With Broncos training camp opening later this week, I initially sat down to write a rah-rah, get off your butt, and get excited kind-of-article, but let’s temper that enthusiasm a tiny bit with the reality that the longest preseason Broncos Country has experienced since 2004 is about to begin.

While it’s an honor to play in the Hall of Fame game, the Broncos will be suiting up for no fewer than five preseason games this year. If you thought the four-game preseason was already unnecessarily long and hard to watch, get ready to get to know Broncos quarterback Kevin Hogan. You’ll see so much of this guy in the coming weeks, his mother and his girlfriend (wife?) will be jealous.

However, when Broncos rookies and veterans report on July 17, few fans will be perturbed by the return of non-competitive (teams, not players) football. I along with the rest of Broncos Country will be eagerly scanning the internet (Mile High Report) for the latest news and information radiating out of Dove Valley. I will love every minute of it.

Kevin Hogan aside, there are a couple quarterbacks it’ll be fun to finally watch. The bemused reaction fans had to the Joe Flacco trade will soon give way to actually watching him wrestle that perfect coif into a helmet with horse heads on its sides to throw footballs to fellas wearing orange and blue. Then there’s Drew Lock. Denver will soon have more than an inkling if Lock is destined for greatness or if he’s soon to be eulogized right alongside the likes of Brock, Trevor, Paxton, and/or Case... but intrigue doesn’t end at the quarterback position.

Whether it’s free agent acquisitions like Kareem Jackson and Bryce Callahan or the rookies like Noah Fant, Dalton Risner, and Dre’Mont Jones, there will be plenty to follow this preseason. They can’t all be awful, right? There’s winners in them ranks. Who’s excited to find out just who they are?

Woah... Woah... Slow down. The first game of the regular season is on September 9 in Oakland. It’s barely the middle of July! Look, football is still football, even when it’s bad football. If the Pro Bowl can be football, the preseason can sort of be too. Pace yourselves, Broncos Country, the long haul to the regular season starts this week. Get plenty of rest and eat your greens. Football is coming.

HORSE TRACKS

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