HT: Demaryius Thomas ‘excited to have his old offense back’

Good morning, Broncos Country!

The Broncos wrapped up their first three-day practice week of OTAs, and though the last two sessions were closed to media, a few glimpses from Thursday’s team-only drills have some things on offense to get excited about.

No. 1 being that No. 88 is feeling better than ever.

No. 2 that he is “excited to have this old offense back.”

And No. 3 that said “old offense” is going to feature guys all over the field.

“Most of the routes I’m catching now these past two years were down the field or deep comeback, or a deep in where it’s bang-bang,” Demaryius Thomas said. “But now, it’s not bang-bang because you have so many options on the field. You can spread out with so many other players running around.”

With this offense, coach Vance Joseph has said he wants DT “to dominate.” Thomas considers that taking advantage of the one-on-one coverages he’s likely to get.

“There are going to be a lot of people in this offense running wide open. It’s going to be hard to double team anybody,” Thomas noted. “I’m excited for it. I’ve been wanting that my entire career, and I’m looking forward to it.”

But the new old offense still has most players at the learning phase, and McCoy admits a lot of players “are swimming right now.”

“I think as an offense, we’re all playing a little slower than we’d like to right now because we’re throwing so much at them,” the offensive coordinator said Thursday. “We’re introducing our system to them, and they’re thinking a lot. Hopefully by the time that we hit training camp, the entire offense will play a lot faster.”

McCoy, returning for a second stint as Broncos’ OC, is known for developing offenses to fit his players. That’s still the goal, but not the main focus just yet. As players get more comfortable with it, McCoy and his staff will tweak it for the players on the field.

“As players and coaches, we’re trying to figure out what we do best right now. We’re moving a lot of guys around to figure that out,” McCoy said, noting there are “plenty” of mistakes. “But the good thing about that is we’re coaching off of that.”

Although some of this offense is similar to McCoy’s scheme with the Broncos previously, much of the terminology has changed. But the OC noted that Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders are both “way ahead of everyone else right now.”

“It’s a good group of players. We have a great coaching staff that we brought in here,” McCoy said. “I think the way that we’ve installed up to this point in time, we’re headed in the right direction. But we still have a long way to go.”

Thomas, who well remembers being a rookie in McCoy’s system, praised both Carlos Henderson and Isaiah McKenzie for their work the past three days trying to pick up the offense.

“I understand totally what they’re going through. I couldn’t even line up my first time running this offense,” Thomas said, recalling being quizzed by then-head coach Josh McDaniels. “It’s going to take some time, but they’re picking it up kind of quick.”

The Broncos’ leading wide receiver the past five seasons also praised the skills of the two rookies.

“They can fly. They both can run and catch the ball. They can do things after the catch,” said Thomas, who is known for his yards-after-catch prowess. “I look forward to seeing what they can do for the team.”

And not to leave out the quarterbacks, Thomas said Paxton Lynch looks a lot more confident in McCoy’s system and thinks all the quarterbacks are thriving as they pick up the new playbook.

“It’s been good. We get better and better every day. We stay out there on the field and we work together,” Thomas said in response to a question about Lynch but noted that was true for both Lynch and Trevor Siemian. “It’s a different [QB] every other day, but we’re doing whatever we have to do to get that timing down. I think working after practice and staying on the field is helping a lot.”

Playing against the Broncos’ stellar defense is also helping a lot, the offensive coordinator added.

“It’s fun playing against these guys, and it’s going to help our offensive line get better. Not just the pass game, but the run game as well,” said McCoy, noting changing protections and changes at the line of scrimmage. “It’s the whole team getting to training camp getting a good feel for what we want to do so we can play faster and have a lot of success.”

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