Broncos coach Sean Payton wants to see what he can do to keep his team healthier.
Payton said at training camp on Monday that he’s concerned about the number of soft-tissue injuries his team has suffered so far in camp.
“We’ve got to get a handle on some of the soft-tissues,” Payton said, via the Denver Post. “We’ve had a couple either strains, hamstring or groins. We continue to fight through that.”
Payton said he doesn’t want to blame the heat but does want to look at how the team can make sure the players are adequately taken care of, and taking care of themselves, before and during practice.
“You always try to look at your pre-practice routine,” Payton said. “Your hydration, obviously. And it’s incumbent on the player. It’s hard for anyone to know your soft tissue. I’m always looking at maybe what we did leading up to the period when a guy had a strain.”
The players who have had to miss time in training camp because of soft-tissue injuries include three of the Broncos’ most important offensive playmakers, running back J.K. Dobbins and wide receivers Jaylen Waddle and Marvin Mims Jr.
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Sean Payton said the Broncos will play some starters against the Falcons on Friday night. He has not decided whether Bo Nix will be one of those to see action in the team’s preseason opener.
“We haven’t gone through the role yet,” Payton said, via Chris Tomasson of The Denver Gazette. “I’ll let you know when we go through the roles.”
The game is on the artificial turf at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which could keep Nix out until the second week of the preseason. Nix is ready, though.
He has not played since the Broncos’ divisional-round playoff victory over the Bills when he fractured his right ankle. The AFC Championship Game was the first game Nix has missed for injury in his career.
“I’m excited,” Nix said of playing in the preseason. “I think preseason’s always a great time to get back out there and get your feet wet a little bit and see defenses in a live situation before the first [regular-season] game.”
Nix said he has “no idea” whether he will play Friday.
Regardless, the Broncos are expected to use both Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger against the Falcons as they compete for the backup job.
Teddy Bridgewater returned to the NFL after announcing his retirement at the end of the 2023 season, but he was back in uniform before the end of the 2024 season.
Bridgewater said on Monday that his second retirement is going to be a lasting one. Bridgewater stepped away from the Lions this weekend and they placed him on the reserve/retired list on Sunday.
“This time it’s official,” Bridgewater wrote in a post to his Instagram account.
Bridgewater went on to recall his comeback from a 2016 knee injury that he described as “gruesome” and created doubt about his ability to play football again. Bridgewater returned to the Vikings before the end of the 2017 season and played for most of the next decade, but he wrote “this wheel of mine can no longer deal with something as simple as standing around on a turf field.”
The Vikings selected Bridgewater in the first round in 2014 and he went on to play for the Saints, Panther, Broncos, Lions and Buccaneers. He returned to the Lions as a free agent this offseason, but the newly signed Josh Dobbs is now set to back up Jared Goff in Detroit.
Broncos running back J.K. Dobbins went to the locker room during Monday’s practice, but head coach Sean Payton isn’t concerned about a long-term absence.
Payton said at his press conference that Dobbins is dealing with a soft tissue injury and that the team is being cautious with him as a result.
“I think he’s going to be fine,” Payton said. “We’re just being smart with it.”
Payton spoke more generally about a run of soft tissue injuries in camp this summer and said the team has to “get a handle” on what they can do better to avoid them. Payton mentioned pre-practice conditioning as one of the areas they’re looking at in hopes of cutting down the absences from practice.
The Broncos have gotten one of their defensive players back on the field.
Denver announced on Monday that linebacker Jordan Turner passed his physical and has been taken off the non-football injury list.
Turner, 24, entered the league last year as an undrafted free agent. He appeared in seven games for the Broncos, mainly playing special teams.
He finished his rookie season with seven total tackles and one QB hit.
The Broncos have only one kicker on their 90-man roster: Wil Lutz, who missed Saturday’s practice to attend former teammate Drew Brees’ induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And that’s how they found out that they have another kicker on their roster: Brandon Jones, a safety who can kick in a pinch.
Jones went 3-for-4 on field goals at practice on Saturday and said afterward that he became the Broncos’ backup kicker after what started as a joke with special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi.
“I didn’t kick in high school or college, I just have some history in playing soccer,” Jones said. “I don’t know how I even got to kick. I think I just was joking with Riz like, ‘Yo, I can kick if you ever need an emergency-kicker-type of situation.’ Then he called my bluff and put me to the test one day, I think it was some time last year, and I made an extra point.”
The longest of Jones’ field goals at practice on Saturday was 41 yards. He said he once made a 50-yard field goal while working with Lutz.
Broncos fans at training camp were chanting Jones’ name as he showed off his kicking skills, which he said was a thrill, but he doesn’t know if he could handle the pressure of the Broncos needing him to make a game-winner.
“If we’re winning by a lot, no big deal. Hopefully, I don’t think it would ever come down to a game-time thing where I would need to make it to win. If it comes down to that, just pray for me, that’s all I can say,” Jones said.
Jones knows he’s not good enough to play Major League Soccer, but he said he would love to try out for an MLS team when he retires from the NFL, just for the challenge of it.
“Played some club soccer, stopped in high school because I was like, ‘Let’s be real, I’m a football player,’” Jones said.
He showed on Saturday that he’s a football player who can play two positions.
Broncos defensive lineman Matt Henningsen tore his Achilles at practice this week and the team officially brought his season to an end on Saturday.
Henningsen was placed on injured reserve as part of a flurry of roster moves. They also released defensive back Sam Webb while signing defensive back Ricardo Hallman and wide receiver Kyrese Rowan.
It’s the second straight year that Henningsen has torn his Achilles in August. He played in 34 games for the Broncos over the 2022 and 2023 seasons, but spent all of 2024 on the practice squad.
Hallman started his final 38 games at Wisconsin before going undrafted this year. Rowan spent time on Denver’s practice squad last season.
The Jaguars are adding some experienced depth to their offensive line.
The agents for Geron Christian announced that he has agreed to a contract with Jacksonville. No terms of the deal were disclosed.
Christian has played in 63 regular season games and made 25 starts since being drafted by Washington in the third round in 2018. He split last season between the Cowboys and Broncos, but did not appear in any games.
Christian last saw action in four games with the Browns in 2024. He appeared in one game for the Rams that season and has also played for the Texans and Chiefs since his three-year run in Washington came to an end.
Broncos defensive lineman Matt Henningsen, who was carted off at Friday’s practice, was diagnosed with a torn Achilles, Mike Klis of 9News reports. Henningsen’s injury came exactly one year to the day when he tore his other Achilles in a joint practice against the 49ers.
It means Henningsen will miss a second consecutive season.
The Broncos selected Henningsen in the sixth round of the 2022 draft, and he played in every game in his first two seasons. He spent all of 2024 on the team’s practice squad and then was on injured reserve all of last season.
The Broncos also saw wide receiver Marvin Mims go down, but Klis reports that the Broncos are hopeful that Mims’ injury is not serious.
Tight end Nate Adkins also left practice early.
Broncos defensive lineman Matt Henningsen had to be carted off the field during Friday’s training camp practice.
There’s been no word from the team yet about the nature of his injury, but reports from media members at the team’s facility painted a grim picture of the scene. Henningsen went down during a drill and players took a knee around him before he was helped to a cart by medical personnel.
It’s an all too familiar course of events for Henningsen. He tore his Achilles during a joint practice with the 49ers last August and missed the entire season.
Henningsen was a 2022 sixth-round pick and he played in every game over his first two seasons. He had 40 tackles and a sack, but spent all of 2024 on the team’s practice squad.
