2019 Denver Broncos Training Camp: Day 14 news and notes

Day 14 was a shorts and shells practice day for the Broncos and the last practice before they head to Seattle to take on the Seattle Seahawks.

Today we have Sanders and Sutton meeting with the media, Flacco playing some against the Seahawks and Drew Lock playing a lot, Austin Fort continuing to get reps, injury updates, quotes, and more!

Sanders and Sutton address their fight

Yesterday’s big news was the little kerfuffle between fellow wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Courtland Sutton. Punches were thrown and words were exchanged but it appears all is good between the two.

They both met with the media together and joked about their situation. Sanders told reporters that their next fight would a Pay-Per-View fight and it would cost people $69.99 to watch it.

“I’m going to start it off. First of all, I just want all the media and the fans to know that me and Courtland are selling Pay-Per-View tickets for our next bout starting at $69.99 (laughing). Tickets will go on sale tomorrow. Questions?”

Sanders then got serious and told reporters that everything stands good and they had a bit of a miscommunication which resulted in their altercation.

“It stands good. Obviously, we’re family. We went to the same school and grew up in the same area. It was a miscommunication and that’s just what it is, but at the end of the day, we’re back on the same page trying to be the best receivers in the world. Sometimes through failure is growth and I feel like me and him have grown through this, in terms of bringing that dog out of us even more and just ready to win and ready to tear it up.”

Sutton then stepped in and said that he has looked up to Sanders throughout his football career and that they are brothers at the end of the day.

One-hundred percent. I think what Emmanuel said is right on point. We’re brothers at the end of the day. That’s all that matters. Like he said, we went to the same school. This is a dude I look up to, a dude I’ve been watching for a long time, chasing his records and getting here and following in his footsteps. All of that stuff is swept under the rug. We’re moving on to bigger and better things. We’re ready to win and take what we have here and keep growing.”

There are a lot of cliches in here likely orchestrated by the Broncos PR but I think this was a bunch of nothing. You see fights happen during camp in just about every camp each and every year. Yes, this was two people within their own positional group, but emotions were running high and shit happens.

I don’t think it really warranted this sort of attention and should have been treated like a typical camp fight, but it is what it is. Obviously, I have moved on from this and hopefully Sanders, Sutton, and everyone else can too as well.

Joe Flacco to play a little while Drew Lock will play a lot

The Broncos will play their first non-Hall Of Fame game preseason game this Thursday as they travel to Seattle to take on the Seahawks. It is just a preseason game, but those fans know how to get loud, so it should be a nice test for the team as they face some tough road conditions.

After today’s practice. Head Coach Vic Fangio was asked about the quarterback rotation and he indicated that we will see a little of Joe Flacco and a lot of rookie Drew Lock.

“[QB] Joe [Flacco] is going to start and play some. We’re going to bring in [QB] Kevin [Hogan] and he’ll play some. [QB] Drew [Lock] will get a bit of that—a good bit of the rest of it—and [QB] Brett Rypien may or may not play in the game. I think it’ll be a little, a little and a lot.”

So we will get out first look at Joe Flacco under center in a Broncos uniform in a game scenario. That still is something we all need to get used too but hopefully it is a promising start for Flacco. I would imagine we will see a few safe plays where he gets rid of the ball quickly and he likely will only be out there a series or two at most.

We then will see Kevin Hogan come in as the second quarterback. Despite his Training Camp struggles, he did look adequate in the Hall Of Fame game so lets see if he can continue that on Thursday night. He like Flacco will only play a little bit.

Finally, we are going to see a lot of rookie quarterback Drew Lock according to Fangio. I would imagine he will take over sometime in the second quarter and likely play into the fourth. If he does well, we could see Rypien get some snaps, but it seems like they may just let Lock get as many reps as he can.

Fangio was asked what improvements Lock can make against Seattle, and he told reporters that he just needs to “operate”.

“Just operate. One thing you got to remember about him, he hardly has ever been under center in his life. He’s hardly ever had to call a play in his life—a formation and checks. Once he gets through that, I think the other stuff will come easier and quicker. He is learning a new offense, how an offense operates, and when he becomes more of quarterback in those regards and feels comfortable where it becomes second nature, the other stuff will start.”

It wasn’t a great start for Lock in his preseason debut against the Falcons so hopefully he can turn it around against the Seahawks.

Tight end Austin Fort continues to get reps

The Broncos tight end position is a bit banged up right now. Jeff Heuerman sat out today’s practice with a dinged up shoulder that isn’t a major concern for Head Coach Vic Fangio. Jake Butt hasn’t practiced in what seems like weeks. Bug Howard sprained his ankle and has been sidelined over a week and Troy Fumagalli has dealt with minor bumps and dings as well.

All this has allowed undrafted free agent Austin Fort to receive an extra workload of snaps because of the injuries. Head Coach Vic Fangio commented on this after practice today.

“He’s gotten a lot of reps because of those injuries we talked about. I think he’s gotten worn down a little bit, but eventually all those reps will come back to really help him. [I’m] anxious to see him play. We’re not practicing tomorrow, so these guys are going to get basically form the time they left this field to kickoff about 58 hours. We’re hopeful they’ll comeback from these—particularly the position where we’ve been light.”

He seems like a safe bet to make the 53-man roster as of now. A spot is opening up with Jake Butt continuing to get injured and that is something that likely won’t stop.

Injury report

• Tight end Jeff Heuerman sat out practice with a shoulder injury but Vic Fangio is not concerned about it.
• Linebacker Josey Jewell did not practice after tweaking his oblique during yesterday’s practice.
• Linebacker Joe Jones will be out for several weeks with a triceps tear.
• Linebacker Todd Davis continues to be sidelined with a calf injury.
• Tight end Jake Butt is continuing to sit out with knee issues.
• Tight end Bug Howard continued to sit out with an ankle injury.
• Linebacker Aaron Wallace continued to sit out practice as well.

Tweets from camp

Quotes

Quarterback Joe Flacco on whether the offense has continued to build on momentum during the last week.

“Yeah, I think so. Once you start playing these games, it’s not quite as easy to go out there and run a million plays. [Head Coach] Vic [Fangio] has done a good job kind of working us hard and resting us also around these games. We had a good amount of time off being the fact that we (most of the starters) didn’t play in the Hall of Fame Game. We came back and had two really good days. Now, this is a day where we kind of more got ready for Seattle. It’s just one of those things where you have to make the most of your reps when that starts to become the case. Because that’s how the season goes, too. Once the season starts, you’re not [in] training camp practices running 110 plays like we have been. So, you have to make the most of what we got. And I think we have a group that’s working toward getting better at doing it.”

Rookie guard Dalton Risner on if there will be extra excitement playing with QB Joe Flacco on Thursday.

“Of course, I’m sure that Joe is going to do an extremely good job and I look up to Joe Flacco a ton. Shoot, I think I might have been in middle school whenever he won the Super Bowl for the Ravens. Being out here blocking for him is an honor. I take a lot of pride in blocking for him because I know that he knows what he’s doing and he works his butt off every day in practice. My job every day is to go out there and protect him.”

Quarterback Joe Flacco on how involved Offensive Line Coach Mike Munchak is with the rest of the offense.

“To be honest, he’s an offensive line coach. It’s not like I am sitting in meetings with him. But when we put in the run game, he gets a chance to get in front of us as a team and it’s awesome to hear him go to work. Obviously, the experience he brings because he was a such a great player in the league—but he’s also been a coach now for a long time and built his reputation on being a great coach. And you can see that come off when we’re in the meeting room and he’s going over the game plan and what we’re going to do. When you talk to the linemen, it’s nothing but a ton of respect for what he does and how he does it with them. So, it’s pretty cool to have him here.”