ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — A day after the Broncos focused on third-down work, they spent their seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 periods inside the 20-yard line. Denver worked both the high and tight red zone, as all three team periods were situated in that area of the field.
"When you're in the red zone or tight red zone, there's less space," Head Coach Sean Payton said after Saturday's practice. "Scheme-wise, what you do offensively has to change a little bit. Generally, to be a good red-zone team, you have to be able to run the ball pretty effectively. We were not a good tight red zone team a year ago, inside the 10. So space is limited. The ability to run the football [is important], and there's three things we preach all the time.
"When you enter the red zone, you're in a position where you're going to score points. So, no minus plays, no turnovers, no exotic snap counts — nothing that can move you out of scoring position."
The Broncos' defense recorded an interception and several potential sacks and tackles for loss, but as Denver held one final practice before their first off day of training camp, all three of the Broncos' quarterbacks found ways to make splash plays.
Jarrett Stidham, working with the first-team offense, struck first as he found Courtland Sutton for a touchdown during seven-on-seven action. Stidham later found Tim Patrick along the sideline for a 15-yard pickup and delivered three completions in quick succession to Greg Dulcich, Brandon Johnson and Patrick. On his pass to Johnson, Stidham quickly read the defense and delivered the ball in stride into a small window.
"It's been good," Stidham said of his first few practices. "[There are] definitely some things that you have to clean up, part of training camp. Little hiccups here and there. Overall, I think it's been good. Offense, operationally, has been really, really sharp for the most part. Now it's just kind of fine tuning some details, making sure we're all on the same page and moving the ball."
Nix, in his work, delivered three would-be touchdown passes during the Saturday session. He first dropped a pass in over a defender's head to Javonte Williams before later delivering an impressive end-zone strike to Dulcich for another red-zone score. He also found Samaje Perine for a touchdown in tight red-zone action.
"Once you get down there, the field shrinks," Nix said, "It's all about just converting red-zone third downs, and knowing you've got points and just trying to get touchdowns."
During his first seven-on-seven rep, Zach Wilson flicked his wrist and dropped a pass in the back of the end zone for rookie Troy Franklin. Wilson also spun away from a potential sack in 11-on-11 to find Lucas Krull for a positive gain, and he completed on-target, tight-window throws to Marvin Mims Jr. and David Sills in the Broncos' final red-zone period.
"I would say [I'm] comfortable with a lot of the concepts," Wilson said. "A lot of teams run similar concepts. It's all about how you call them. The operation, [I'm] still learning every single day. Exactly where guys are lining up, who I'm [identifying as the Mike linebacker], who I'm moving, getting to the other play. I think that [you] can always keep practicing and getting more comfortable with it. I think [my comfort level is] good enough to be able to function without any issues at there, but of course you want to just have it down like the back of your hand."
As Payton reflected on the first several practices of training camp, he said Stidham, Nix and Wilson were all "doing well" — but changes could be on their way in the rotation.
"The rotation's been pretty consistent," Payton said. "I think that will begin to change a little bit as we get into the next week and a half, two weeks."
BOUNCING BACK
Perhaps most impressive about Nix's late surge was that it came after an early interception. On Nix's first rep of 11-on-11 work, he looked deep down the field to Dulcich but was picked off by veteran cornerback Levi Wallace.
"You look at it, you look at the positive plays, you look at the minus plays," Payton said of interceptions. "All [of the evaluation is] in preparation for when we get into pads and we get into game settings. I'm sure you're talking about each one of the quarterbacks, and we grade the decision. There's times at the line of scrimmage where they have two plays. Are we getting in the right play? Sometimes a play's covered. Each practice goes by with a lot of positive comments, a lot of constructive criticism — and that's why we're out here."
Nix's response to the turnover? Three consecutive completions in the next team period, including the impressive touch pass to Javonte Williams that floated over the head of the defender and fell to Williams for the score.
"I treat [the interception] like a touchdown and just go to the next play," Nix said. "A lot is going to happen. You learn a lot out there each play, and that's just my focus right now."
Nix's early interception was the first giveaway of training camp, but he threw just one incompletion and posted all three of his scores over the final two team periods of the practice.
"You're going to have a mistake," Payton said. "You're going to have a minus play. The key is learning from it. We'll look at the film, and then [it's about] bouncing back."
QUICK HITS
… Patrick recorded a one-handed grab for a potential first down during the Broncos' second team period of practice. Earlier, he found a soft spot in the defense and then tapped his feet down in bounds for a 15-yard catch that would have set Denver up with a first-and-goal.
… A couple of Denver's edge rushers made splash plays during Saturday's practice. In Nik Bonitto's return to team drills, he recorded a tackle for loss. Jonathon Cooper later recorded a would-be sack.
