Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - TEST: Denver Broncos, Bo Nix Preparing For TOUGH CHALLENGE vs. Green Bay Packers

Starting point is 00:00:00 Devere Broncos quarterback, Bo Nix, and this Broncos football team faced their toughest test with four games left in the regular season. You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. A day Broncos country. Welcome into another episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network in the country. All thanks to all you every dayers out there. Thanks for tuning in, making us your first listen. However, you choose to do so. I'm Cody Roar, credential Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports.

Starting point is 00:00:41 Join, as always by Sarah Beninger, site expert over there, predominantly orange.com. And look, we got a lot to break down here on today's episode of the shows. We get a little bit of an early preview at Sunday's matchup against the number one team in the NFC that is the Green Bay Packers. We'll tell you about why Bo Nix and the Broncos offense will face their toughest test yet against a very stingy Green Bay Packers defense. Plus, Denver secondary will have their hands. hands full against what we believe is the deepest wide receiver room in the National Football League. And could the Broncos be getting some help back this week with Ben Powers? Could he make his return?

Starting point is 00:01:14 Well, look at all that and more here on today's episode of the show brought to you by our friends over there at Fandu. And if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit Fanduil.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. Sarah, look, I'm excited about this week's game because this is the final stretch. This is your chance to not only clinch a play. off spot with a win, but you're one step closer towards clinching the AFC West if you keep that thing rolling. And especially with the Charters being two games back, the Broncos and Bo Nix,

Starting point is 00:01:43 the offense, they face probably one of their toughest tests remaining in the regular season against Michael Parsons and this stingy Green Bay Packers defense. It is a stingy defense, Cody. They've obviously had some really great games throughout the course of this season. And just like the Broncos, I think that they've had their stinkers as well on both sides of the ball. But when you look at the remaining teams on the schedule, man, facing off against a defense that features Micah Parsons and obviously has playmakers that maybe Broncos country doesn't know as much about like Edger and Cooper out there. This Packers defense, they've got a lot of guys on that side of the ball who can make some plays. And Jeff Halfley, their defensive coordinator,

Starting point is 00:02:21 man, he does a great job of playing that chess match and really making those in-game adjustments to be able to help this team get to the point that they are, which is, like you mentioned at the top of the NFC, they're also fighting for that number one overall playoff seed here in the final four game stretch of this season on their side of things. So it's kind of an interesting matchup to me, Cody. Obviously, these two teams, they're not rivals necessarily. They obviously are both fighting for, you know, top seed in their respective conference. But it kind of feels like one of those games that's not, it's the stakes are high, obviously, but does it not feel to you at least even just a little bit like, man, this this game doesn't feel like it carries

Starting point is 00:03:03 that that oomph that you're looking for from a matchup of this caliber. Like it feels like both of these teams understand, hey, there's bigger things yet to come this season. I think we're going to see both of these teams bring their best. No question about it. I think the competitive level is going to be off the charts. But it feels like both of these teams understand, hey, it's so much bigger than this individual matchup.

Starting point is 00:03:25 Yeah. No, it is. And look, I think for both sides. they're looking at it as a, hey, this is a non-conference matchup, so it doesn't impact our conference record. Yes, it does impact our overall record when the outcome happens, whatever it is, whether it's a win or whether it's a loss for either of these teams. But it's not like it's a make or break game. I think that's the point you're trying to make for either of these teams, which is okay. And you know what?

Starting point is 00:03:49 I kind of liked it because if the Broncos, I mean, think about this time last year, Sarah, every game for the Broncos was you got to win this. This is a must win. It doesn't matter who you're playing. You must win this game because it keeps your playoff hopes alive. Whereas Denver now, like, they're firmly in the playoff graph. Like, they can still clinch a playoff spot even if they don't win this game. But the Broncos, they're going in, Broncos country, to win this game to beat the Green Bay Packers. And what Serr teased on yesterday's squad show, if you missed that, go check it out.

Starting point is 00:04:17 Serretees, this could potentially be a little bit of a Super Bowl preview here for both of these teams, which would certainly be interesting. Could you imagine, Sarah, these two teams play in the regular season? And then let's say they both make it to Santa Clara, Super Bowl 60, and they play each other again. It's just one of those dynamics that is very, very interesting to watch. And obviously we'll dive deeper into some of the other concepts of this matchup, especially on the defensive side. But I think my question here is, how do you game plan for a player like Micah Parsons?

Starting point is 00:04:44 And look, it's not just like Micah is the only good player on this defense. I mean, you mentioned those other, you mentioned, you mentioned, you know, Edger. And you mentioned, I think Xavier McKinney at the safety position is one of the better ballhawks right now in the NFL in terms of the back end part. they got Quay Walker, a linebacker. I just feel like at all three levels, they have studs. And of course, we know that they're dealing with a massive blow to the defensive tackle position. But this is still a very dangerous and I'd say versatile defense that Denver's going to face.

Starting point is 00:05:12 In your opinion, Sarah, I wanted to ask you your thoughts on this. Do you think the Broncos and Sean Payton take a similar approach to how they approach Max Crosby in the Raiders defense last week? Or do you see them just going out and lining up and playing kind of what we've seen for a majority of the season, just based best on best. I think we do see a similar approach to what we saw against Max Crosby. And Micah Parsons is that caliber of player who can absolutely destroy your offensive game plan.

Starting point is 00:05:38 And what was the game plan against a guy like Max Crosby? You want to get ahead of the sticks on first down, right? You want to make sure that you have effectiveness on those early downs to really limit what he does well because even though the Broncos had success on first down against the Raiders, even though they had success on second down, on third down. I mean, Max Crosby, we saw his impact was still felt on this game. So you're going to have to chip.

Starting point is 00:06:04 You're going to have to help. You're going to have to do all those sorts of things. And I think just taking advantage of what the defense gives you in a game like this, limit the mistakes. You might have to take a sack or two because Parsons just has that kind of getoff, right? But that's something that I think Bo Nix has been proving he's willing to do over the last couple of games. He's not turning the ball over right now. He's playing very, I think he's throwing the ball more accurately than maybe we've ever seen, Cody, over these last three games. Bo Nix

Starting point is 00:06:33 has been dialed in. He was locked in against the Raiders. He's running the ball well. I just think you want to continue to play smart. And Bo talked about it too earlier this week, but man, the game manager, the connotation of that seems so negative. But this is the time of year when you do want to be managing the game at a high level and hitting those shots like we've been talking about wanting to see. I think the Packers and the Broncos, it's such an interesting matchup because these two teams, they deal with a lot of the similar things, right? Inconsistency on offense. You talk about this Packers defense, which at times has been dominant this season. And I think just overall really great some of its parts, but they've also, just on Thanksgiving, we saw,

Starting point is 00:07:16 I mean, they give up a lot of points too. They give up a lot of points to Dallas and a tie. So I think what we've seen from both the Broncos and the Packers is this, okay, at times we've proven we can be elite in every category as a team. But also at times we've proven like, man, we might have a slip up game here, here and there. And that's where I think you take advantage of this defense right now for Green Bay, if you're the Broncos offense, is keep doing what you were doing against the Raiders. Take what they give you. I would love to see them because what they did against the Raiders. They went 22 personnel, which is two running backs, two tight ends.

Starting point is 00:07:50 and they would vary that personnel based on Adam Prentice. There's times where it's, you know, Adam Troutman and Mercedes-Lewis on the field with Adam Prentice and R.J. Harvey. And then there was times where they go extra heavy. They would go with the jumbo package with Frank Crum, Mercedes-Lewis, Adam Troutman all to one side, wherever Max Crosby was. That might be the approach this week here against this Green Bay Packers defense. But I also think it benefits the Broncos to continue to run under center.

Starting point is 00:08:17 We haven't seen them do it as much as. I think we would like them to this season, but it's working. It worked against the Raiders. And certainly I think the Packers defense is miles better than the Raiders defense. But this might be the formula versus just running out a shotgun or running out a pistol. We've seen the Broncos try to do that. And it hasn't really equated to any consistent success. I'd say in between the tackles there.

Starting point is 00:08:39 So I think that RJ Harvey Harvey is better going when he's just getting downhill. And I think undercenter is the way to do that. And it does open up your play action game. So I'm very curious to see how the Broncos come out this week and approach trying to prepare for this Packers defense at all three levels of the field have an elite level player. And Quay Walker, linebacker, Michael Parsons at the edge rusher and then Xavier McKinney, obviously at the safety position.

Starting point is 00:09:00 And they got some pretty solid underrated cornerbacks, including, you know, they even have Nate Hobbs who used to play for the Las Vegas Raiders. And I remember a lot of games, Nate Hobbs used to actually impact and hurt the Broncos, so to speak. But they have good versatility on that side of the ball, good depth, which is obviously a testament to where they're at right now, how far they've gotten in their season. But big test here for Bo Nicks and the Broncos offense. But what that said, Broncos country, share us your thoughts here on today's episode show

Starting point is 00:09:26 of what you want to see from the Broncos offense against the stingy Packers' defense here on Sunday. But coming up next, Sarah and I are going to talk about the Broncos defense, in particular, the secondary facing arguably their toughest test because they got to face the deepest wide receiver room right now in the National Football League. We'll break it all down here on today's episode of the show. Today's episode of Lockdown, Broncos is brought to you by friends over there at Mint Mobile. No, there's no reason to let big wireless drain your wallet, especially during the holidays, because right now, Mint Mobile, they are running their best deal of the year.

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Starting point is 00:11:49 but you know what? They've got the dogs to face off against one of the top wide receiver rooms, if not the best and deepest wide receiver room in the NFL. And we know the Packers, they like to spread the ball around. So Cody and I are going to tell you about that matchup coming up, the Broncos secondary versus the Packers wide receiver. But want to say thank you to all of you that make Lockdown Broncos your first listen of the day every single day.

Starting point is 00:12:11 And Cody and I want to invite you, man, we know you're a diehard Denver Broncos fan. into this podcast, we want you to join the All Access Every Dayer Club where you're going to get special content that you don't get just listening to the podcast every day. So more on top of it. And what we got for you, it's all 22 breakdowns. It's special episodes of the show, maybe some shorter form content, obviously a newsletter, a discount on Lockdown Broncos merch. So check out the URL in the description. Make sure you sign up for the All Access Club. All you every dayers do it today. Broncos country. Let's talk about this matchup. And Cody, I think that the Packers, if they've got anything, they've got maybe the best wide receiver room in the NFL. And I think Jordan Love has played at an MVP caliber level most of the season.

Starting point is 00:12:58 These guys are helping him do that, right? They're making plays for their guy. And Jordan is putting the ball in a spot where his guys can go make a play. He's got so much versatility out there, guys who win after the catch, guys who win deep downfield, guys who make difficult contested catches. this is going to be the biggest test for the Denver Broncos secondary. I think that they've faced all season long. And that's what happens when you have guys that have different skill sets.

Starting point is 00:13:23 And look, Christian Watson has been back in the mix for them since coming off to torn ACL. And I tell you what, he hasn't missed a step. The dude is clocking 21 plus miles per hour on several big plays. And he's obviously a guy that you have to worry about because I'd say they're more versatile, wide receiver. From a matchup standpoint, I'm really trying to figure out how the Broncos are going to approach this game plan against them, right? Is this a game where we see more dime personnel, where we see Jada, Kwan, on the slot, Riley, and obviously Pat? And obviously we're seeing

Starting point is 00:13:52 Chris Abrams drain rotate in. Could the Broncos change some things up schematically, depending on what type of looks that they get from this offense? Because as you mentioned with Jordan Love, I mean, he's got guys that have, you know, versatility in terms of, you know, good catch radius, speed. Then he's got absolute speed demons. And sometimes Jordan Love's mentality is, heck, I'm a chuck it. Someone's down there. They're going to go get it. And over the course of the last two weeks, where we've seen some explosive plays given up by the Broncos secondary, this is really what kind of concerns me. I've been a little worried about some of the miscommunication issues the Broncos have had, particularly at the safety position. Talanoa Hufanga has kind of been on the receiving end of a couple of big plays from tight ends this past week.

Starting point is 00:14:32 And obviously, you know, against Zach Hertz of the commanders, Denver's defense has gotten off to a little bit of a slower start. I just watched the more recent game. The Packers just played. Sarah, they had like five plus plays from the receivers of explosive plays of 15 plus yards or more. Like to me, that is a concern. Not only deep down field, but we're talking about in space yards after the catch. And that Packers wide receiver room is getting somebody back healthy that they had big plans for. They got knocked out in that season opener against the Detroit Lions.

Starting point is 00:15:01 And it's going to be all the more crucial for Vince Joseph to beat Matt LaFleur at the chess game. because Lafleur is going to give him looks early in the game to set up other things later on. And the real, you know, fun thing if you're a Packers fan to watch on a week-to-week basis is the fact that you don't have to feature anyone in this offense in the passing game, right? One week, it's the Romeo Dobbs game. Another week, it's the Christian Watson game. The next week, it's Jaden Reed. The Packers fans are all wondering, when's Matthew Golden going to get involved? Bull Melton is catching 40-plus yard touchdown passes.

Starting point is 00:15:36 I mean, Don Tavian Wicks had multiple touchdowns on Thanksgiving. So you go up and down the line of this wide receiver room. It doesn't matter who the Packers want to feature. And we talked about this in another game. I can't remember if it was Dallas or which game it was, Cody. But the fact of a team having multiple really good receivers almost plays into the Broncos benefit, right? Because you're not just, okay, this game's not filtering through one player at the receiver position. It's not just, you know, Nico Collins against the Texans.

Starting point is 00:16:08 It's, you've got so many different guys that you have to account for. It almost gives you an advantage if you're advanced Joseph to say, we want to man up on these guys. We want to match up speed, physicality. We want to go after them best on best because you can, right? That's the type of, hey, we're going up five on five. Let's do it. You want to match up five on five.

Starting point is 00:16:30 We got five guys that can match up on your five guys. That's what I think the Broncos have to take that mentality. instead of being like, you know, on their heels the whole game, wondering who's going to get the ball? Where's the misdirection? They've got to be the aggressors in this game and play that tight man coverage, get after these Packers receivers at the line of scrimmage.

Starting point is 00:16:50 Well, and if they do choose to come out and spread them out a little bit, which I think they will do. The balance of Denver being in the dime package specifically this week means, hey, we have flexibility to stop Josh Jacobs in the running game. Like, that's the hope. I mean, he had a, what was it, 20 carries for 80-something yards this past week. historically, Josh Jacobs has kind of been a thorn in the side of the Broncos. So this is a game you can't allow him to go off.

Starting point is 00:17:12 And I thought Denver did a better job of shutting down the run this past week against Ashton Gentie. But I felt like this is a much better offensive line than what the Raiders certainly had. So you don't want to allow any big chunk plays because then that allows LaFleur to play that chess game saying, hey, we got you at the run. You're going to overcomit to stop it. Bang, here comes play action. I would say the one thing here, like all season long,

Starting point is 00:17:32 I was a little anxious about this matchup on paper. when Tucker Kraft was playing. The dude, in my opinion, Sarah was playing like the best tight end in the NFL. Luke Musgrave, no Tucker Kraft, but he's still pretty dang good. And the last time that Luke Musgrave played against the Broncos, he baited the officials into ejecting Kareem Jackson for a hit. So I just think that this is the most flexible team that the Broncos have faced yet. And it's exciting, right?

Starting point is 00:17:59 Because you see people try to move the goalposts on this Broncos team defensively. you know, hopefully they get DJ Jones back this week, but they're healthy this week. Hopefully there's more of a consistent rotation with the linebackers. I think we need to see a lot more Drake Greenla and Justin Sternato on the field together, especially in passing situations, Sarah, that's what I'm looking for this week as Denver's getting ready to face this Green Bay team. In your opinion, what would be a wildcard factor here for Denver's defense against Green Bay's offense? Well, I think what it comes down to is the safety play, like you mentioned, Cody. I think that these two guys, Tallanoa, Hufanga, and Brandon Jones, they've got.

Starting point is 00:18:33 to be ready on the back end. I think the Broncos are going to have to be aggressive with their blitz package as well in this game and really make Jordan Love make quick decisions with the football. You want to know one of the easiest ways that you can eliminate deep plays downfield. Well, it's get after the quarterback really quickly and make him make a quick decision with the ball. Don't give those receivers time to set up deep downfield. We've got an underrated storyline though, too, of, you know, Sean Payton talks about how

Starting point is 00:19:01 you don't want to have guys coming in who, you had at camp or you had in the offseason program and you let him get away. I think everybody forgets that Packers running back Emmanuel Wilson was first a Denver Bronco. And he's been pretty outstanding for them this year as the running back two behind Josh Jacobs. Even had a hundred yard game when he was playing as an injury replacement. Also interesting wrinkle in this matchup, Cody. The Broncos tried to trade for Luke Musgrave at the deadline. And the Packers obviously didn't do it.

Starting point is 00:19:30 And then they were thankful they didn't do it because then Tucker Kraft went down, with the injury. So the Broncos tried to get Luke Musgrave to add him to the offense. They liked him in the pre-draft process. And like you said, he's not Tucker Kraft by any means, but he is a big athletic option out there. So it's going to take all 11 guys. If you talk about defensively for the Broncos in this game, but I think the key is that pass rush. Get to Jordan Love as quickly as possible, make him make quick decisions because he didn't really turn the ball over all that much. The Broncos defense has to find a way to dial up the pressure. Turn up the heat and make him sweat a little bit here.

Starting point is 00:20:05 It's going to be a big game on Sunday, Broncos country. But coming up next, could the Broncos be getting some reinforcements back on the offensive line? Will we see Ben Powers? We'll take a look at that. And DJ Jones here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's show is brought to you, our friends, over there at Fanduel on NFL Sundays. They move fast, one big play, and suddenly everything feels different. That's what makes live betting with Fandul so exciting because you're not just watching the game.

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Starting point is 00:21:18 Reinforcements could be on the way here for the Denver Broncos inside the trenches. And as we all know, if you want to make a deep playoff run, you've got to win the trench battles up front in the Broncos. This week, they're going to face a tough battle in the trenches offensively against that Packers defense. And then defensively, against that Packers' offensive line. It should be a hard, physical, fun game. And Sarah, I'm just saying, I'm glad that this is probably the game that Denver plays versus them having to play this game a few days

Starting point is 00:21:44 before they have to play the Kansas City Chiefs. I'm glad that this game is coming a little bit now. Just because of the physicality aspect, I think this is going to be a very entertaining game here. But could the Broncos be getting some help back this week? Ben Power, Sarah, he's been on the side field for the last handful of weeks. He's been ramping things up as what I have seen at practice on Friday, he's jogging a little bit more. And then during Sunday before the game against obviously the Raiders, he was doing on-field workouts. To me, this is right around the timeline in which he was saying that he could be back mid-December.

Starting point is 00:22:16 We're pretty much close to that point right now. So I'm wondering, as I get ready to head out to practice today, could we see Ben Powers back in the mix? And if so, do you think the Broncos put him back into the starting lineup? Or do you think to Alex Pouchesky stays in that place? I think that's a very interesting dilemma right now. It really is because you have an opportunity to get his kind of feet wet before you have, obviously the Jaguars game, then a short week against the Chiefs.

Starting point is 00:22:42 I don't necessarily know that you would want Powers' first action this season to be two back-to-back games on a Sunday and a Thursday, right? I mean, that's maybe, I don't know, maybe that's not a thing, but that's kind of where my mind initially goes. I think if he's ready to go, play him, put him out there, start him. I mean, the running game before the Raiders outing for this Denver Broncos offense, where they had 152 yards on the ground. The running game was a difference of about 30 plus yards when Ben Powers was in the

Starting point is 00:23:09 lineup versus when he was not in the lineup. And you can make arguments that, well, they didn't commit to the run as much after he went down with the injury. And I think that's valid. But at the same time, I think there's no question about the amount of success that they had running the ball when Ben Powers was out there. And even if it is just a comfortability thing for Sean Payton to call those running plays when Powers is in the lineup, I say put him out there and let Pal Chessess

Starting point is 00:23:32 B. What every Broncos fan loves him as so much earlier this year. 63's reporting is eligible. Everybody goes crazy. The mile high city will love it. Cody back at home this week. 63 is reporting as eligible. The place will go nuts. I think that's what we want to see is your best five out there, especially for this playoff run. My only question is just the layoff of him not being, not having played in a football game for this on right? Because he suffered the injury all the way in week five against the Philadelphia Eagles and he missed that stretch of games after having. bicep surgery from that point forward. So for him, it's about being more comfortable with going out

Starting point is 00:24:06 there contact and, you know, making sure like, you know, hey, has he been able to maintain strength? Was he able to get some strength back after having surgery? You know, can he play without limitation? And can you insert him in? And will it help the Broncos offense? I think Paucheski has done such a tremendous job, sir, to the point, we've had discussions here. I think Broncos fans have had discussions on social media about should Pauceske to be the guy like could he Wally Pipp, Ben Powers, potentially. I think it's something to certainly watch for. But my curiosity here, and look, I don't think Sean Payton, even if we ask him today, he's not going to tell us. So, you know, I don't think we're going to waste our time asking him. But it's like when

Starting point is 00:24:43 you have a player who's been playing as well as Alex has, if there's a player like Ben that's coming back, do you look at your options of, you know, do you throw a guy back in that hasn't played since week five? Or do you maybe kind of have a ramp up period for him? I'm very curious, considering that like Paucheski has played well. There hasn't. been drop off, which to me, that's been huge. That's where the dilemma comes in here. Yeah, that's where you're going to really have to trust your training staff and you're going to have to trust Powers's readiness in terms of that physicality element of all that

Starting point is 00:25:15 goes with playing offensive line in the NFL, right? I think that's the biggest question mark right there is you don't want him to come back and immediately just be getting bold over by an aggressive defense because if he is making his, you know, return to the field against the Packers, Jeff Halfley is going to attack that. I know that the Packers don't have Devante Wyatt who went down with a gruesome injury on Thanksgiving. So they don't have their best interior defensive lineman. They traded Kenny Clark to the, to the Cowboys as well. So they're kind of depleted on the inside. But at the same time, you don't think they would send extra guys. You don't think they would line Micah Parsons up over the

Starting point is 00:25:50 left guard. I think they would. I think they would try anything that they could to exploit that if he is making his first game return back. I'm also interested in the potential other reinforcements to Cody. I know the Broncos are getting healthy all over this roster. They added a couple of intriguing players to the practice squad. I mean, we talked at length about Elijah Moore, but sincere McCormick is the running back reinforcement that we've kind of been speculating on and wondering, is that going to happen? When will it happen?

Starting point is 00:26:17 So there's a lot of potential for the Broncos to throw some wrinkles in the mix this weekend that we just maybe really haven't seen so far this season. Now, I'm curious to see how Sean uses Marvin this week, too, because even said at, you know, on Monday, you know, we came out of the staff meeting we figured we were talking about. We got to figure out how to get him more touches. We've talked about here on the show this week. Pat Bryant's emergence a little bit is getting more snaps right now than other guys. I'm curious to see what that rotation looks like.

Starting point is 00:26:44 But also, DJ Jones, hopefully he is back on the practice field here this afternoon. I'll have my complete report over there at mylisports.com. Plus, for all the everydayers, you're going to get some behind the scenes, locker room footage as well. We'll do locker room interviews inside of the everyday or all access clubs. So make sure you sign up for that. that's in our show notes down below. DJ Jones being one of those guys. And I'm trying to think who else at this point.

Starting point is 00:27:08 Are we going to see Drew Sanders? I don't know. I feel like every week, sir, we get asked a question from our listeners and the people who tune into the show. What about Drew Sanders? He's been on the side field for almost a month and a half now, Sarah. But we have yet to see him go from that side field to the on field practice field, which right now where they're at from a roster standpoint,

Starting point is 00:27:28 they would have to make a corresponding roster move. if they activate his 21-day window and they're like, hey, he's ready to come back. They'd have to release somebody to essentially make room for him. But is that the move right now, in your opinion, considering what we've seen from Justin Sternad? I truly believe in my heart of hearts from what we've seen. The starters next season for the Broncos at linebacker should be Dre Greenlaw, could be Justin Sternad.

Starting point is 00:27:51 I think so too. And I think that Justin has earned that, right? I really believe that he's proven to be their best all-around player at the position. And I know that it's a small sample with Dre Greenlaw at this point, but, man, Justin Sernat has made the biggest splash plays over two seasons for Drew Sanders. You wonder if it's a matter of, hey, the roster gymnastics, obviously the Broncos did just lose inside linebacker Garrett Wallow on waivers to the San Francisco 49ers. So they were using a 53-man spot for Garrett Wallow strictly for special teams.

Starting point is 00:28:23 And I think that that's a possibility. Now, you still have to do the gymnastics and you're getting healthy, right? I mean, Powers is on IR, so he's going to take a roster spot whenever he does come back. So that's two roster spots. So you're talking about right now. You just gave one to Mercedes-Lewis. I know you have the flexibility with Sam Ellinger. I don't know what, I don't even know what his status is right now, if he's 53 or if he's practiced squad.

Starting point is 00:28:46 He's practice squad. Okay. So you have flexibility in other ways that you've shown throughout the course of this season, right? But at the same time, man, I think that's one of the reasons why they may be waiting right now. is because of Ben Powers's imminent return. And are we going to see Nate Adkins is another question. Sean told us a couple weeks ago, unprompted. Once again, we ask about injury.

Starting point is 00:29:09 Sean says no. But if Sean suddenly just brings up an injury and talks about it, like, okay, like Sean, you thought you weren't talking about injuries. He said Nate Atkins is closer than most people think. But we haven't seen him. He didn't even step foot on the practice field. He wasn't even on the side field last week when we were at practice. So my question is, could he potentially just land on IR,

Starting point is 00:29:26 especially now with Mercedes-Lewis, now on the active roster. I doubt that they would release him. He's got no more practice squad elevation. So why would they release him at this standpoint, you know, for where they're at right here? I think maybe Jaron Christian, if they could make a roster move to release somebody off the active, Jaron Christian is probably the one guy that comes to mind and maybe they'd try to sign him to the practice squad. But just once again, the roster shuffling, everything that you've got to deal with in the wake of trying to get ready for the playoffs. I'm very curious to see how the Broncos approach the next handful of weeks.

Starting point is 00:29:55 Will they get some help? We'll have you covered here, Lockdown Broncos, for all the Everydayers out there in the Everydayer All Access Club, you're going to get exclusive practice reports, locker room interviews, and more. We'll have you covered inside of the Everyday or All Access Club. Broncos Country, thank you so much for tuning in, making us your first listen, however you choose to do so.

Starting point is 00:30:13 Tomorrow's episode of the show, Sarah sitting down with Lockdown Packers host, Peter Bukowski to preview Sunday's game from a perspective of the Packers side of things and the Broncos side of things. You can't miss it. Tune in tomorrow. You'll get all that. on Lockdough Broncos.

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