Broncos OTAs are in their final week, with four practices scheduled. The installation of Mike McCoy‘s offense continues at a rapid pace, and the Broncos coaches are using technology new and old to track the players’ progress.
Head coach Vance Joseph met with the media following Monday’s practice with a full update on how the offense is progressing. He spoke on specific players, and also touched on some of the ways the coaching staff is evaluating and grading players throughout OTAs.
Here are some of the highlights from Joseph’s press conference, courtesy of Broncos PR:
On what he saw from the offense today
“I thought the entire offense looked really good today. They had a slow day on Thursday. Had a great day last Wednesday, average day on Thursday. But they bounced back today. And we talked about this morning—how do you bounce back from bad plays, even adversity if you’re having a bad game? They came back today and made some big plays, especially in the two-minute period. That’s a game-winning touchdown. And we found a way to get the balls in the hands of our playmakers, No. 88 (Demaryius Thomas) and No. 10 (Emmanuel Sanders). Those guys made big plays today.”
On whether the quarterbacks benefit from practicing against such a good defense
“It’s a help. It’s a help because when you’re facing the best every day, it makes game day easier. Seeing the edge rushers that we have, seeing the tight coverage every day, it’s going to help those guys play better on gameday. Games should be easier than practice. When you’re playing against one of the top defenses in the league, it should make their lives easier on Sundays.”
On whether he prefers the quarterbacks to take chances or play it safe in practice
“It depends. It depends on down-and-distance. It depends where we are in the football game. It’s their job to move the chains, to put the ball in our guys’ hands to help them make plays, and that’s what’s important.”
On QB Paxton Lynch and the offense
“He had a great day. You’ve seen how many days, three? I’ve seen what now, seven? It was a good day for the entire offense. He made some nice strolls. Yes, it’s fair. He had a great day.”
On RB Jamaal Charles
“He’s made great progress as far as his rehab. He came here, his quad was really weak. Now, it’s gotten stronger. He’s running hills. He’s with [Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs] Eric [Studesville] with a couple individual drills, so he’s getting closer. His timeframe won’t change; he’ll still be ready for training camp for us.”
On TE A.J. Derby
“A.J. has had a nice offseason. He’s a guy that we’re counting on. It’s a tight end room full of different types of players. He’s a guy that we’re counting on for third down or third-and-medium [distances] to attack the inside zones for us. He’s had a good offseason.”
On WR Isaiah McKenzie
“He’s a guy that we’re going to use obviously in the slot and in the return game, but also maybe in the backfield a little bit. He has a skillset that we could use him in a lot of places. He’s exciting. He’s a smart guy. He’s a tough guy. So we’re excited about him.”
On how the Broncos track the players in practice
“We have a GPS system on our players to track their yardage and track their speeds.”
On virtual technology used to get players reps
“I’ve had a little bit of experience with that. It’s not football. It’s a learning tool. You can use it to obviously learn and demonstrate live football reps, but it’s not football. We have to spend our time out here and that’s where our guys get better. I’m not against it, I’m not for it. I’ve experienced it in San Francisco years ago. It works for some guys and doesn’t for some other guys.”
On whether the players are tested on the installs
“We’re testing them every week. We test them on paper every week by position. It’s a process. It’s a long process. Nobody is ready to play right now. Including us.”
On whether he grades players on a curve system
“I don’t. It’s an NFL football team. Our defense is obviously a top-10 defense on paper. But, we’re going to face Oakland twice and Kansas City twice. Even the Chargers defense played really well last year. There are no grading curves here. It’s yes or no.”
