2021 Broncos Training Camp: Day 9 news and notes

Day 9 of practice is in the books and it was an interesting one before they head to the stadium for a scrimmage tomorrow. Today we have Teddy Bridgewater winning another day, a big fight between two key players, and the importance of tomorrow’s scrimmage at Mile High.

Teddy wins the day again

Another practice and another called “win” for Teddy Bridgewater who by all accounts looked better and did better than Drew Lock once again today. While Teddy isn’t quickly pulling away, it appears they’re starting to inch apart before heading into the scrimmage tomorrow, the scrimmages vs. the Vikings, and the preseason.

Teddy was just very consistent today. He didn’t let the ball hit the ground, didn't turn the ball over, he had a 60+ yard touchdown pass to tight end Noah Fant during 7-on-7’s and just looked the best of the two. During DNVR’s post-practice podcast, they mentioned how decisive Teddy has been compared to Lock.

That was evident during the 7-on-7 period where Lock had the whistle blown on him again and he took a sack. I remember this happening back in the Paxton Lynch days. It shows he’s having an issue reading the field, living in his head too much and/or just afraid to throw that costly turnover.

Head Coach Vic Fangio was asked if Lock was playing hesitant lately. While he didn’t completely shoot down the narrative, he did say that every play has its own story and that it could be true for some but there could be contributing factors to the other ones.

“Maybe. Maybe not. Every play has its own story to it—what he’s seeing, the routes being run, the coverage. Everything has a part in that. I’m sure on a couple of those, you’re right, but maybe on some of the other ones, there’s contributing factors.”

Lock did look better during team drills and made multiple connections to K.J. Hamler and Jerry Jeudy. He did end his day with a touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Seth Williams during the red zone period. However, his inconsistent day put him behind Teddy Bridgewater who was very consistent.

I know people want Lock to win, do well, and scream “YOU’RE BIASED” whenever people say otherwise, but he appears behind Teddy Bridgewater at this point and time. The stadium practice will be key for Lock since it will mimic a game situation. The scrimmages against another team, new looks, and so on will also be key for Lock. Obviously, the preseason games will be huge too but he needs to really turn it around in the coming weeks if he wants the job.

FIGHT!

Reports from camp have been that they have been “lifeless” and “boring” but today things were spiced up with quite the ruckus between two of the Broncos best players.

During a run play in the middle of a non-padded practice, the two tangled together and from what I gathered, Bolles may or may not have thrown Chubb on the ground. This led to a little tussle between the two, but it was quickly ended, no punches were thrown, and nobody else joined in. However, both players were PISSED. Both continued chirping and Chubb once again started across the field to go after Bolles. Coaches, staff, and players defused this situation and Bolles went into the locker room to cool down. O-Line coach Chris Kuper and General Manager George Paton followed Bolles into the locker room. A few minutes later, they returned with a much calmer Bolles who eventually met with Chubb and the two exchanged a quick interaction before hopefully ending this feud.

While nothing significant happened here, it was quite the intense back and forth between the two.

Bolles eventually returned to practice while Chubb who still is on a pitch count was done for the day.

What set this off is unknown, but reports from camp were that Chubb was owning Bolles a bit today which is something that hasn’t happened much at all thus far throughout camp. A frustrated Bolles who has shown to be emotional in the past could have set this off.

Head Coach Vic Fangio who has spoken out against camp fights wasn’t excited that this happened between two key players on the roster. He was asked after practice if he was disappointed that it happened and he answered “Yeah—a little bit, I was. Yeah.”.

Some may love to see this from their team because it shows passion and some aggressiveness, but Fangio is not one of them. He said, “Any fight—we don’t need, and we don’t want.” so it’ll be interesting to see what comes from this. There likely be some meeting between Fangio and these two before tomorrow’s practice where they will faceoff each once again.

Stadium practice

Tomorrow’s practice is closed to the public, but it will be an in-stadium scrimmage between the Broncos' offense and defense. This practice will mimic game situations more and likely will be the first of a few significant milestones in this quarterback competition.

When asked about the structure of these practices, Head Coach Vic Fangio said that it will be a little more game-like as they prepare to take on the Minnesota Vikings next Saturday in the team's first preseason game.

“It’s going to be a little more game-like in that we’ll put the ball down at a certain place and we’ll have some kickoffs and have some punts, intermix the punts where they would happen in a game. It’ll be a little more game-like.”

This will be an exciting practice when it comes to the quarterbacks. Drew Lock could flip the narrative coming out of the first week of camp or strengthen it. Teddy Bridgewater could create some real separation or muddy the waters even more in this battle.

Who gets the first-team, second-team, the most snaps, and so on will be interesting as well. This next week in general will be very important to determining this quarterback battle. I’d imagine the coaches would want something decided before their second preseason game so one quarterback can build chemistry with the 1st team and get a significant amount of reps as they prepare for week one.

Injury Report

• Wide receiver/returner Diontae Spencer sat out practice today
• Wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland missed another practice with a backside injury
• Rookie cornerback Kary Vincent Jr. sat out practice
• Linebacker Justin Strnad was given the day off today after cramping up after yesterday’s practice
• Linebacker Josey Jewell sat out another practice with a groin injury
• UDFA rookie cornerback Mac McCain sat out another practice with a hamstring injury
• Rookie defensive lineman Marquiss Spencer sat out practice after going down with an injury during yesterday’s practice
• Defensive lineman Mike Purcell sat out practice again with a sprained ankle but was seen on the side with a helmet on so he’s close to returning
• Safeties Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson and right tackle Bobby Massie received veteran days off today

News and Notes

• Broncos are bringing in linebacker Chris Orr for a workout
• The Broncos were awarded linebacker Barrington Wade off waivers from the Baltimore Ravens
• To make room for Barrington Wade, the Broncos waived UDFA rookie wide receiver Warren Jackson

Quotes

Head Coach Vic Fangio on if C Quinn Meinerz has shown more consistency with snapping the football

“Yeah, and he had a false start yesterday, too, where he started leaning back and the officials called it on him. Obviously, all of that is a work in progress with him. We expect day-to-day improvement from him.”

Head Coach Vic Fangio on how OLB Von Miller has looked thus far in training camp

“I thought Von had a good day of practice yesterday, and I think it carried over to today. I haven’t seen the tape yet, but that’s what we need from him. We need good, consistent work so he can play a lot of plays and be out there all the time.”

Cornerback Ronald Darby on how quickly the secondary has been able to gel given the new additions

“We’re coming together really fast. We have guys that have played in the system before like ‘K-Full’ (CB Kyler Fuller) and guys that have been in the system. Other than me and [CB] Pat [Surtain II]—we’re the newest people. We have to learn the most. Outside of that, everyone else is familiar with it.”

Cornerback Ronald Darby on if its tough lining up against WR Jerry Jeudy

“He’s a really good route runner. He knows how to disguise his routes. He has speed and he knows how to get out of his breaks. He can catch. The whole route tree is open to him. He can play inside and outside. It is difficult checking him. It’s all work and he’ll get you right.”

Wide receiver K.J. Hamler on what his role can be in the offense this season

“I want to be the playmaker. I want to be the spark to this offense. It’s a lot of talent on the offense. We’ve got [TE] Noah [Fant], all the guys on the receiving corps, we’ve got the running backs and stuff like that. You’ve got [QB] Drew [Lock] and [QB] Teddy [Bridgewater] at quarterback. Every opportunity, I’ve got to make plays. Some days you might get six balls some days you might get one. So just take every opportunity. I’m blessed that I’m here. I’m blessed I’m a part of the Broncos organization. So, I just try my best just being me every day.”

Wide receiver K.J. Hamler on WR Trinity Benson’s speed

“‘TB’ (WR Trinity Benson) is fast. Me and ‘TB’ always talk about building a 4x100 team, and we’re trying to figure out who the anchor would be. So, we’re still trying to figure that out. But I don’t know, me and ‘TB’ don’t need to race. We already know. We already know. What’s understood doesn’t need to be said.”

Tweets from Camp