The weather in Denver is clear and sunny today, but weekend storms will continue to affect Broncos training camp.
The Broncos announced this morning that fans will not be able to attend today’s practice because the storms damaged the fan seating areas.
“Due to damage from this weekend’s storms, the bleachers for fans are unsafe and today’s #BroncosCamp practice is now CLOSED to the public,” the team posted on social media.
Denver experienced flash flooding, heavy hail and damage to structures throughout the region over the weekend.
Broncos coach Sean Payton has a history with Atlanta, dating back to the intense rivalry between the Saints (whom he coached from 2006 through 2021) and the Falcons. Payton’s current team was back in Georgia tonight for a preseason game.
And Payton couldn’t resist making a crack about the crowd in Atlanta, or the lack of one.
“There’s a lot of people dressed up as empty seats today,” Payton said at a halftime interview, via Awful Announcing.
The official game book for the Broncos-Falcons contest lists attendance at 68,183. That may have been the tickets sold, not the tickets used.
Whether the seats will be filled during the Falcons’ regular-season home games depends on whether the team performs better than it did on Friday night. Preseason or not, the Falcons trailed 24-0 at the half. The final score was 27-7.
The Falcons have reason for optimism. They finished in a three-way tie for the NFC South crown. If they can get something/anything out of the quarterback position, they could win the division in 2026.
They’ll need to win early in the season to get the fans on board. Three of the first four games are on the road, and three of the first four teams they play made it to the playoffs in 2025.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa made his preseason debut with the Falcons on Friday night against the Broncos.
In two drives led by Tua, the Falcons punted twice.
The first was a three-and-out effort, netting four yards. The second saw the Falcons gain a first down and advance from their own 15 to their own 32 before punting again.
Before exiting for Cooper Rush, Tua completed three of five passes for 22 yards and a passer rating of 70.4. He also fumbled a shotgun snap before falling on it.
Tagovailoa is currently listed as the first-string quarterback. Michael Penix Jr. doesn’t have a formal spot on the depth chart, as he recovers from a torn ACL suffered last season. Penix has yet to be cleared for team activities.
The Falcons open the regular season with a September 13 visit to the Steelers. Last year, a Dolphins loss in Week 15 at Pittsburgh triggered Tua’s benching by the Dolphins — setting the stage for his offseason exit and the Dolphins paying him more than $50 million to play for the Falcons.
The Broncos have placed center Mike Deiter on season-ending injured reserve, Mike Klis of 9News reports.
Deiter, who joins defensive lineman Matt Henningsen (Achilles) on IR, injured his quad on Tuesday.
Deiter’s injury left Calvin Throckmorton and undrafted rookie Gavin Ortega at center with Luke Wattenberg and Alex Forsyth sidelined with injuries.
The Broncos signed center Lecitus Smith to take Deiter’s roster spot, per Klis.
Smith, 28, entered the NFL as a sixth-round pick of the Cardinals in 2022. He has also spent time with the Texans, Eagles, Packers, Patriots and Steelers.
He has appeared in 19 games, with four starts, including one start with the Packers last season in his only action of 2025.
The Broncos will play their starters 10-15 snaps in Friday night’s preseason opener against the Falcons. Those starters will not include quarterback Bo Nix.
The game is on the artificial turf at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and Nix is returning from a fractured right ankle.
Nix will play in the second and third preseason games, coach Sean Payton said Wednesday.
“If we were playing a game — you guys have watched practice — he would [play],” Payton said, via video from Romi Bean of CBS News Colorado. “He wanted to play. He’ll play the next two weeks.
“I think that was probably something that was already decided maybe like a month ago. But if we were playing a game, I would say he would play. You’d have to ask him, but I would say [he’d be] 100 percent.”
Nix was injured in the Broncos’ divisional-round playoff victory over the Bills, and the AFC Championship Game was the first game he has missed for injury in his career.
With Nix watching from the sideline, Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger will handle the quarterback duties against the Falcons as they compete for the backup job.
