The Broncos didn’t practice on Wednesday, but they said they would have been missing a couple of offensive players if they had gotten on the field.
Running back RJ Harvey (hamstring) and wide receiver Marvin Mims (foot) were both listed as non-participants on the team’s injury report. The Broncos played on Monday night and both players took part in the game.
Harvey had three carries for 18 yards and four catches for 23 yards in the 31-10 loss to the Chiefs. Harvey also returned four kickoffs while Mims returned a pair of punts. The next two days should provide hints about whether their status for this Sunday against the Jaguars is up in the air or if the quick turnaround impacted their estimated practice status.
Linebacker Jonah Elliss (shoulder) and wide receiver Troy Franklin (knee) were both listed as full practice participants.
Broncos Clips
With the Broncos seemingly concerned that their contact with Drew Brees prior to the AFC Championship could put them in a tampering jackpot, we decided to ask the league whether the specific situation runs afoul of the rules.
The NFL declined comment.
It’s not clear what that means. If it’s a nothing burger, the league easily could have said so.
The problem for the Broncos is that the NFL enforces the tampering rules unpredictably and sporadically. More often than not, the league looks the other way. During the days of rampant tampering in and around the Scouting Combine, the NFL rarely does anything about it.
Sometimes, however, the NFL decides to make an example out of someone. In this case, the effort to feed ESPN an interesting story for the first Monday night pregame show of the season has also handed the league enough evidence to take action, if it chooses to do so.
The only question remaining is whether the NFL will choose to do so.
Again, it doesn’t take a complaint from the team that holds a player’s rights. The Dolphins were hammered for tampering with Sean Payton and Tom Brady, based on evidence the NFL tripped over during an unrelated investigation.
Here, the evidence fell into the NFL’s laps. Thanks to a report that pushed the idea that the Broncos contacted Brees at a time when he remained on the Saints’ reserve-retired list.
On Monday, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that the Broncos talked to quarterback Drew Brees about joining the team for the AFC Championship, without acknowledging that Brees’s status on the Saints’ reserve-retired list made the move impossible.
What is possible, based on Schefter’s report, is a tampering case against the Broncos.
Schefter reported that former Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and former Broncos offensive assistant Pete Carmichael spoke to Brees about a potential unretirement. Brees has since told Ed Werder that the former Saints assistants contacted Brees about the possibility. On Tuesday, Broncos coach Sean Payton offered a different version regarding who called whom.
“Drew had reached out, I think, right after the championship or right after the playoff win against Buffalo,” Payton told reporters. “I think he called Pete, probably texted Pete or Joe, those guys. None of it even came to my attention. So, when the story came up in Canton, I kept thinking they were just talking about the COVID season. Even in the COVID season when he and I discussed possibly coming back for a Monday night game, he had trouble throwing it. So, I don’t think really anything really came of it. I think in Drew’s mind, there’s that competitor in him. So, I was kind of out of the loop. I don’t think it’s a big story, but nonetheless, certainly one that once they described it to me, it just never got to my level, I guess. He had reached out to Pete, I think, and then Joe.”
Payton is smart. Very smart. The last thing he needs is the league office thinking the Broncos reached out to a player who is technically under contract with the Saints, without permission from the Saints. Even if the Saints don’t file a tampering complaint, the league can act without one. For example, the NFL whacked the Dolphins in 2022 for tampering after it stumbled over evidence that Miami had tampered with Payton and Tom Brady while investigating an unrelated matter.
And while it technically doesn’t matter if Lombardi and/or Carmichael contacted Brees or Brees contacted them, the situation has a different vibe if someone from the Broncos made the first move without first realizing that Brees wasn’t and isn’t a free agent.
Time will tell if the league does anything about it. The Broncos’ effort to recast the interaction as being initiated by Brees suggests that, at some level, the Broncos are concerned about coming under the inconsistent and unpredictable scrutiny of Big Shield.
After Monday night’s 31-10 loss to the Chiefs, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix called the experience a “nasty wakeup call.” Coach Sean Payton had a different term for it on Tuesday.
“Certainly a slap in the face,” Payton told reporters. “When you come off training camp and your offseason program, it’s one thing to lose in a hard-fought game where you feel like you played well. I don’t feel like we played up to our standard, and certainly that starts with us as coaches, myself. So yes, it’s disappointing. That would be a great way to describe it.”
A loss in Week 1 — especially to a division rival — has to be difficult to stomach. For months, it’s officially been the next game. There’s been extra time to prepare. And to basically serve up a no-show makes it even worse.
Especially for a team that won the top seed in the conference last year, and that hopes to take it to the next level with a Super Bowl appearance.
There’s no time to sulk, however. The Jaguars, who ended Denver’s 11-game winning streak last December, are up next. Then the Rams. Then the 49ers. Then the Chargers. Then the Seahawks.
Denver lost only three games in 2025. They could match that number by Week 6.
If they play like they did last night, they’ll beat it.
Jaguars kicker Cam Little kicked the longest field goal in NFL history, 68 yards, last season in Las Vegas. He also kicked the second-longest field goal in NFL history, 67 yards, last season in Jacksonville. And he kicked the longest field goal in any football game, 70 yards, in Jacksonville last preseason. Suffice to say Little has a strong leg.
And on Sunday, Little will be in the kickers’ paradise of Denver.
With Jacksonville at Denver on the Sunday afternoon schedule, Little will be at the NFL’s highest altitude, which means he’ll have a strong chance to break his own record for the longest field goal in NFL history. The lower air density at Denver’s Mile High elevation means NFL kickers can kick a football about five yards farther than they can in Jacksonville or other sea level fields.
The Jaguars also played in Denver last year, and Little’s longest attempt was from 47 yards. He made that, but what really stood out was what he did in pregame warmups: He made a 73-yard field goal, after missing an earlier warmup attempt from 75 yards.
Making a field goal in game conditions is harder than making one in warmups, and whether a situation ever arises in the game when the Jaguars have a reason to attempt a 70-yard field goal remains to be seen. But if there’s ever been a player and a place who are the right match for breaking the NFL’s all-time field goal record, it’s Cam Little in Denver.
With Week 1 in the books, it’s time to start thinking about Week 2. There’s one game that stands out, mainly for where it has been tucked into the TV schedule.
The entire slate for the second week of the season has only two games pitting a pair of 2025 playoff teams against each other: Steelers-Patriots in the 1:00 p.m. ET cluster and Jaguars-Broncos in the late-afternoon window.
But Jaguars-Broncos isn’t one of the 4:25 p.m. ET games. It begins at 4:05 p.m., with a regional TV audience. The big window goes to Commanders-Cowboys on Fox (Raiders-Chargers and Seahawks-Cardinals are also in that spot.)
Yes, the Cowboys are the Cowboys. They continue to draw big TV crowds. But the Jaguars went 13-4 last year. They thumped the Broncos in Denver in Week 16, 34-20. This time around, it’s the home opener at Mile High Stadium. And, suddenly, the Broncos will be feeling more than a little antsy, after losing badly to the Chiefs on Monday night.
The scheduling decision fits nicely with Jacksonville coach Liam Coen’s belief that his team is being overlooked. It gives him extra grist for the “disrespect” mill. Which should make it easier to get the players ready for a repeat of last year’s underrated performance against the team that won the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
From a programming standpoint, it makes sense to go with the Cowboys. Still, Jaguars-Broncos should be a better — and more consequential — contest.
The message to Coen and the Jags is clear. To get more attention, you’ll have to command it. The best way to do that in the short term will be to send the Broncos to 0-2.
On Monday night, a report emerged that multiple Broncos coaches had reached out to retired quarterback Drew Brees about the possibility of joining the Broncos for the AFC Championship after starter Bo Nix suffered a season-ending foot injury.
The report overlooked key details, such as Brees no longer being able to throw with his right arm. Most importantly, it ignored the fact that it would have been impossible to sign Brees, since he remains on the Saints’ reserve-retired list. (There’s also a tampering issue arising from the report that then-offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and offensive assistant Pete Carmichael contacted Brees, presumably without permission from the Saints.)
Coach Sean Payton was asked if he had a comment on the report, following the Week 1 loss to the Chiefs.
“No, I just know I was the odd man out, and I never heard anything about it, so it never came to anything,” Payton told reporters. “I was only told about it later. I didn’t; I was just like you guys.”
Even without Payton directly contacting Brees, a potential tampering issue arises if Lombardi and Carmichael did indeed contact Brees without permission from the Saints.
The broader point for any retired player is this: Find a way to get released, so that you can return at any time. That’s why Philip Rivers was able to rejoin the Colts late last year. Placement on the reserve-retired list complicates a potential return to play for another team — especially since he’d have to pass through waivers before signing, if his current team is willing to release him from the reserve-retired list.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton was not happy with anyone on the team, least of all himself, after Monday night’s 31-10 loss to the Chiefs.
“Obviously not a great evening. Didn’t do a lot well at all in the game,” Payton said. “That starts with me, that starts with our coaching staff. I thought they won, really, in every phase.”
Payton handed over play calling to offensive coordinator Davis Webb, and Payton was asked afterward whether it was especially frustrating not to be in control of the offense.
“As a head coach, always, whether you’re calling the plays or not — regardless of who’s calling the plays, when you have a game like that and you’re the head coach, it’s frustrating, it’s disappointing. I don’t know that the feeling is any different whether you’re calling them or not, honestly,” Payton said.
The Broncos’ two running backs, J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey, combined for just 11 carries for 54 yards. Payton said he would have liked to see more running the ball, but he wasn’t necessarily blaming Webb for that. Payton noted that the Broncos consistently found themselves in long-yardage passing situations and were trailing for the entire second half.
“Our third down numbers weren’t good, our rushing numbers weren’t good, pick your spot,” Payton said. “Lot of long yardage, lot of throws, not enough runs.”
Asked how he’ll evaluate Webb as a play caller going forward, Payton said he’ll review his performance the way he would a player’s.
“No different than a player, just evaluating the first quarter, the game, and then making the corrections and learning,” Payton said.
The Broncos have a lot of corrections to make.
Kenneth Walker shared carries with Zach Charbonnet in Seattle. He is the man in Kansas City.
With Patrick Mahomes returning nine months after tearing his ACL and LCL, the Chiefs leaned on Walker and their run game in a 31-10 shellacking of the Broncos. The Chiefs threw 27 passes for 184 yards and ran 38 times for 220 yards.
It was the third-most rushing yards for an Andy Reid team in Kansas City.
Walker, the Super Bowl LX MVP who signed with the Chiefs in free agency, ran for 173 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries and caught three passes for 18 yards and a touchdown. It was the most rushing yards in his career, topping the 167 he had in his sixth career game.
Walker had more yards from scrimmage (191) than the Broncos had as a team (176).
Mahomes ran for a 15-yard touchdown and threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Rashee Rice and a 2-yard touchdown pass to Walker, but he was only 15-of-27 for 184 yards and threw an interception.
Bo Nix had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day in his first game with Davis Webb as his playcaller and in his return from a season-ending ankle injury. The Broncos quarterback threw an interception and lost a fumble — and nearly lost another — while completing 17 of 28 passes for 131 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
His touchdown went 19 yards to Evan Engram, who led the Broncos with four catches for 43 yards.
The Broncos, who trailed only 14-7 at halftime, had only 15 carries for 61 yards.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce’s longest reception last season was 44 yards. His second catch of 2026 went 59 yards.
It was his longest reception since 2021, when he had a 69-yard catch against the Chargers in a Thursday night game.
On the catch, Kelce passed Jason Witten for second all-time in receiving yards by a tight end with 13,067. Tony Gonzalez holds the record with 15,127.
Kelce got the Chiefs to the 4, with Jahdae Barron saving the touchdown. They had to settle for Harrison Butker’s chip-shot, 28-yard field goal.
The Chiefs lead 24-10.
