Emmanuel Sanders: ‘I’m back, baby!’

Good morning, Broncos Country!

A lot of good news out of Broncos training camp Wednesday afternoon, not the least of which was that Emmanuel Sanders participated in 7-on-7 drills and came down with his first catch since last December.

It was a diving catch no less.

No. 10 was all smiles after practice, laughing with reporters about whether that dive was really all that necessary.

“That’s what I kept telling the guys, ‘Did I have to dive?’ I don’t know if I had to dive. But you know what? When I got it, I said, ‘I’m back, baby!’ It felt good,” Sanders said. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow and keeping on getting better.”

But Sanders knows to keep his enthusiasm dialed down a bit just to ease his recovering Achilles back into full tilt.

Even if it means holding back on the smack talk a few more weeks.

“There’s really no rush,” he said. “I do want to get back out there. I do want to go 1-on-1s and talk smack to Chris Harris Jr., and be myself, but at the same time, it’s a process and I have to respect that process.”

But Sanders wasn’t the only guy on offense making some good plays.

While the offense still struggled with some drops, a couple passes from Joe Flacco batted down by Derek Wolfe, and an interception by Justin Simmons on an overthrow of Noah Fant, a lot of receivers were getting some great snags.

“Tim [Patrick] is doing really well,” Sanders told the media, mentioning that wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni had spotlighted Patrick during film breakdown to highlight how well he was playing. “He was just talking about how he releases off the line, how well he’s playing, and how well he is doing. He was kind of using him as an example for the young guys to show them exactly how it is supposed to be done.”

Rookie Trinity Benson has impressed a lot of onlookers in his first six days of camp, including his 32-year-old mentor who sees quite a bit of himself in the young speedster.

“‘T.B.’ is doing well. He’s explosive. He’s fast. I told him the other day he reminds me of myself when I was a rookie,” said Sanders, noting Benson’s long speed and good hands. “He’s got a lot of upsides to him, so for ‘T.B.’ it’s more about honing that craft. I tell him, ‘You’re a white belt right now, but you are trying to be a black belt. You’re trying to master the art of route running, you’re trying to master the art of being a receiver.’ That’s what he has to do.”

Sanders highlighted the youth in the wide receivers room, pointing out that the next oldest wide receiver after him is 25. In fact, the combined years of NFL experience among all the wide receivers not named Emmanuel Sanders barely adds up to Sanders’ 10.

“I’m trying to take it easy on the young guys,” Sanders said, adding that the young guys are learning a lot and nothing out on the field is easy when you’re a rookie. “I know sitting on the sideline it looks easy. [You may think], ‘Oh my grandma could have made that catch,’ but it’s a lot harder than you think. They are just trying to get acclimated with that, but I’m pushing for those young guys. We still have 30 more days of camp, so hopefully we can turn that around and stop putting balls on the ground.”

Despite his support of the young wideouts, Sanders has no intention to baby them either. They drop a ball, they’re likely to hear about it from No. 10.

“No. I’m not that kind of guy. I am more like, ‘Get your shit together, let’s go,’” he said. “At the end of the day, we are all blessed to be able to play this game. It’s all about putting everything together and going out and being a baller. I tell them all the time: ‘You’re here for a reason. Be who you were in college because what you did in college got you here. Just let all the nerves go and understand that if it’s meant for you, it’s meant for you.’”

Second-year receiver Courtland Sutton said the problem with the drops is mainly just a lack of focus.

“I think honestly it’s just a focus,” he said, adding that players can’t let fatigue get in the way of doing their jobs. “It’s like, the O-Line is blocking their butt off so that Joe [Flacco] can get the ball off. And the running backs are picking up linebackers, or getting out, checking wide, or whatever. So, we can’t be selfish on those plays, even if you’re tired. It could be the seventh or eighth play in a row and when the ball comes our way we have to make those plays. It’s just a focus thing.”

One thing Sutton has been working on this offseason is expanding his route tree - something Sanders impressed upon him to improve.

The big man explained that while he knew all the routes last year, he realizes now that he had a lot of “tells” to defenders that prevented him from running a good route and getting separation.

“I really worked on being able to run all the intermediate routes, that I wouldn’t just be a guy that’s known for going deep on the outside,” he said. “That’s still something I have in my arsenal, but I want to be able to run all those routes so that it can set up those big-shot plays. So, I do appreciate Coach Rich [Scangarello] giving me those opportunities to go out there and fine-tune my craft and be able to show that I can run all those intermediate routes and get those first downs, keep the chains moving.”

Horse Tracks - docllv’s pick of the day

John Elway talks about a ‘different vibe’ with Vic Fangio, faith in Joe Flacco and his own future – The Athletic
The Broncos GM spoke to The Athletic about the season ahead and his own goals with three years left on his contract.

And then there was this gem:

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AFC West News

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