Broncos fifth-round pick Audric Estime won’t be on the field for the rest of the team’s offseason program.
Head coach Sean Payton told reporters on Thursday that Estime suffered a knee injury. The running back underwent platelet-rich plasma treatment and had an arthroscopic procedure that will keep him in the rehab group for the near future.
“We did a small scope procedure just to make sure everything’s clean,” Payton said. “It is. He’ll be available at the start of training camp, so we won’t see him working through the rest of the OTAs. But, on the conservative side, he’s going to be just fine. It was all good news.”
Estime ran for 1,341 yards and 18 touchdowns at Notre Dame last season. Javonte Williams and Samaje Perine are the top veteran backs on the Broncos depth chart.
Peyton Manning’s name sometimes comes up as a person who could become a part-owner of an NFL team, or an executive running a team’s operations. But he says he has no interest in that.
Manning told the Denver Post that he enjoys the role he currently has of staying in contact with the teams he played for while working on his Omaha Productions, and he doesn’t see himself becoming a member of an NFL team’s front office.
“I don’t think that’s anywhere on my radar by any means,” Manning said of running a team. “I love being an ambassador for the Broncos and for the Colts, for the University of Tennessee. Obviously, living here I get to go to all the Broncos games. I was out at the facility the other day. Our kids do sports in the area around Dove Valley, so I’m probably at the facility a couple times a week. They have great snacks over there in their cafeteria. I don’t know if I’m being charged for those or what. I still have my key fob from when I played. Keith Bishop [the former Broncos linebacker who now runs security for the team] never made that go away, so that’s helpful as well. I’m excited about still being a part of the team and being part of the community. . . . I still feel an attachment and have really enjoyed getting to know the Walton-Penner family as well. But as far as running a team, I don’t think that’s on my radar.”
Manning’s name is well-regarded in football circles, and bringing him onboard would be a good way for an owner to bolster his team’s reputation. But Manning would have to be interested, and right now he says he’s not.
The Broncos are splitting their quarterback reps three ways right now, but they’ll have to pick one guy to run the offense at some point.
Jarrett Stidham was their choice for the final weeks of last season and he’s back with the team this year. The Broncos also drafted Bo Nix in the first round and traded for Zach Wilson, so they aren’t clearing the path for him to remain in that role when they take the field this fall.
While some might view the moves to add two quarterbacks as a sign that Stidham won’t be the choice, he doesn’t plan on rolling over.
“I’ve dealt with this before when I was in New England with Mac Jones,” Stidham said, via the Broncos website. “It’s a business and I totally understand it, but at the same time, I’m here to compete. I’m not going to just sit down and let someone else walk in here and [just take the role]. I’m going to work my butt off to get the job. I’m super excited about it.”
Sean Payton didn’t sound like he was in any hurry to change the current approach for the team’s quarterbacks, so Stidham should have quite a few chances to show the coach that he’s still the right guy for the job.
The Broncos drafted Bo Nix with the thought that he’s their future franchise quarterback. But right now, he’s being treated as just one member of a three-man group.
Broncos coach Sean Payton said that during Organized Team Activities, Nix is getting equal reps with Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson as all three quarterbacks get the opportunity to show what they can do.
“We try to split up all the reps,’' Payton said, via ESPN. “There’s going to be a time when you read into the reps, I don’t think it’s early in OTAs. It’s kind of the orphan group, they’re all orphan dogs. They’ve come from somewhere, but they’re doing good. It’s a good room.’'
Payton may still be three months away from naming a starter, and he says he wants to see as much of all three candidates as he can before making that decision.
“We go by what we see. We try to get them as many reps as possible. We rotate. We’re rotating all of them right now. They’re all in a race to learn this system. Man, they’re doing well.’'
Zach Wilson didn’t live up to expectations in New York. There are no expectations in Denver.
The quarterback is vying for the Broncos’ starting quarterback job, but with Jarrett Stidham and first-round pick Bo Nix also in the competition, Wilson is something of an afterthought for anyone outside the locker room.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft doesn’t sound as if he’s lost his confidence.
“I feel like you learn the most when things don’t always go the best,” Wilson said, via Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post. “So you bank those reps. You learn from them and three years of things being challenging you can learn a lot of things.
“Hopefully, I can carry those with me.”
The Jets traded Wilson and a seventh-round pick to the Broncos for a sixth-round pick after the BYU product went 12-21 in 33 starts and threw 23 touchdowns and 25 interceptions.
“Obviously, there’s bittersweet moments in everything,” Wilson said of the trade. “I was grateful for my experiences there and the guys. I miss the guys out there and everything, too.
“But at the same time, a fresh start is good. I’m excited to attack a new challenge.”
Wilson gets a fresh start. It remains to be seen whether he wins the starting job.