If this is going to be a breakout season for Broncos' second-year receiver Courtland Sutton, let the record show it began not with the Broncos' season opener Monday at Oakland, but back in mid-April while no fans were watching a practice.
The Broncos were holding their first offseason practice of their voluntary minicamp. It was held in the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse and from the first play against air, new quarterback Joe Flacco immediately set his eyes on Sutton.
‘I’ve never been a part of an ending like that’: How one questionable call and a roller coaster ending left the Broncos in dismay (Nicki Jhabvala, The Athletic)
Bradley Chubb sat in the corner of the locker room, hunched over with his elbows on his knees and head down as his fellow pass rushers sat next to him in silence. The final 37 seconds of the wildest game of his career swung from jubilation to utter disappointment, leaving him with a mix of shock and frustration and anger and every emotion in between.
Never has football left Chubb this upset.
Pain of the Broncos’ football-gods-must-hate-us loss to Chicago will eat team alive (Mark Kiszla, Denver Post)
Shaking his head, Broncos veteran Derek Wolfe walked slowly toward the middle of Denver's locker room 15 minutes after the game was over, searching for somebody, anybody, to tell him it was all a bad dream.
"Did we really lose that game?" Wolfe asked, looking me in the eye. "Tell me. Because it's like this one still hasn't hit me."
‘All I want to be is effective’: Inside Champ Bailey’s transition from Hall of Fame football player to burgeoning entrepreneur (Seth Emerson, The Athletic)
A visitor enters an ornate office building in downtown Atlanta, decorated in marble, goes up to the 23rd floor, and is ushered into a conference room that has a view of the city. And a few minutes later, in walks Champ Bailey: Georgia football legend. Newly enshrined Pro Football Hall of Famer. Or, as he prefers to be referred to these days: businessman.
Examining the final stretch of the Broncos' last-second defeat (Aric DiLalla, DenverBroncos.com)
On a play-by-play sheet, the final 2:48 of Sunday's game between the Bears and Broncos is 31 lines long.
Twenty plays. Four timeouts. Four penalties. One kickoff.
Two lead changes.
