Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - TEMPERS FLARE as Denver Broncos' Bo Nix, Nik Bonitto Lead Intense, Competitive Practice

Starting point is 00:00:00 Tuesday's Broncos practice with the chippiest one I've seen in the Sean Payton era, and QB1 wasn't backing down. 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? Happy Wednesday. Cody Orick, Sarah Bedinger here for another episode, Locked on Broncos.

Starting point is 00:00:27 Today's episode show is brought to you by Kaushi. For a limited time, download the Kauci app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade $10. Broncos practice on Tuesday was the chippiest I've ever seen in the Sean Payton era. We'll also go through and talk about Jadae Barron, how he's rewriting the narrative. And Vance Joseph outlines a plan for him. Plus, Davis Webb, Bo Nix, they'll get their first chance to actually work together in a real NFL game setting from play caller to quarterback relationship. We heard from them. We'll talk about that. We're going to kick things off by talking about the chippiest practice that you've ever heard of in Broncos' country history.

Starting point is 00:01:03 maybe not in history, but in recent memory, the most chippiest practice I've ever seen here, at least in the Sean Payton era, Sarah. Tell you what, it was crazy. I don't even know where to begin, but emotions were high. It was an ultra-competitive day. It was hot as heck. And I just think ultimately when you're day 15 into training camp, tempers and emotions eventually boil over. And at this point, we'd normally see the Broncos in a joint practice with another team.

Starting point is 00:01:28 With that not being the case, we almost saw the joint practice vibes take place during Tuesday's practice. The tradition has to be carried on somehow, some way, right? Without a joint practice, you know, you got to still have some type of fight at training camp. It's just not right if you don't have one. So, but all joking aside, Cody, actually not all joking aside. I posted this on my Twitter page. Like, it's funny, the Raiders have their training camp fight where Max Crosby and, you know, Kurt Cousins are getting into it.

Starting point is 00:01:56 And I'm sitting there thinking to myself, man, what an idiot. Like, this guy is punching out his new quarterback. And these guys, like, you don't touch the quarterback. that's something you don't do during practice. Like obviously he doesn't want to be there. And then the Broncos have an in practice fight during training camp between their quarterback. And it sounds like he was pulling Nick Bonito off of a pile

Starting point is 00:02:14 and was like upset about getting hit himself. And then of course my thought is like, well, shoot, like these guys are brothers, man. This is what brothers do. They fight. They love each other. So it's just funny. I mean, of course your fandom comes out in situations like this where you perceive it in certain ways.

Starting point is 00:02:29 But tell us about that. Like you mentioned, Bo Nix didn't back down. Like he obviously took issue with getting hit in practice a little bit, rightly so. But to have him mix it up a little bit, especially even with Nick Benito, like I'm fascinated to hear how this all went down. Yeah, I mean, where do you even begin? It was kind of a chippy all across the board. Early on in the practice, Justin Jolie got a little chippy and started a little skirmish with a defensive guy. Then all of a sudden it was Justin Jolie versus four defensive guys.

Starting point is 00:02:56 And I was like, it's probably not a wise decision. You got Tori and York laying out Justin Jolie on a on a pass. play. I mean, J.K. Dobbins taking a shot from Alex Singleton. It was a let the bodies hit the floor type of practice. It was almost like this is, this has too much of a scrimmage vibe without the structure of a scrimmage because it's chippy guys are hitting each other. It was good. It's good physicality. I mean, the Broncos offense, they were going through one of the periods. They were beating the Broncos defense in the red zone period. Cortland Sutton scores. The whole offense runs down there into the end zone. They wait for Cortland Sutton. He spikes and they go boom. It just the emotions were there. And the fans,

Starting point is 00:03:32 they got an absolute show. So if you're one of the fans that are out there, let's know your thoughts on it from your vantage point. But to the point of what happened with like Benito and Bo, I want to provide some clarity on that. It's not like Nick intentionally went out of his way to hit Bow. I think a lot of people were wondering about that. So what happened was Nick Benito, you know how fast this first step is, right?

Starting point is 00:03:53 We've talked about it. We've seen it. He timed up a snap so perfectly. He's got Evan Ingram out there that's trying to block him. He's going to try to chip him and then release. Benito does like that shoulder, that twist where he bends around the corner at unbelievable speed. And the chip from the tight end supposed to help the offensive tackle, Garrett Bulls, reset and be able to get hands and reroute Benito. No, did not happen at all.

Starting point is 00:04:17 Benito is climbing upfield and Garrett is trying to work his way inside. And then all of a sudden you got Malcolm Roach pushing the interior of the offensive line. The guard is kind of coming back. So Bow has to climb back into the pocket a little bit, right? You have to step back. The timing was terrible because as Benito's, coming around. He's coming around to try to, you know, stick his hand out, not touch the QB, but then he kind of gets pushed, you know, Bo gets pushed into Benito. So then you have Benito

Starting point is 00:04:40 hitting Bo in the back because he gets pushed there. And then you got a Malcolm Roach, Nick Benito, offensive guard and Bo Nick sandwich right there in the middle. And Bo falls to the ground. So Bo took exception. I was like, what the heck? It wasn't intentional in my opinion from my vantage point. I was right behind it from my perspective. And then Bo throws the ball of Malcolm Roach and it's like John. So like they were just talking. And then Then, Bo is dropping back to pass on one specific play. Alex Singleton intercepts a pass and is starting to return it up to silent. RJ Harvey comes out, punches the football out from behind, recovers the interception fumble.

Starting point is 00:05:16 And then, but all of a sudden, the attention goes away from that because there's a huge pile. And all of a sudden, you see Bo Nick's trying to grab Nick Benito off the pile. You see teammates pulling everybody back. Mike McGlinchie's throwing a jab just like what the heck is going on. It's chaos. It's almost like the grocery store. analogy. It's like you go there and like the toilet paper and aisle 5 is on fire. And it's like what the heck is going on here. That's what it felt like in the moment.

Starting point is 00:05:40 It was just obviously heated emotions. I don't think there was any ill intent, but it was just chippy. And it kind of goes back to initial like that first time when Beau got hit, right? The Benito was getting into it with the offensive lineman. Bonito actually got pulled out. Like the coaches pulled him out of practice at that point, had him cool off on the sideline. What happened was after the interception, Benito runs out on the. the field, no helmet, and he's just jawing with the offensive guys. And so guys are like taking exception to them. That's where like there was a pile. Calvin Throckmorton's getting out of the pile. He's got an ice pack and blood coming down his head. It's like, what the heck is going on? It was,

Starting point is 00:06:14 it was crazy. It was competitive. But Sarah, this is football, right? And I do like how Sean Payton, well, we didn't hear from Sean, but I'm sure that was his message after practice because we heard it from Vance Joseph. We heard it from Davis Webb at the podium where they said there's a certain line, we can't cross it. And so it seems like that was addressed. But Bo Nix, not shy, not shy after, you know, going after a guy like Benito. These guys love each other, right? And they, they ended up shaking hands and dapping each other, hugging each other up afterwards. It's just tensions get high sometimes. But certainly, man, Tuesday's practice. It was a show. Well, and here's what I do. I mean, you don't want anybody getting into fights, right? Not necessarily.

Starting point is 00:06:54 I mean, you like the competitive spirit behind all of it. And you like the fact that, hey, these guys, they've got that chip on their shoulder. And Bo Nix said it, I think it was, we, you know, lip reading during a game against the Raiders where he put the laser eyes on and he's like, I don't fear nothing, you know. And I like that from the quarterback who will do that and get in the mix of those types of things, not because I want my quarterback to be hot-headed or to be just ready to fight at all times. But like, you know, he's got that sort of mentality where nothing gets under his skin to the point that he's not willing to do something about it, right? He's not going to sit there and just

Starting point is 00:07:31 talk smack and then, you know, not back it up in some way. So I don't mind it. I mean, all as well that ends well, right? Because nobody's ultimately, you know, injured like Bo Nix is not injured because of it. But I think you want to see the competitive spirit more than anything. And that's what the coaches were alluding to, like you mentioned in their press conferences. You can't cross that line of, you know, getting into an actual fight or doing something stupid that could actually cost the team. But I think when you do, you don't have joint practices. You've only got one preseason game. Not everybody plays. It's the heat of summer. You're ready for the season to start. Like all those things do add up. And I mean, it's, it almost feels like this team is following the script,

Starting point is 00:08:12 right? It's just like everything that's, it's all there. Like the remember the Titans analogies, the Gettysburg stuff. We've already talked about all these things. It's all there. Everything is shaping up for this team to galvanize and go win a championship this year. That's what I'm, that's the lens I'm seeing this all through. Well, when you mentioned that, that's exactly what I was going to bring up. It reminded me of remember the Titans, you know, these guys have been in summer camp, like they're going there, like they're, they're fighting with each other. This and that, though I would say the, it's probably the opposite because they were fighting

Starting point is 00:08:42 at the beginning of camp and then they came together as a team. They've been together as a team. The Broncos have since camp. And it's just one of those days where it's like, all right, we're getting tired of just being around these guys all the time. Like, it's physical. It's hot. We're on day 15 to training camp.

Starting point is 00:08:56 We get to see each other in practices two times a day because the Broncos hold one practice and they hold a walk through later on. It's just a lot of a lot of stuff. But ultimately, at the end of the day, the number one thing that matters is that this is a locker room that loves each other. It's competitive and the good news out of everything. Nick Benito did not try to throw any punches towards Bow and Bowden try to throw any punches towards Nick.

Starting point is 00:09:16 It was a lot of John and like hold me back type stuff. But there was no swing in, no none of that stuff. I know some people are going to try to drum that up. But it was a, once again, I was just say it was a show. It was a show. It was a treat to see. But it was also good because I felt like on the day, the Broncos offense and the Broncos defense, they were so competitive with one another.

Starting point is 00:09:35 And this specific practice, they were going through and make it plays. Defense was winning one period. Offense is winning the next. Like it was just back and forth. And it was good, chippy trash talk. It's competitive. That's what I love about football. And at the end of the day, these guys are going to have a nice little kumbaya and the team meeting.

Starting point is 00:09:50 I'm sure there are going to be some laughs at the end of it when go back and they reveal the footage of all the craziness that did take place here. But Broncos Country, we got to hear from Davis Webb, who spoke with the media, talked about the standard here for the Broncos offense, but more importantly, how he and Bo Nix will plan to build chemistry together in their first actual game as the relationship between play caller and quarterback. Today's episode, Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by Kalshi. Before every season begins, everyone's making predictions, especially with football coming up,

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Starting point is 00:11:06 Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Kashi products are not available in all jurisdictions, prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see kouchi.com slash regulatory. Davis Webb has been labeled the mad scientist. We've got to see what the mad scientist is cooking up in terms of some chemistry with his starting quarterback for the very first time. These two are going to be working together as play caller and quarterback for a preseason game. We always have to add the caveat there.

Starting point is 00:11:36 But Broncos Country, we finally get to see it in action. We're going to talk about what that means as well as what to expect for this preseason matchup against the Packers. Cody, let's talk about it. What are your thoughts on this? I enjoyed listening to Davis. Obviously, it's a little bit different this year listening to him at the podium versus Joe Lombardi. I think there's a lot more just general intrigue around Davis Webb and kind of his perception, his relationship with Bo Nix.

Starting point is 00:12:00 I am really excited to see what these two have cooking up because in the two opportunities that we've seen Davis calling plays now for Jarrett Stidham in the preseason, it's been just, I mean, wildly successful. Jared, like, he has done very well with Davis calling the plays. So Bo, I think has some kind of, I don't know, big shoes to kind of live up to. at this point I'm not saying he has to live up to what Jared Stiddam's done, but you know what I'm saying? Like they go down, they score on the opening drive. You know, they, they're dominating the Falcons defense.

Starting point is 00:12:32 They're picking them apart with big chunk plays. What are your expectations for the chemistry between these two in their relationship as play caller and quarterback in game action? Yeah, it's interesting because like this past week against Atlanta, right? Bo has like a little headset, like a little mini earpiece where he can hear Davis giving the play call to the quarterback. He hears the coaches that are up in the box. Like he gets to hear it. So he gets to see the process maybe for how Jarrett is getting the calls from Davis in that specific point. Now for for Bo he's going in there.

Starting point is 00:13:01 And I like that Davis made this funny analogy. He said, you know, sometimes, you know, when talk about the player, the play call, it's like green eggs and ham. He said, and then sometimes it's like the fourth Harry Potter book. I've never read Harry Potter. I've never read the fourth book. So I don't know what the heck that means. I guess only real ones know that have. So let us know in the comments.

Starting point is 00:13:17 If you know what Davis was talking about there, I imagine it has something to do with, you know, sometimes things can be complicated from the play. call standpoint, like getting it all out and things like that. But one thing that Davis has mentioned is the, just the relationship that he has with Bow. And the way that I've seen him coach so far, at least on the sideline during practice, to me, for Bo it's about coming out on Friday's game and just feeling comfortable again, right? I think people are forgetting Bo hasn't played football since January.

Starting point is 00:13:41 This is his first game back since the injury. And ironically enough, you're going to the same place. Luckily, it's at home, but it's the same place where the injury took place. Part of me wonder is like the athlete process, right? mentally you think of little things like this. Like do you change your game day approach? Do you change your routine? I think for Bo he wanted to play so bad last week,

Starting point is 00:13:59 the coaches wouldn't let him. Now he gets the chance to go do it. So it's just about going out there. I think just getting comfortable once again with getting where you need to be because we don't need Bo Nix to be the sharpest guy he can be right now. We need him to be that when it comes week one against Kansas City. Agreed. And I think that we're going to see some of it.

Starting point is 00:14:17 Remember what Sean Payton said when he inherited the team with Russell Wilson at quarterback? like how are you going to fix Russell Wilson? Well, we're going to play some of his greatest hits, right? I kind of expect Davis Webb to maybe play some of Bo Nix's greatest hits in this game. Do what he loves to do out there and take some shots downfield, take some opportunities like we saw Jarrett Stidham, you know, get those opportunities to throw to all three levels of the field,

Starting point is 00:14:40 running off play action, some stuff under center. Let's get to see Bo Nicks roll out and make a throw on the run to Cortland Sutton, like his patented play, right? So I think that's those are the things that I'm expecting. in this game. And I just want to see how different the overall operation is. And I think that was something that I took a positive note of in the first preseason game, Cody, is the shifting of player personnel, the calls coming in quickly, the play clock not drifting all the way down to, you know, three, two, one by the time you're just getting under the center. So I think definitely

Starting point is 00:15:12 we're seeing maybe some of those effects take place. And I want to continue to see that. That communication, personnel groupings, all these different things, it can be a small sample size. It can be vanilla stuff or Bo Nix's favorite plays or whatever it ends up being. But I think you just want to see those two guys really in sync and this is an important sort of

Starting point is 00:15:33 dress rehearsal for them because we don't really know how much Bo is going to play if at all in the third week at the preseason right? So I think definitely this is where you want to see 10 to 12 to 15 maybe plays kind of like we saw with the starters in the first week of these two guys

Starting point is 00:15:49 really getting in sync as play caller and quarterback. Yeah, I mean, it would be great at the Broncos offense comes out the way they did against Atlanta, right? Your first play, I mean, your first drive, it's a scoring drive. It's, you know, 10 play, 68 yards or 69 yards, you know, eight minutes taken off the clock and it ends in a touchdown. Like, that would be the perfect utopia here. I'm going to go through a little early prediction here, okay? I believe he's going to play because he's been a full goal in the last two days in a row of practice. But very first play, I think it's going to be Davis Webb trying to get the ball from Bo Nix to Jalenwater early on just to be like, all right, hey, here you go.

Starting point is 00:16:21 do want to see them come out. Like I don't want to see them just come out and just start airing it out, right? I want to see get Bo Nix under center. Let's run the ball with RJ. Let's see if J.K. plays in this game. But also, I want to see Bo Nix hand in the football off to Jonah Coleman a little bit. Like these are the things I want to see in our first look at Bo Nix in this preseason game on Friday night. And I know a lot of times when players are coming off injury, like, where do you stand on this sort of philosophy, right?

Starting point is 00:16:46 A lot of folks will say, like, he just needs to take a hit and kind of get it out of the way. Like when guys are coming off injury, like, is that how players really think? Or is it more of like, I want to see Bo out there running around and moving around and doing his thing as opposed to like taking a hit and proving you could take a hit? Like, where do you stand on that? Because that's something that I've heard. I mean, forever. Like, oh, yeah, he just needs to go out there, take a hit. Where do you stand on that one?

Starting point is 00:17:11 I think it's more so the player feels that way. Like fans will say that. But I think like generally the player wants to feel like, remember a few years ago, KJ. Hamler's coming off the major knee injury and the hip injury. and they played him in the preseason. The first thing that he said after the game was, I wanted to go out there and just like take that first hit, just to get back into the film like, okay, I'm here.

Starting point is 00:17:29 I can do this. I can go through this whole process again. But Bo doesn't have to worry about that because he's taking two hits during practice so far throughout training. So I think Bo's okay with that against, you know, you get hit by Nick Benito and Malcolm Roach twice apparently. You know, it's like, all right, Beau is good. And here's the fun thing, too.

Starting point is 00:17:47 They're doing some stuff as well where you're seeing Bo Nex uses, Like Ben Danucci tweeted out, you know, they're doing some read option stuff where, you know, he's stiff arming. Nick Bineo. Like that was the thing. Like in this practice, Bo Nix was running around. This is before everything got chippy. You know, he was running. He got to the sideline, got the edge around Nick Benito, you know, kind of put his arm out like he was going to stiff arm.

Starting point is 00:18:05 And then afterwards he runs up and pats him on the butt. Like it was fun and it just. So once again, it's just competitive nature, man. I think Bo's going to be good. But, yeah, you just want to see him come out here. I think you want to see a clean operation here for the offense. I think after last week's preseason game, I think that, fans are going to like expect the same thing like you would love to see that but if the broncos have

Starting point is 00:18:25 like six plays and they have to punt or settle for a field but i think we were like ah this was terrible like already getting ahead of it here you know early on in the preseason we're all in preseason i'm in preseason sarah's in preseason fans are in preseason everything is going to be good once week one rolls around here but uh no i don't think bony is necessarily go take a shot i would i would like to reduce the amount of q b design runs in the preseason right i think you want to save that for the special occasion not to change but But start implementing this stuff under center with the Jalen Waddle motion and then set up the play action stuff. Nothing's there coverage-wise.

Starting point is 00:18:58 Then you can use your legs and, you know, scramble about the way that we see Bow-Nix do it. So that's what I'm looking for here in Friday's game against the Green Bay Packers here. But Broncos country coming up next. We'll talk about what Vince Joseph said about Jadet Barron highlighted him as a guy who's getting reps inside and outside. And they certainly see a plan for him. But he even said that Jaday's going to have to earn it. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by our friends over there at the GameTime app. there are more live events than ever worth seeing right now with NFL preseason football here.

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Starting point is 00:20:21 He's playing everywhere. For him to see the field in 2026, Vance Joseph wants more for him. Jaday wants more for him, but he said that he's got to earn it. We'll go through and talk about it here on today's episode of the show. Broncos Country. Thanks for rock with us on the Lockedon podcast network,

Starting point is 00:20:34 your team every day. Also the number one sports podcast network in the country. I found it interesting, Sarah, when we talked to Vance Joseph after a very spirited and chippy practice, when he talked about Jaday Barron. He said, you know, Jaday is obviously a player who wants more. for himself in terms of his role. He says, I want more for him, but he has to earn it. It's not to say, and I think many people assume this because I had people messaging me saying,

Starting point is 00:20:57 hey, like, what did Vance say about Jay? Is he not earning it? I don't think that's what Vance meant. I think it meant like right now it's Pat, it's Riley, it's Jayquant. And he's just going to have to come out here and keep making plays, whether it's outside corner, whether it's dime lineback or whether it's in the slot in the Bronco starting dime package. You're just going to go out there and keep making plays. And then when he does that, he's going to see more time on the field. I don't. think he had anything to do with like jade's not matching the bar i could tell you vance has been very proud of the progress that jade has made it and i'd even say that robert livingston has done a really

Starting point is 00:21:27 good job of getting jadee to a spot where i think he's got way more confidence i don't know if you saw the article that was pointed out i think it was by a good friend parker gabriel the denver post where he was talking with brandon jane baron was and said like on day one of training he was like i understand the defense now i get the defense to me that's the biggest part for jade absorbing all the roles that he has inside of this unit. Yeah, and I think that we saw some evidence of that in the first preseason game, right? Where he's playing a lot of outside cornerback, where he's, you know, doing a ton of different things, making plays on the ball, making tackles in space, showing us just sort of his natural ability.

Starting point is 00:22:04 But those are the things that we kind of knew that he could do, right? We knew that he could make plays on the ball. We knew that he could make tackles in space. It's really just getting up to speed in terms of can I fit in a complex defense. which we know, and we've referenced this many times. Drey Greenlaw said it was like, you know, speaking Spanish or learning Spanish initially. And that can be really difficult for guys who have been so good

Starting point is 00:22:26 for any number of years at just doing, not necessarily thinking, just doing. And that's what he was doing at Texas, where he was one of the best defensive backs in the country. He's out there doing. He's playing ball. He's doing what he does best. And he's making plays and he's the big man on campus.

Starting point is 00:22:44 And he's the first. round draft pick, then all of a sudden you get to the NFL and the best cornerback in the league is the guy that you're practicing with. And Riley Moss has earned his opportunity and has become one of the most trusted players on the team. Doesn't mean he hasn't made mistakes. Jayquan Macmillan has earned his opportunity. So it's as much I think about the other guys ahead of him earning their opportunities before he gets the opportunity to take their job or just be handed one of their jobs, which I think a lot of folks were expecting based on his draft status, right?

Starting point is 00:23:18 And I might be included to a degree in that. My expectation has more so been, Cody, like, hey, he's a first round pick. We need this guy to play. That's a huge investment to make in somebody as a non-quarterback who's not getting on the field. That's a big deal. And I think that the Broncos just are in that sort of luxurious state as a roster where they can justify, you know, it's not to say they couldn't have picked somebody else,

Starting point is 00:23:44 but man, they're able to justify that at a premium position. That's just ultimately good long-term, I think, team building process. And Jaday is still making progress that you don't necessarily hear about all the time because of those other guys. And I feel like if Jaday was drafted to a team that needed a cornerback, right, that had no other cornerbacks, really, not even one other guy. And he wasn't playing. Then it's like, all right, then you have the questions. but it's like you got drafted to the team that's PS2.

Starting point is 00:24:12 You got a draft to the team that has Jayquan Macmillan, who you mentioned, like, earning it. Van Joseph has mentioned earning it. Jayquan had to earn it. I mean, remember in 2023, like Jayquan didn't start the year for Denver's defense? It was a saying Bassi. And it was to the point where like, Jayquan is impressing in practice and he's competing his tail off. He's not making mistakes.

Starting point is 00:24:31 And a saying is going through and he's making mistakes. And the Broncos just blow it up. They get rid of Randy Gregory, Frank Clark, Seng Bassi. And they're like, you know what? Like, we are changing. changing everything. Like, we're going to go with these younger guys that are showing it in practice. The Broncos aren't in that position right now. And so I think a lot of people look at Jaday and they're like, ah, like, you know, it was a wasted pick. I think you can absolutely make arguments for maybe

Starting point is 00:24:52 some other players that Debra could have drafted that probably would have been able to play more so immediately or maybe have a bigger role. I know tight end was a subject of that conversation here, but also look at how the Broncos have used the tight ends. Imagine if it was a tight end that they took and they didn't use them the way that we expected them to use Evan Ingram last year. Could you imagine the conversations we'd be having right now? So it's what we go back to. We've said it before here on the off season. It's champagne problems.

Starting point is 00:25:17 But this situation, Sarah, I feel like is going to sort itself out sooner rather than later. And there's no rush, no urgency for Jere to go out there and be a starter at outsider on the nickel this year, right? I think you let the free agency process play out. What is it going to look like? What is the market going to look like for J. Mack and Riley? Can you bring both those guys back? If you can, then I think.

Starting point is 00:25:36 think there opens up different questions. Like, what can you do with Shaday at that point? If you bring both of those guys back, we're leaning towards it. We're getting close. Like the Broncos are going to make that decision now. Though I am very curious, though, the first chip that falls is going to be J-Mack, is going to be Riley. That will tell us a lot.

Starting point is 00:25:53 And once again, I think if the Broncos were to somehow get both done before the season, then we can start having other conversations. Because what did Vince Joseph said to put him? I don't know if he caught it, but he mentioned something about safety. like he could play safety if need be even though that he's not playing there he hasn't been getting reps there said that he could be playing there and also we're looking at the outlook of brandon jones yeah he did make a comment about that cody he said he plays multiple spots for us and that's going to be valuable he's a nickel he's a dime he's sometimes a safety last year when pat was out for three games he played corner and that's his role right now he wants more and i want more for him that's exactly what he said so there are some interesting wrinkles to be thrown in at certain points potentially but ultimately what I think is most helpful for us to know right now is that the Broncos are emphasizing they want to take the ball away more this season. They were bottom five, I believe, in the league last year in total takeaways.

Starting point is 00:26:48 And even one of the takeaways that they did have was a special team's forced fumble by Jonah Ellis. So the defense wasn't forcing a lot of takeaways. But if Jaday is out there playing in the dime package or he's rotating in in certain instances and he's playing more snaps and he's thinking less and he's, doing more, he's reacting more to play. I think that he can contribute significantly even on a low percentage of

Starting point is 00:27:14 snaps to really increase that takeaway total. We saw it last year he had multiple big plays defensively. He had a pick six that was wiped off the board against Kansas City because of a phantom penalty on Riley Moss. So there's a lot of different ways that

Starting point is 00:27:30 I think now that he... Remember the commander's game? Oh my gosh. Of course. Yes, the commander. Yeah, there's another example. I mean, there's so many of these, right? And that's where I think, okay, you kind of have to evaluate every, you know, every little play that he made last year. You look back and you're kind of like, dang,

Starting point is 00:27:48 he was actually a much bigger part of the defense than maybe even we realized in real time. And so now if his role can even expand a little bit more, he can help the team achieve that goal of being better at forcing turnovers, creating more takeaways, more opportunities for the offense. And he can do that. without necessarily being a starter, even as frustrating as that may be. I think a lot of people forget the Dallas Cowboys game coming into that. Jake Ferguson was on a historic pace for tight-end receptions

Starting point is 00:28:17 and touchdowns to the first, what, six or seven weeks of the season. And coming into it, he had the most catches, most targets by a tight end, by a large volume. And that was a high-scoring offense at Dallas had at the time. Jaday Barron held him to zero catches. Zero catches. He had an interception, and he had one target, which was intercepted by Jaday-Baron. And I'd like what we saw from him against tight ends.

Starting point is 00:28:38 I think he gives you a solution to a problem that the Broncos certainly have had in quite some time because of his versatility and his speed. I mean, not a lot of people, I think, realize how fast should he is. He hit 21.15 miles per hour on his 97-yard pick six. So dude's got some wheels to him, man. And he's fully healthy. And I like that because he's coming off off-season knee surgery. So the fact that he's getting that type of run, all right. hey, the knee might be as good as new here for him going into this upcoming season.

Starting point is 00:29:08 I think for Jaday, he's coming into this year. I don't think he has this pressure to be something that he's not. You know, you got to be this guy. You got to be the man right now. I think he's like, I know my role now. I know the defense. I'm going to go out there and I'm going to play. And certainly that is the right mindset for Jaday to have here.

Starting point is 00:29:23 Rockos Country. Thanks for Rock with us. tuning in here on today's episode of the show. That'll wrap up today's episode. Tomorrow's episode, Sarah and I, we're going to go through a couple of key storylines. We got our eyes on in Friday's preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. And once again, just a reminder, folks,

Starting point is 00:29:37 there's a short form version of Lockdown Broncos. It's out now. It's called Lockdown Broncos hits. Make sure you check that out. Hit that subscribe button and follow us here at Lockdown Broncos on all platforms. We bring you daily coverage, content, and more. We'll see you tomorrow for a brand new episode of the show.

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