Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos SOFT TISSUE Injuries Impacting Key Players at Training Camp

Starting point is 00:00:00 Soft tissue injuries have popped up for the Denver Broncos, and it is a problem that Sean Payton wants to fix as soon as possible. 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? Cody Work here for another episode, Locked on Broncos. Today's episode is brought to you by Kauci for limited time. Download the Kauci app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade $10. On today's episode show, we got a lot to unpack. ahead of Tuesday's training camp practice.

Starting point is 00:00:37 The Broncos pass rush rotation is a very exciting problem to have right now. And we're seeing that on display in training camp just days away before Denver's preseason opener on Friday. Plus, an emphasis on one area of Bo Nix's game where he received a lot of criticism last year. Seems to be the focal point of this year's training camp. We're going to kick things off by talking about one of the bigger problems right now with your Denver Broncos. And that is soft tissue injuries are piling up for them over the course of the first two weeks

Starting point is 00:01:03 of training camp. is no exact pinpoint reason as to why they are taking place because for the Broncos, as of late in the last two years since Sean Payton has come aboard, since Bo Lowry has come aboard, the Broncos have been one of the least impacted teams in terms of games lost to a starter due to an injury over the last couple of seasons. They finished first and second and the categorical rankings dating back to 2023, 2024, and now obviously 2025. But now we've seen a string of soft tissue injuries kind of impact Broncos camp. And who are those players that we've seen get impacted by that. Jalen Waddle, obviously one of the first ones that we've seen pulled up with a strain.

Starting point is 00:01:39 And Sean Payton gave us a four to five day timeline. Now, he's not back out at practice just yet, but he is getting a lot of work in on the side field is walking normal without a limp compared to the first day where we did see him after. He suffered that initial strain. But you factor in that, you know, that into the equation. There's one. Marvin Mims pulling up with what we all believe is a groin. That's a second injury right there. Nate Adkins, kind of an undisclosed one, but we assume it's going to be soft tissue related. And you have other guys like Desaun McColo or even Sean Fresh Jr. that have popped up with what appear to be soft tissue injuries as well.

Starting point is 00:02:12 And now you're trying to figure, okay, what's going on? What's happening here? What's changed so far? And I'll tell you this, Broncos country, for those of you that have attended practice, I mean, obviously the stands that they created for fans, it's covered with shade, but you can still feel it's pretty hot out. This is the hottest training camp that I think I've been out in the last five to six years for this team specifically.

Starting point is 00:02:33 and even on days where there's cloud cover, the sun is just barreling through there. So it's muggy, it's humid. That obviously plays a little bit of a role into soft tissue injuries, right? Because you're losing a lot of sweat. But then what is the counter to that? Making sure you get enough electrolytes, making sure that your body is properly hydrated.

Starting point is 00:02:50 John, when he talked to us yesterday after practice at the podium, you know, it didn't really have, we don't know what the pinpoint answers, but we got to figure out what's going on, why this is popping up. And more importantly, they're being smart with guys in the whole return to play process. But that's why you have the side field work.

Starting point is 00:03:05 So you're not bringing a guy back quicker than he is. And I'd say if any of these players are popping up on the side field, that's generally a good sign versus not seeing them out there at practice at all. I think that would be a major concern. If they're not at practice, that's when you have to worry about them missing time. If they're on the side field, they're close. And that's always my rule of thumb here as we talk about injuries. But when you look at it, Sean even said we're looking at things that we're doing throughout

Starting point is 00:03:28 our process, our structure. The practice structure hasn't changed since Sean has come in, right? It's been the same exact thing where guys come out for training camp, right? You're going out before practice even begins. You're stretching. You're warming up. You're doing your own thing. Then you're going through the team-based walkthroughs where you have one team, you know, team on one side of the field,

Starting point is 00:03:46 your second and third team guys on the other side. And you're literally doing a walkthrough of offensive plays, defensive coverages. It is a walking pace. It's not fast-paced or anything like that. And then after that, you get into team stretch. And then after team stretch, players break off into their individual. individual drills, their position specific drills where they get in adequate work for about 15 to 25 minutes. And then between every period, you're hydrating. That's a big emphasis for this Bronco staff

Starting point is 00:04:13 as they have trainers. They have the people to water. They're encouraging hydration after every single period and every single session. So hydration really shouldn't be an issue here for this team, but it's something that does impact that when you talk about soft in stop tissue injuries popping up, you always just want to make sure you're hydrated because the amount of sweat you lose, especially in this heat that we've had in Denver, you have to replace that. You have to put that back into your body, whether it be through water and electrolytes, as I mentioned a little bit earlier. So the latest player to get impacted by this is J.K. Dobbins.

Starting point is 00:04:42 Sean Peyton told us yesterday at the podium after practice that it's a soft tissue. He didn't say a strain, but he said it's a soft tissue. But he also said that the Broncos approach with J.K. specifically in that practice on Monday was to be smart with it. So there is a practice here today. We'll see if J.K.'s back out there. I assume that he will be. I will say from my vantage point, this happened right before seven on seven even began here for Denver.

Starting point is 00:05:06 They did a little bit of an inside run period early on. And then after that, JK jogged inside. And once again, I mean, I felt like he was jogging. He was moving normal. And then the trainers were right behind him probably about 20 yards. But he ran inside of the facility and we did not see him return for practice. So when you have these things popping up, you just want to be smart with it because the last thing you want to do, if you have a nagging hamstring, right, that can set you back. Even though that guys in that locker room, if you talk to them, will tell you that they believe that Bo Lowry is the hamstring god, which he's done incredible work of getting guys back from some of those softer tissue injuries.

Starting point is 00:05:40 The Broncos are very smart. I mean, they have the technology that I think accelerates recovery. They have nutritionists that give players everything they need to refuel and replenish. And obviously, you know, encourage muscle growth and repair, things like that. They have sleep areas in there so that that's a big part of recovery as well is making sure you get adequate sleep. they have sleep stations inside their new $175 million facility. So it's just about being smart. Jalen Waddle popping up as one of those guys as well where we expect him to return here,

Starting point is 00:06:09 hopefully this week. Same thing with Marvin Mims. Marvin was back on the practice field on Monday folks in full pads, even though he did work on the side field. Pat Sertan did work on the side field. We don't know if that's just veteran day stuff, but fully dressed in pads doing work over there alongside Marvin Mims. Jordan Turner came off the non-football injury list with some undisclosed injury that he

Starting point is 00:06:29 had and he's back out there working on the side field and also observing during the team period. So the soft tissue injuries definitely the rate in which they're happening, I think is a concern to Sean Payton. Is there an overall concern right now that you're worried about guys missing time? I don't think so, especially here in the preseason. Look, if it's a starter, you can almost assume that they're going to be very smart with them, especially a guy who's a roster lock. They're not going to throw Jalen Waddle out in a preseason game and have him run all crazy if he's recovering from something. We may have to wait until week two of the preseason. season maybe to see jana but we'll have to wait and see i'll let that process play out i won't speak in any

Starting point is 00:07:03 definitives when it comes to that but i want to ask you all broncos countries you're watching today's episode show how concerned are you with the level of soft tissue injuries keep in mind we are seeing guys come back we're seeing guys participate on the side field which i think is a promising sign the concern for me over injuries would be if we're seeing major ligament ones right like matt hennington was kind of an anomaly towards achilles and a simple pass rush drill that he does against bags almost every day in individual period. And that's just a tough road for him. But the Broncos haven't had those types of injuries

Starting point is 00:07:35 at the rate in which we've seen other teams do it. So knock on wood, that they continue to stay healthy, but what is your level of concern right now on a scale of 1 to 10? Make sure you let's know here on today's episode locked on Broncos. But Broncos quarterback, Bo Nix, one area of his game,

Starting point is 00:07:48 I feel like he's improved the most coming of this off season is one of those areas that a lot of people on the outside, a lot of the pundits, they criticized him attacking in the middle of the field. That seems to be an emphasis for him. here in Broncos camp. We'll talk about how Bo and the Broncos offense were sharp during Monday's passing periods of practice. Matt Derry here from the Lockdown Lions podcast. You know, life insurance is one of those things. You don't really think about until you have a reason to.

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Starting point is 00:10:20 camp. Thanks for rocking with us here, Broncos Country. Every single day on the lockdown podcast, network, your team every day, the number one sports podcast network in the country. Let's jump into this topic here because the conversation around Bo Nix, I always find every year since he's been in the league right now going into year three. There are always these outside pundits. There are people who don't pay attention to the Broncos. There are people who certainly don't watch the Broncos. They look at nerd charts, as I like to call them.

Starting point is 00:10:46 They like to look at box scores. And then they like to look at heat map signatures. But they never actually watch the games. They're like, oh, Bo Nix does not like to attack the middle of the field. Folks, let's put things into perspective here. Why do we think Bo didn't have as many middle of the field passing attempts in his first two seasons in the NFL? So much of it has to do with your playmakers, your personnel around you. What's the number of the thing we've been talking about all offseason?

Starting point is 00:11:10 The Broncos have not had an effective run game. They get loaded box after loaded box. And the Broncos simply have not been able to run the ball since Boe has been here. And then you factor in J.K. Dobbins' injury taking place last year. Well, that changed everything. then defenses really said, hey, we dare you. We dare you to throw. A lot of the time the Broncos are running into zone cover teams.

Starting point is 00:11:29 They're not getting a ton of men. They will from time to time, especially when you get teams that love to blitz. They'll man up because they want to send five or six guys. And you've got to lock up at that point. You can't play zone when you're sending five, six, seven guys. But they are seeing a lot of instances where defenses are dropping seven guys back into coverage. And then when you factor in three man route concepts at times, depending on the personnel that you're in, if Denver's in 12 personnel.

Starting point is 00:11:52 They may only have three guys running around. 11 personnel. You have more variance for that. You could have three receivers and a tight end running around. Maybe the back's out on an outlet. But if the back has to check into protection, okay, well, now you only have four guys. And so you're getting these dropbacks, these primarily cover two, cover four, and some cover three zones where basically everyone is trying to prevent deep.

Starting point is 00:12:13 They're like, you know what? We want you defensively. We want you to throw the ball short. We believe that our defense can go rally and tackle and get the stop short. and get the stop short of the sticks. We want to take away the deep stuff. We want to prevent Cortland Sutton from going deep to making these big plays. Marvin Mims, Troy Franklin, you name the guys that have been on this roster for the last couple of years, right?

Starting point is 00:12:31 That has been the emphasis. Denver has never had another true weapon opposite of court to really take that pressure off of defenses. Well, now they do with J. Lin Wadle. So this is going to open some things up here. But so far here in training camp, we've seen Bow have this emphasis to him where he is attack in the middle of the field. And it doesn't matter if it's an in-breaking around by Pat. Bryant, Cortland Sutton, Troy Franklin, a tight end, or whoever's being guarded by Patrick Sertan the second, they are testing the middle of the field. And one thing I'm noticing with Bo,

Starting point is 00:13:00 and I touched on this just a couple of weeks ago, Boe seems to be thrown with more anticipation. He knows based on pre-snap reading the ball. And I think that's where the tempo factor of Davis who is going to come in. Bo was going to be getting to the line of scrimmage and he's not going to be getting the snap off with just one second on the clock. He's going to be able to get to the line of scrimmage because they've shrunken the verbiage so that the whole offense can be more efficient from the play call to getting to the line of scrimmage. And now you see Bo reading coverages a little bit better now coming into his third season, understanding the disguises, understanding where the blitz is coming from.

Starting point is 00:13:32 And based on that, because Bo is a super processor, he's a supercomputer, the dude has one of the highest football IQs that I've seen on a long time. And thankfully, he plays the quarterback position. But now you're seeing Bo diagnose this pre-snap where he knows where the safety is going to be. He knows where the underneath linebacker is going to be. And so based on the route or the play that they have called, he knows that this specific route, if you bring the tail back out, he knows that linebacker's going to have to cheat up.

Starting point is 00:13:58 He knows if you have one certain route over here, well, now you know that's going to draw that safety. So how do you attack it? Well, I know exactly if my receiver runs the right route at the right landmark. I know he's going to be at this spot. He needs to be there. And you're seeing both throw with more anticipation to those spots. And he had an incredible throw.

Starting point is 00:14:15 probably the best throw that I've seen so far here in training camp, and that came in Monday's practice. The Broncos in the team period. They had a couple of team periods. One of the team periods was a run game emphasis. The second one, though, was them throwing the football quite a bit. Now, early on here, and I'll get to the best throw of camp. But starting things off, Bo was looking for Cortland Sutton vertically down the left side

Starting point is 00:14:36 of the field, and Jadet Barron was face guarding him, so that drew a pass interference. So now you get to go on to your next play there. Play number two, Bo fires a shot on an out route to. Pat Bryan, who picks up the first down while working against Riley Moss in coverage. Play number three, you know what? We're going to go right back to Cortland Sutton working against Chris Ames-Drain. It's probably about 20 to 25 yards downfield on the back shoulder. One of those plays that we've seen Bow and Cortland really developed that chemistry with.

Starting point is 00:15:01 It's almost like they could play that play in that Rouse design specifically in the dark if they turn the lights off in the stadium. They have confidence in that connection between them. But it was the last throw that Boe had of the team period. That was the most jaw-dropping. And that was on a play to Troy. Franklin, probably about 20 to 25 yards downfield. Troy has an in-breaking route to the middle.

Starting point is 00:15:21 Bo put this beautiful touch on the football, and he threw an absolute dark to Troy where he timed it perfectly, his arming on the way he threw it. It launched it right over the top of Jayquan Macmillan, right in front of the safety, who was probably about five or six yards away to try to make a play on the football. And then you had a cornerback trailing underneath, right? So he floated this over three defenders into a. A middle of the field, tight window, it wasn't reckless either.

Starting point is 00:15:49 That's the point. Like, it's not a reckless throw. It was a calculated throw before those guys can converge and cover and try to get to the football. He allowed his receiver to make a play. So throw him with more anticipation, trusting in his arm. I think working on his release, which is something that's been an emphasis for him this off season. And I think I'm working on just being tighter with his base so he can have that velocity in the store because we already know he has the arm talent. It's just about combining the arm talent with maybe some things that will help you be a little bit quicker.

Starting point is 00:16:15 That is what Bo is trying to tackle here coming into this upcoming season. So I was impressed with his prowess in terms of just operating the offense, but also understanding, hey, I know exactly where I'm going versus I think Bo will even tell you himself, maybe his first season. He's looking and he's just trying to fit it into a window because, you know, he believes he's got the arm strength to do it, even though, hey, it's a risky throw. But we've seen Bo grow. And he's had some throws over his NFL career in the regular season where he's just like,

Starting point is 00:16:43 oh, my goodness. Remember the throw to Devon Valet against the Atlanta Falcons and Bowes rookie season? There was that. That throw that he had to Marvin Mims in his rookie season on Monday night football for a 93-yard touchdown. There's that. There are these window throws that he's making that he made in his first two seasons that was specifically off of armed talent. Now you're seeing the armed talent combined with tighter release, which allows him to have more velocity and zip on his throws and anticipation and confidence and knowing, hey, I know how to read the defense now. this should be there.

Starting point is 00:17:15 That's what I'm liking about where Bo has taken this next step in his game. I know Sean Payton, when you talk to him, you say, what's the next step? Sean doesn't like that. I try to avoid staying away from the next step terminology because it is kind of a cliche. But what is it that Bo has to do? I think Bo has to have the playmakers around him to attack the middle of the field a lot more. That's been the biggest thing in his first two seasons is the consistency in playmakers have not been there enough for him.

Starting point is 00:17:40 And now he's got a group of guys. And I think Pat Bryant is going to be one of the, these guys too that in the middle of the field, he and Jalen Water are probably going to eat a lot this upcoming season. That's what has me excited. But the passing game offense, a lot sharper here for the Broncos at Monday's practice. We'll see what it's like here at Tuesday's practice. As we get ready to head out to Del Valle for day number 12 of Broncos training camp. And that's just, what is it? Two practices, today's and tomorrow's. And then we got a preseason game, folks. And part of the excited about the preseason, we're going to see so many players. But for me,

Starting point is 00:18:11 the Broncos pass rush and the rotation that they had right there, might be the most exciting problem that this team has right now. And I'm excited to tell you why here on today's episode of the show. Today's episode of the show is brought to you of our friends over there at Indeed Sponsor Jobs. When workplace chaos hits in, you need the right hire. Indeed, sponsor jobs helps connect employers with candidates who match specific needs like skills,

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Starting point is 00:20:47 For more information, seecaushi.com slash regulatory. We are just three days away from the Debra Broncos preseason opening. And while there's a lot of excitement about getting our first look at rookies like Jonah Coleman, H. Casey, seeing if Bow Nix and the starters play any types of snaps here on Friday's preseason game. One of the most exciting things I have my eyes on is the Broncos past rush rotation because this has proven to be a very good problem for this team. so far throughout the first two weeks of training camp here. And I'll tell you why. You talk about Nick Benito and Jonathan Cooper right now.

Starting point is 00:21:17 Those are the top two guys. And obviously we're all very mindful of Jonathan Cooper's legal dilemma going on. He's going to have an arraignment, I believe, on the 31st of August, which he's going to set a plea, either guilty or not guilty. And then we'll see what happens there. We'll see what comes of the whole legal process. But he's been at training camp and he's been wreaking havoc when you talk about the pass rush. I mean, he's been one of those guys that's been consistently generating pressure off the edge. making big plays, coming up with run stuff as a tackle for a loss machine so far in Broncos

Starting point is 00:21:46 training camp, especially in some of the Broncos run game periods that they've had there. And then you've got Nick Benito, who was coming into the season fully healthy. Last year, he had the wrist injury that happened, I think, early on in week two. And then he played all season long with that wrist injury, had to clean up. He's been good since coming back from the ankle injury that he suffered last week at practice, has been at full pads and it's been a full go. And then you got guys behind those two, Dandre Tillman. Hugh Robinson, those guys getting a lot of reps.

Starting point is 00:22:14 Jonah Ellis. I mean, the Broncos are three deep behind their two starters who are very good at getting after the quarterback. And not only are they three deep, well, now they're four guys deep because Johnny Walker, Jr. has been impressing left and right. Drew Sanders has been turning up the dial a little bit for the last couple of practices that we've seen. And all of a sudden, coming into Friday's preseason opener, we're all excited to see,

Starting point is 00:22:36 can the Broncos just unleash their pass rush after the quarterbacks that Atlanta has? I don't know if Taur or Michael Pennix or any of those guys are going to play, but they're at to look at a lot of options because you're going to have, if Nick Benito and Jonathan Cooper play, they'll play probably a series, maybe at most in first preseason game, maybe two, depending on how things go in the first series. And then you're going to have Jonah Ellis and Q Robinson, probably being the first two guys up behind them.

Starting point is 00:23:02 I'm very curious to see what they do with Dondre Tumman, because primarily it was Jonah and Dondre last year. Dondre has been dealing with a hamstring injury that was bothering him through the first week or so of practice. He has since returned to practice in full capacity and hasn't been limited there. So does the rotation go back to that? And does Q Robinson find himself maybe rotating in every other play with one of those guys when those second team defensive guys come out?

Starting point is 00:23:26 And then you got Johnny Walker Jr., the second year pass rusher Adam Azou, who has been on an absolute tear. When we were talking about our notes and camp standouts like Johnny Walker Jr., in terms of guys that aren't necessarily on this 53-man roster, but could make a case for themselves. Johnny Walker Jr. at outside linebacker has made a very strong case for himself. And now we're going to see that translate,

Starting point is 00:23:48 maybe into some preseason action. But it's also another opportunity for Drew Sanders to continue to go out there and showcase what he can do because he has stacked, I think, three or four good practices in a row from my vantage point from the notes that I have from watching him where he's generated pressure on QB's. He and Johnny Walker Jr. together have actually been a fun duo to watch in some of these practice settings

Starting point is 00:24:07 and even in the move of the ball periods where you can't touch your course, quarterback, but they're getting there. They're getting sacks in real games. If that is how we're going to simulate it, they're getting home on that. And then you get to the whole concept of, okay, we want to see a lot more of Q Robinson this upcoming season. Okay. What does that look like?

Starting point is 00:24:25 Is there going to be a time where, let's say the Broncos defense, the starters, are in for, let's say, 10 to 15 snaps in this preseason opener? Oh, okay. Can you get Q. Robinson on the field opposite of Nick Benito for a couple of snaps. Then can you get Jonah Ellis on the field? Like can you rotate Nick Benito and Jonathan Cooper off the field for a couple of of plays just so these guys can get some run.

Starting point is 00:24:49 Because once you get later on into it, like the Broncos aren't going to risk Jonah Ellis. Jonah Ellis is a 53 man roster lock. They're not going to risk him. They're not going to risk Q Robinson, I believe. So you might see a lot of Dondre Tillman, Johnny Walker Jr. and Drew Sanders. And we'll see if Deshaun McColo can return from whatever soft tissue injury has been bothering him and held them out of practice for the last four practices. If he can make a return, well, then now you have another guy to throw into that mix there.

Starting point is 00:25:13 But a lot of work coming. And this is where guys have an opportunity to prove themselves to make a case for themselves on the active roster. And outside linebacker, it is going to be so hard outside of the top five guys that we've already discussed, Benito, Cooper, Jonah, Q, and Dondrey, it's going to be hard to upend one of those guys. And you're not going to carry six outside linebackers. Now, I understand.

Starting point is 00:25:36 we've got to be mindful that the Broncos might get some clarity on the Jonathan Cooper situation here soon. And maybe he misses games, right? Maybe he does. Now, if that's the case, well, that's where maybe you make the argument to where you sneak a guy through under your 53, knowing that, hey, we're going to have to make this change here. Cooper will end up on, you know, a list. If not, there's a chance that Cooper is not suspended. He plays in the 2026 NFL season.

Starting point is 00:26:00 The Broncos are looking and preparing for all of that. And right now, I'd say the one position that's going to give them the most trouble at trying to figure out how do we keep this guy, how do we not risk losing this guy to another team? It's coming at the outside linebacker position specifically. And I'm telling you, Broncos country, come Friday, I want you guys to pay attention to the pass horseshers. I want you to pay attention to number 59, Johnny Walker Jr., number 41, Drew Sanders, and of course the other guys in the rotation. But those guys are going to have more opportunities to make some big plays, I think,

Starting point is 00:26:30 as the course of the game goes on, and even in the next week's training camp as well. and even watching these guys on special teams, that will ultimately determine what happens and who makes the 53 men roster. It's a good problem to have. It's frustrating because I also think the Broncos are going to lose a really good pass rusher due to waivers, due to another team on a roster picking them up because of where they're at. And if this unit stays healthy, all of them right now in the preseason, there's going to be one or two guys that probably get plucked away.

Starting point is 00:26:58 And you have to run the risk of that, especially if you run into a numbers crunch at other positions. So I'm very curious to see how it all plays out. It's under my microscope. And I'm going to be paying attention to that as I go to today's practice here as well. But what I said, Broncos country, thanks for Rocking with us here on today's episode of the show. Just a quick reminder, a brand new announcement. I will be hosting a brand new show here on the Lockdown Podcast Network that's called Lockdown Broncos Hit.

Starting point is 00:27:21 You get short form podcasts and social content every single day. Nothing is going to change with my role here on the regular show. This is just additional stuff. So make sure you find it wherever you get your podcast. Locked-on Broncos hit for daily short hits of your favorite team. Plus, you get me here on the long-form stuff as well. Broncos Country, I appreciate you so much if you're a brand-new viewer-listener and you like today's show, hit that subscribe button or that follow button

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