PLAYER ATTENDANCE
Did not practice: TE Bug Howard (illness) and P Colby Wadman (personal reason). Coach Vic Fangio said Howard became ill on Wednesday and it was likely food poisoning.
Returned to practice: TE Jake Butt (ACL) did 7-on-7 work, WR Emmanuel Sanders (Achilles) was limited to individual drills and RB Phillip Lindsay (wrist) participated in all parts of practice.
NEW INJURIES
LB Todd Davis (calf) was headed for a post-practice MRI, according to a source. Davis walked gingerly from the sideline to a golf cart for a ride back to the locker room. On Thursday night, a league source said Davis sustained a calf strain that could keep him out 3-4 weeks. With a full recovery, Davis could still be available for the Week 1 opener at Oakland. For the time being, though, Joe Jones and Kieshawn Bierra will see first-team snaps.
TOP PLAY
During QB Joe Flacco’s second segment of 11-on-11 play, rookie WR Juwann Winfree made a fine diving catch on a pass to the left side.
THUMBS UP
*CB De’Vante Bausby. Intercepted a pass thrown by QB Kevin Hogan and tipped by LB Alexander Johnson. “I had the ‘squat’ (zone coverage) so I gave my guy a shove and then (safety) Su’a Cravens took his vertical route,” Bausby said. “There was nobody in my vicinity so when (Hogan) checked down to the running back, (Johnson) tipped it — I was in the right place at the right time.”
*RB Phillip Lindsay. So much for being eased into practice. Lindsay took the first hand-off of 11-on-11 and did not appear to be limited. “He had his legs (during recovery from wrist surgery) so I shouldn’t be surprised,” Fangio said. “But he was chomping on the bit to get out there.”
*The weather. If the scorching temperatures continued to be on the forecast, they didn’t arrive during the Broncos’ practice. “The heat wasn’t bad,” Fangio said. “You have to remember, I spent nine years in New Orleans, some in South Carolina (where the Panthers trained) and Houston. They would pray for a day like this.”
THUMBS DOWN
*WR Courtland Sutton. A few drops during individual drills. “I kind of ride him and tease him a little bit so I’ll take advantage of that,” Fangio said when asked about Sutton’s day.
*QB Joe Flacco. Criticizing the starting quarterback on Practice 1 of camp? There were a few overthrows on routes over the middle.
*Broncos’ 2016-18 product. A crowd that can be politely described as “thin” showed up for the first day of camp. The fanbase’s way of saying, “Show us.” The announced attendance was 1,257.
ODDS AND ENDS
- Quarterback playing time (11-on-11): Joe Flacco 22 snaps, Kevin Hogan 22 snaps, Drew Lock 17 and Brett Rypien four.
- Quarterback playing time (7-on-7): Flacco seven, Hogan six, Luck six and Rypien two.
- Teams can’t put on pads during camp until after three practices, which means Sunday is the first available workout. As for Thursday, coach Vic Fangio said: “I thought it went good. That practice was basically very similar to what we were doing in OTAs structure-wise — it was maybe 10 minutes longer than that. (Friday’s) will be similar and we’ll eventually build up to where it will be longer and get more plays in as we go.”
- WR Emmanuel Sanders started camp on the active roster (and not PUP), which allowed him to lead the receivers in individual drills. “It’s a testament to all of the hard work I’ve put in, all the pain I’ve gone through that I’m here standing and saying, ‘I feel really good,’” Sanders said.
- TE Jake Butt estimated he played “5-6 snaps” of 7-on-7 in his first non-individual work since tearing his ACL last year. “I have to shake off some rust,” he said. “It’s been awhile. It feels like I’ve been fighting an uphill battle overcoming this third (ACL). It’s going to take some time and that being said, it’s still really early. But I’m a competitive guy and hold myself to a higher standard. Dropped a ball — no excuse.”
- The first unit offensive line: LT Garett Bolles, LG Dalton Risner, C Connor McGovern, RG Ron Leary and RT Ja’Wuan James. Don Barclay subbed for Leary on some 11-on-11 snaps.
- The second unit offensive line: LT Elijah Wilkinson, LG Sam Jones, C Jake Brendel, RG Barclay and RT Jake Rodgers.
- A new scoreboard with time, score, down-and-distance, etc., was installed at the top of the berm opposite the Broncos’ facility.
- Flacco’s first drop-back didn’t happen. On his third play of 11-on-11, Flacco mishandled what appeared to be a fine shotgun snap from McGovern.
- TE Noah Fant’s first intended target (from Hogan) was broken up by S Will Parks.
- On Flacco’s second segment, Sutton had a completion broken up by CB Chris Harris, but Sutton caught an out route on the next play.
- A nice play from Lock late in practice. After the snap, he rolled to his right and adjusted his throwing motion (3/4th delivery) to flip a pass to WR Fred Brown.
- The first unit kickoff coverage: CB Isaac Yiadom, RB Devontae Booker, LB Dekoda Watson, S Jamal Carter, S Shamarko Thomas, WR Tim Patrick, LB Joe Jones, LB Kieshawn Bierria, FB Andy Janovich, Parks and K Brandon McManus.
- Lock’s final 11-on-11 segment was with the second-team offensive line. He threw incomplete and handed off to RB Khalfani Muhammad.
- The Broncos made three roster moves on Thursday. Before practice, they signed receiver Steven Dunbar, who appeared in one game for San Francisco last year. After practice, they waived offensive lineman Nathan Jacobson and signed running back David Williams. A seventh-round pick by the Broncos last year, Williams started 2018 on the practice squad before signing with Jacksonville’s active roster and playing in six games (eight rushing attempts).
- Before practice, the Broncos announced that three coaches will join the team during camp as part of the Bill Walsh NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship. Jason Belser played in the NFL for 11 years and is a coaching consultant at Independence High in South Riding, Va. Lamar Owens is entering his first year as the assistant receivers coach at Georgia Southern. And Will Tukuafu played 50 NFL games for San Francisco (2011-13) and Seattle (2014-16).
FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE
9:15 a.m.-noon practice (open to the public).
