of the show. You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up, Broncos country? Welcome into another episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:35 Mims was back at practice on Monday for the Denver Broncos, which is a great sign regarding his status for Sunday season opener against the Tennessee Titans. We'll talk about his return to practice and we'll also dive a little bit deeper into Sean Peyton, the Broncos smart approach that they're taking with inside linebacker Drake Greenlaw. And on top, that we'll also discuss why Peyton is excited about the Broncos rushing offense here ahead of Sunday's game and why there's a sense of urgency to improve week after week in that specific category. You get all that here on today's episode of the show, which is brought you by our friends over there at Fandu.

Starting point is 00:01:08 Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. I'm Cody Roark, Broncos reporter from Mile High Sports. Join, as always, by Sarah Beninger, site expert over there, predominantly orange.com. Thanks once again to everyone in Broncos country. Thanks for tuning in, making us your first listen, however you choose to do so. Shout out to all the every dares out there in Broncos country. If you're not getting every day, become one here.

Starting point is 00:01:31 There, obviously great news on Monday. It was a national holiday. But for us, not really much of a holiday as we were out there working. We're covering the Denver Broncos. We're out there at practice. And I would say there are some good news here for Broncos country. We got to see number 19 back on the practice field, just as Sean Peyton said last week, whether that would be the case after the team had three days off with a three-day weekend beforehand.

Starting point is 00:01:54 Obviously, this is big news ahead of Sunday season opener against Tennessee. All signs appear to be good and go for Marvel. It's huge for the Denver Broncos and obviously their offense as a whole because we're expecting Marvin Mims to make a big leap forward this year as a wide receiver. We saw it over the course of the second half of last season where he ended up leading the team in yards after the catch. After really the first eight, nine weeks, Cody, you and I talked about it. And many people talked like, why is Marvin Mims playing less than 10 snaps? Why is he not getting targets? You know?

Starting point is 00:02:25 And then obviously towards the end of the year there, he really turned it on and has earned the trust, I would say. of this coaching staff overall, kind of felt like a weird dry spell, right? After that beginning of his rookie season and then kind of just disappearing over the second half, we all saw what he can do as a return specialist. But unfortunately, that wasn't translating to the offensive side of the ball

Starting point is 00:02:48 until late in the year when they kind of started getting him the ball in unique ways. And as Sean Payton said, you know, that confidence is born out of demonstrated ability. And once Marvin started showing that he could do it, man, he could do it all the time. And we saw him do it a lot over the course of those final

Starting point is 00:03:05 handful of games there. So really excited for him, but also very curious to see what an expanded role for him looks like because more work on the outside, maybe a little bit less in that gadget sort of role. It's going to be fascinating to see how the Broncos utilize him as a chess piece in this offense. And part of me is wondering, too, whether or not Sean reveals his hand as to what he's going to do with Marvin. I still think that there are wrinkles that they want to add to the mix with what Marvin can do. And I'm certain. excited to see that, but it does seem like he's going to be a major part of the offense, which, I mean, you talk about last year the numbers he put up and the touchdown stretch he went

Starting point is 00:03:39 on down, you know, down the line here for the Broncos to end 2024, Bo Nix's rookie season here. I found it interesting that Marvin had that big of an impact, though he played a limited amount of snaps compared to what he did his rookie season. Like, we were complaining in his rookie season about the looks he was or wasn't getting, and he played less snaps in his second year. So does that mean that we're going to see more snaps coming up here for Marr? of it. I think that's a huge question here. And I think it kind of really segues into our next talking point here is what will this

Starting point is 00:04:07 wide receiver rotation look like? You know, we could look at a depth chart, which I imagine the Broncos release that first step chart here this week, the official one. Still don't think we should read too much into it, especially with how Sean Peyton is. But I think I would be more curious to see what does the wide receiver snap count look like for all of these guys. I think it's easy for us to sit here right now and say, Cortland Sutton, he's going to lead the team and snaps at wide receiver here on Sunday against Tennessee.

Starting point is 00:04:33 But I'm curious to see who's going to get those second most reps because usually down the stretch there that actually became Devon Vele's role later on in the year, overtaken that from little Jordan Humphrey. So who steps up in your opinion? Who gets the second most snaps offensively here on Sunday? I have a feeling it's going to be Troy Franklin. Cody, I really do. I think his offseason, he, I believe that Troy, and I don't know this for a fact because

Starting point is 00:04:58 I'm not in the building, but I believe that Troy is the. reason that Devon Valey got traded. I think with his breakout off season, what he proved that he could do not only as a deep ball threat, but as a blocker in the running game, which we know we're going to talk about in today's episode, how excited Sean Payton is. But because he proved to be trustworthy in the run game as a blocker as well, I feel like we're going to see a lot of Troy Franklin here in week one. And I think it's going to be a decent amount of targets, but a lot of snaps, right? And that's where you really need somebody that can be an all-encompassing. seeing threat out there, somebody who doesn't necessarily give away what you're doing.

Starting point is 00:05:34 But I think when the Broncos have just two receivers on the field, I would be a little surprise. I know that maybe the odds would be in Marvin Mims's favor there. I would be a little surprise if it's not Troy Franklin, when the Broncos just have two wide receivers on the field. And it's Evan Ingram and, you know, maybe another tight end or, you know, however many backs they're going to use. I think Troy is going to be that guy that leads this team in snaps right behind

Starting point is 00:05:57 Corlin Sutton. Things have been trending that way. If people have been paying attention to the training camp practice reports we've been putting out, even watching the preseason with that first team offense, even against the Saints, it was primarily Cortland and Troy. Marvin was in the mix there, but those were the two guys. And it goes back to what Sean had said earlier on in training camp before Valey was traded. Sean was mentioning the roles that these guys are playing. Troy's playing that Z role.

Starting point is 00:06:21 He's also playing the slot. And Vali was playing the Z role. He was also playing the slot. So I would imagine, Sarah, that's probably the safest assumption where you're going to see. You're going to see Troy. I think you're going to see a ton of Evan Ingram. Obviously, I don't think Evan's going to come off the field hardly ever for the Broncos this season, which is a good thing. You want him to stay on the field.

Starting point is 00:06:40 You want him to be that anytime chess piece player there. And we'll see if maybe any of these running back can emerge and get their Joker wings as well here for Peyton. Let's break it down there. If we're going with Cortland and Troy at wide receiver with the most snaps that we anticipate here on Sunday at this position specifically, not including Evan Ingram here, who is third behind him? Is it Marvin? Is it Pat Bryant? I mean, that's what I'm kind of curious to see how this all plays out as well,

Starting point is 00:07:07 because we talk so much about the wide receiver pecking order. Sean doesn't believe that. He believes in roles. So I wonder what the rookie, what the rookie's role is going to be here on Sunday. I think that's going to be something interesting to watch here. I'm fascinated to find out too, because like you mentioned, Marvin's snap counts last year,

Starting point is 00:07:24 even though he produced at a high level down the stretch, he actually decreased in snap count and the percentage overall, which was down to 27% last year. So I think it's easy to kind of say right now, oh, well, obviously Marvin Mims will be one of the top three guys at receiver in snaps. But also you look back at last year and you kind of say, well, not so fast. I mean, they want to maximize his snaps obviously and they will. But yeah, I think there's a chance that it is Pat Bryant, right? Because Pat also showed during the preseason training camp that what everyone, including you, Cody was out there saying at training camp that, man, he is a quarterback's best friend out there.

Starting point is 00:08:01 He just kind of finds the way to the ball. Every time a quarterback drops back, he just has this almost unspoken trust with whoever was throwing him the ball. And I think he earned that with strong hands, the ability to make difficult contested catches. He gets open and scramble drill. He makes plays after the catch. He's just all around a trustworthy player even as a rookie. So I wouldn't be surprised the Broncos tried to kind of bring him along slowly, but also

Starting point is 00:08:26 shoot, maybe there's no better time for a, you know, throw him to the Lions Den, trial by fire, whatever you want to call it. I think Pat might be ready too for an increased snap count even in his first NFL game. And I'm curious as well, we'll be following along. I'll be catching our good friend Tyler Rowland over there at Lockdown Titans this week to kind of hear updates as to what the latest is on Ligeria Sneed at cornerback. Obviously, they traded for him from Kansas City and proved to be a valuable addition. But I know he just recently got activated off the PUP list not too long ago. So does that mean that he's going to be in line to play here against Denver in week one,

Starting point is 00:09:01 you know, in an AFC game, which, hey, the stakes are always high. It doesn't matter. AFC games, got to take care of business in that category here. If you were the Broncos, quick little note here as well, there was a guest at Broncos practice on Monday. John Gruden was visiting Sean Payton. As we know, they had a friendly wager this past week as Eastern Illinois took on Dayton in football, Eastern Illinois, obviously won that one. So I wonder if John was in town to maybe pay up or, you know, to have to have to.

Starting point is 00:09:25 to deal with that bet there to Sean or also if it's part of Gruden's season preview that he's doing over there for the work that he's doing in the media world right now. So it was cool to see Spider 2, Why Banana Practice. Obviously, he and Sean are very good friends and we'll see what people make of that going forward here. But Broncos country, we're not done. We've got a lot to talk about still here on today's episode of the show.

Starting point is 00:09:47 We heard from Sean Payton in a Monday conference call there, and he told us why the Broncos are taking a smart and conservative approach with inside linebacker, Dre Greenlaw. We'll share that and much more here on today's episode of the show. This episode is presented by Yahoo Fantasy. The NFL season is right around the corner this Sunday, and you can fill the buzz. Fantasy football season is also here.

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Starting point is 00:11:38 transaction. So Broncos country, we're going to tell you why a conservative approach for Dre Greenlaw and maybe a couple of others on this defense or on this roster is really the wise approach by the Denver Broncos. But I want to say quick thank you to all of you that make us your first listen of the day every single day. If you're not already an everyday listener of lockdown Broncos, we'd appreciate so much. You take a couple of seconds. Hit follow wherever you listen to podcasts and subscribe on YouTube as well. Cody, let's talk about why the smart approach with Dre Greenlaw is maybe to withhold a little

Starting point is 00:12:09 bit of instant gratification. I know that obviously everybody, you know, knew coming in that Drey Greenlaw had a bit of an extensive recent injury history, right? I mean, had the Achilles injury in the Super Bowl a couple of seasons ago. Then last year just really appeared in one full game and then a little bit of a second game. So not a lot of playing over the last two years. And then he has the pulled quad in the offseason. And then he's kind of held out during the preseason and a little bit of training camp.

Starting point is 00:12:38 So understandably, I think a lot of the fan base is maybe even skeptical of what he's going to do and worried now that the team is taking a conservative approach with playing him. in week one. Why do you say that's the wise move? I think you have to protect your investment, right? You made it. It was a strong one. It was certainly a gamble, too, knowing what Dre's recent injury history was, you know, all that to say, though, even though those injuries happened to him and yes, he had the scare in April when he pulled his quad while working out, you know, the Broncos, they want to get him to the regular season. The goal is to, if they want to get

Starting point is 00:13:10 to the Super Bowl, the goal is to have Dre Greenlaw there and ready and available to play. And I think it's smart because even when Sean mentioned it last week in the media Grum before everything, you know, gets to the regular season schedule. He brought up the idea, and you and I talked about this, of maybe having Alex Singleton and Dre Greenlaw on a pitch count here. And that's not to say like, okay, hey, if these guys play, you know, three snaps on one series and, you know, the defense gets off the field. They force the three and out.

Starting point is 00:13:37 Okay, now we're going to put a new crop of linebackers in. The idea here, I think, doesn't apply. And we'll find out obviously here on Sunday. But I think that we'll see Alex and Dre play quite a bit. Now, if you get to a point where your defense is on the field for 70 snaps against Titans, that right there is a problem in and of itself. But Sean said last week, we don't want to put these guys in for 70 snaps week one. We want to be smart with it because the goal is to have them throughout the entire season.

Starting point is 00:14:03 We caught up with Broncos head coach Sean Payton on Monday in a conference call. Here's what he had to say about the team's approach here with Greenlaw and how we see it playing out. And ultimately what the team's goal is for him. He hadn't played in the preseason, but he's got a lot. of work. We are being smart. We're being conservative relative to the approach. It's a long season. And so, you know, most importantly, having him not only healthy early on, but for the long haul is the goal. Bow and his staff do a great job of that better than anyone in the league. And so I think with each player, you have to treat them accordingly relative to the injuries,

Starting point is 00:14:55 the injury history, the position they play. And yeah, is there always risk when you're, when you're lining up out there playing a position like that? There certainly is. But he's very much in tune to what we're doing. I think that's a smart approach by the Broncos, Cody, and it should excite fans. Honestly, it should be the most exciting thing to hear him talking about this team, taking a longer term, more conservative approach because it really backs up the fact that he believes that this team can be playing deep into the season. Like you said, if the Broncos go on a run here, shoot, they don't want to be without

Starting point is 00:15:32 Drake Greenlaw because they were like, well, we got to play as, you know, we got to play him as much as we possibly can in the first two weeks because we're so desperate. they're not taking a desperate approach here. They're taking a measured conservative approach. He's going to play. He got work in the offseason. Nobody is more in tune to his medical right now than the Denver Broncos. And obviously, with the way that they're approaching this, the end goal is in mind.

Starting point is 00:15:57 That's the big thing. That's the most important thing. You're playing with the end goal in mind of getting to the Super Bowl. Now, you've got to win games to get there, obviously. And he's going to help you do that. But you want him to help you all along the world. way, not just for part of the journey. Well, and I think that's why they're very comfortable right now of playing Justin

Starting point is 00:16:17 Sternard, if they need to, you know, will they play Corinne Reed, so to speak, necessarily as a rookie? I don't know. I mean, I would be a little shocked if that was the case in terms of this lineback rotation, whereas I think what we may see here this week, I'll give an early prediction. I think that you'll see guys like Lavelle Bailey, maybe Jordan Turner, maybe one of the two of those guys will get that call up there essentially from the practice.

Starting point is 00:16:40 the squad to game day elevation. Lavelle obviously has some experience. Is it a lot? No, but he's been working with that defense quite a bit here as a primary guy behind Sternot or alongside him throughout the preseason and all throughout training camp when Alex and Dre were not on the field yet when they were having days off. Or if they were, you know, being brought along, you know, in a smart way here as they have all offseason long, I think that they are okay right now saying, yeah, if we have to play

Starting point is 00:17:07 Justinad and elevate Lavelle Bailey to get some. reps into play. Yeah, we're okay. We can certainly do that. And there might even be times where you could see maybe the Broncos defense is on the field for nine or ten plays on one series. Let's hope that they can get off quick, right? That's the goal. You don't want to be on the field that long, regardless. And let's say that is the situation, though. Maybe you take singleton off the field for one series, Greenlaw off, just to be safe. Because every time you're on the field, you run and inherit risk. Sean acknowledged it. And it's like you can't be scared to put them out there, but I think you have to be smart with it. Right. And I think so much of it is,

Starting point is 00:17:45 okay, after that first series, these guys come off. Hey, how do they feel? How are you feeling? If they're feeling good, okay, let them rock and roll. If you get to the point where you're like 60 snaps defensively, 70 snaps defensively, then you dial the curtain back a little bit. But hopefully the Broncos aren't in a situation where it's so close of a game late. If Denver's on the field that many times and it's close late in the fourth quarter and you need those guys on the field, are you really going to pull them off the field in a potential game ceiling scenario. I can't see it.

Starting point is 00:18:11 I can't see it at all. Yeah, I can't either, Cody. I think it's a little bit different. I know that Sean used the analogy of a pitch count, right? But it's a little bit different than that because, like, yeah, the Cubs have this rookie pitcher this year who he's never played a full MLB season before. He's awesome. He's been pitching really well.

Starting point is 00:18:28 But every game that he goes out there, there's like a certain number that they're like, you ain't going past this. So if it's five innings, if it's seven, I don't think it's going to be like that with these guys, right? like you said, in clutch situations or, you know, depending on the circumstances. But it's fair to mention that Dre Greenlaw also has not played on a full-time basis since 23. So at the same time of, yes, we want to make sure he's out there for the big moments. Also got to keep in mind here that he's going to, as the season goes along, his body will get

Starting point is 00:18:58 more and more used to something that he used to do. He hasn't done this. Anybody that's listening to the show that hasn't done anything since 2023, you want to pick it right back up right now. Like if you haven't been in the gym or your body has like he's talking, why you call me out like that? Yeah, right. Cody, get back to the gym. It's been since 2023. No, I'm just kidding. I didn't go to the gym. I didn't go to a gym class for for three months since my wedding began. I went, I went back to my gym that I go to and went to a class and it killed me. So, I mean, I get I know exactly what you're talking about. You were calling me out. Exactly. Dude, I didn't even mean to do that. Look at that. That was just a perfect timing sort of

Starting point is 00:19:36 situation there. But yeah, I mean, it's the same type of deal. Like he's been practicing. He's been rehabbing, but there's a big difference between those things and playing football, which the last time, again, 2023, he played 89% of the snaps for the 49ers. So really, really big, you know, overarching context that needs to be considered when thinking about Drake Greenlaw, simply playing against the Tennessee Titans. And the goal is for him to play week one. The goal is for him to play in the Super Bowl potentially, but all season long, the Broncos want him around. So the approach right now is smart. The Broncos, they're taking that approach here.

Starting point is 00:20:10 So we'll see how it all plays out here. Broncos country. Let's know your thoughts here on Drey Greenlaw here on today's episode of the show. But we're not done yet. Broncos country. We still got a lot to break down as game week is officially here. And we'll go through. And Sean Payton will tell you himself,

Starting point is 00:20:22 while he's excited about this team's run game, even though that there were some mixed results during the preseason. You'll get that much more here on today's episode of the show. Today's episode, Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by friends over there at Fandu. And as you all know, Fandu, They are America's number one sportsbook. The NFL season is here this week. And Fanduil is making sure that you're ready for kickoff with a can't miss offer.

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Starting point is 00:22:09 Offers vary by user and location. Go to upside.com for terms and conditions. The run game is going to be very important here for Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos as they open up this season against the Tennessee Titans. And it's something that they want to prove on quickly from week one to week two, so on and so forth. And certainly it's an area that Broncos country wants to see much more efficient operation from this season. We'll dive into the Broncos run game here in a little bit more.

Starting point is 00:22:33 on today's episode of the show real quick. I want to say thanks once again to to everyone of Broncos country, all the everydayers. Thanks for tuning and making us your first listen. However, you choose to do so, Sarah, everyone is wondering about the run game, right? I think we're all excited to see Bo Nicks on Sunday. I think we're excited to see the Broncos defense. But the biggest question, can we finally get excited about this rushing attack here? We didn't see J.K. Dobbins in the preseason.

Starting point is 00:22:57 We saw a lot of RJ Harvey. And certainly there were times where the Broncos with the first team offense, the run game didn't look great in particular the last game against the New Orleans Saints. When the starting offense was in, they had five rushing attempts for four yards. So it wasn't where it wanted to be, but broke down the film. I showed you what went wrong in the blocking with also the run. You can see all that as well. But, you know, your thoughts here about this run game because we don't know exactly what that

Starting point is 00:23:21 rotation is going to look like. We know there's four backs on the 53. We imagine it's going to be JK and RJ. And then probably a sprinkle of Jalil and then maybe Tyler Badee inside the kick game or maybe it's those last two roles. are reversed, but a lot of questions that we'll have answered here this week. Yeah, to keep the pitching analogies going a little bit here, Cody, I want to see this running game when it's settled in. You know what I'm saying? Like a pitcher might get off to a shaky star,

Starting point is 00:23:46 but when he settles in, he gets dialed in. Man, that's when you really start to see some good stuff happen. So I'm giving the Broncos right now the benefit of the doubt because we haven't seen J.K. Dobbins and because they have not had the opportunity to really settle in as a, you know, they're running game, what they're executing, what they're trying to execute over the course of a game. Yes, we want to see them start hot. Yes, we want to see them start ripping off 10 yard, you know, 20 yard, 30 yard runs right out of the gates. But at the same time, once they settle in, that's what I'm excited to see is when they get into the flow of a game, when you get into Sean Payton's, okay, now he's not just trying to call plays to get guys involved in the game. But now we're calling plays to play the chess game against another team. We're getting that, you know, that extra. offensive linemen out there. We're getting the two tight-end sets. We're disguising things.

Starting point is 00:24:35 I know we didn't see a ton of that stuff in the preseason because the starters only got so many snaps to play. But now when you're getting to the regular season, let's see how these guys settle in. That's what I'm excited for. And I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt after a rocky preseason. What's going to be different this week compared to what we saw in the preseason is that Denver is actually game planning for their opponent. They're looking at the front that the Titans are running. They're going to look at the different looks that they could come out into counter some of their certain personnel formations that they bring out. And there's going to be a plan here. If they come out in an overfront, we're going to block it

Starting point is 00:25:06 this way. If they're going to come out in an under, if they're coming out even, we're going to have to figure out where our landmarks are. And so much of it is dependent upon scheme, whereas we saw the Broncos just going out in the preseason, not preparing for a particular front or a scheme. That I wonder is, what's that going to look like? And how can you maybe garner a little bit of that from what the Titans ran in the preseason because they themselves will also run vanilla concepts. So you're going to have to learn on the fly. You're going to have to look at Callahan's history as a play caller and what he was able to do in the different destinations he's been.

Starting point is 00:25:38 I think that's going to be a very big key here this week for the Broncos, especially if they want to get the run game going here. But here's what Sean Payton said in his Monday conference call with us about the run game, where they're at and obviously what they want to do on a week-to-week basis. Well, I think as everyone enters the regular season, 32 teams, will be a work in progress. We talk about it all the time that that accelerated learning after week one, two, three, even week four.

Starting point is 00:26:05 But we have like what we've seen from the running game and from our personnel from that perspective. So, you know, we get a chance to see it first this weekend. Once again, playing the long game, right? I mean, obviously we talked about it with Dre Greenlaw, but the same is true of the running game offensively. I mean, if the team's not panicking at this point and they shouldn't be because no games have even been played yet.

Starting point is 00:26:28 I mean, it's fair, I think, for fans to be a little skeptical after last year, right, Cody? Because Javante Williams has the lead back for this team the past two seasons. That wasn't cutting it. We haven't seen a hundred-yard rusher since Latavius Murray late in the 2022 season when Jerry Rosberg was the interim head coach. I mean, it feels like a lifetime ago since this team had a truly consistent, competent, effective, efficient running game. And now's the time to get it going because Bo Nix and that defense,

Starting point is 00:26:56 they're going to need it that's going to make everybody better. Will we see it though, too? I mean, that's our question. If we look at Sean's history in New Orleans, Alvin Camara never ran for 1,000 yards. Now, of course, he had over 1,000 all-purpose yards on a handful of seasons, which led to him getting a major payday. And obviously, he's very efficient as a touchdown producer there.

Starting point is 00:27:13 But will we see that finally here in the Mile High City? Will we see that with someone that Sean Payton is leaning heavily on, whether that's J.K. Dobbins or R.J. Harvey. But if it's a true committee approach, I'm very curious to see what that's going to look like here going forward. And we're fixing to find out because look, you got to go against Jeffrey Simmons to Vondrey Sweat, former Bronco Cody Barton, former Bronco, Draymond Jones as well. These guys are going to look to plug the run here and force Bow Nix in this offense to go

Starting point is 00:27:40 through and try to throw it all game, which if you can find a way to just get that run game going, make them bleed a little bit, wear them down. That's going to help out so much. It's going to open everything up in your playbook. We hope to see that here. But I also felt like it was interesting in Sean's Monday conference, call. We talking about one of the Broncos country's fan favorite unicorns

Starting point is 00:27:58 at this point here. A.T. Perry who obviously had an injury. He had surgery. He missed the start of training camp, but he kind of gradually worked his way back. And we saw him play in his first NFL game action as a Bronco against the Saints here. He made it on the practice squad. Sean said that he had a very, very strong spring

Starting point is 00:28:15 before he had the knee injury that required him to get surgery. I found that to be a little interesting. Here's what Sean had to say. Yeah, I would say quite a bit. He was having a real good spring, kind of an accelerated spring before the injury. And then it's always frustrating for a player like that that has that type of setback as he's trying to make the roster. But he's participating now.

Starting point is 00:28:40 He's developmental. He's long. He's got good strong hands. So we've been encouraged and it's good to have him back on the field healthy. It'll be interesting to see if he really gets an opportunity this season, Cody, because obviously now you traded away Devon Vele, the plan initially seemed to be to keep six wide receivers. Maybe A.T. Perry is that sixth guy. You and I talked about that as we were speculating about the roster. Obviously, he didn't make the 53, but I wouldn't be surprised if he is that sixth guy, because like you mentioned previously,

Starting point is 00:29:11 Michael Bandy's never been called up for a game before. I mean, even though the Broncos have had needs at the receiver position, A.T. Perry had four touchdowns as a rookie. Average is like 20-something yards per reception. I mean, has produced in real NFL games against real NFL corners. I wouldn't be surprised if maybe he does get an opportunity at some point. Well, and Sean has always said too, and George Payton even echoed the sentiment that they believe that their practice squad is an extension of their 53 man roster. That's how they view it, which I hope one day the NFL changes the rules and allows that. In my opinion, yes, you can be a practice squad guy. You can develop.

Starting point is 00:29:46 But I feel like if you are on a team, you should have the opportunity to dress without these crazy limitations. things like that. I hope the NFL finds a way to resolve that one day. But maybe we will see A.T. Perry here this year. And obviously, if there is an injury that pops up, I think his six foot five size, his explosiveness, the speed that he has. I've seen it. It's exciting. And obviously, Cody Rager has seen it. Pete Carmichael on staff has seen it. Sean Payton has seen it. And there's some excitement around this young player. And there's a reason why they're sticking with him. And, you know, Sean even called him, as you mentioned, a developmental player. He's someone that could maybe play in two years from now for this team. maybe even this year, if called upon. That's where the Broncos roster is at. That's a good strength about the sign of the depth that they have. And I think it's a great spot for them to be in. But Broncos Country, that'll wrap today's episode of show here on the Lockdown Broncos podcast, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:30:36 We appreciate you so much for rocking with us, all the everydayers, all the first listeners out there. We've got a lot coming your way here still this week. You're going to get a crossover episode with Sarah and Tyler Rowland of Lockedon Titans for Thursdays, Crossover Thursday special. But we're going to continue to go through some of the superlatives going into this. week. What's going on in Tennessee? We're going to get a little bit of an early preview at what we want to see. And tomorrow's episode, Lock on Broncos. We'll see you then.

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