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.
Broncos Clips
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.
The Broncos’ defense is planning to set the NFL record for sacks this year, and they’re not shy about saying so.
Last month it was Broncos defensive lineman Zach Allen who was openly predicting that his team would break the NFL sack record, and at training camp on Wednesday, teammate D.J. Jones said the same thing.
“We can break it. We can break the record,” Jones said. “What is that, 72? Yeah, we can break it.”
The NFL record for sacks in a season is 72, set by the 1984 Bears. Last year, the Broncos finished with 68 sacks. The Broncos think they can find five more sacks this season.
“We got what it takes,” Jones said. “We’ve tasted it. Now it’s time to cook the meal, eat it and take a break. You know how you eat a good meal, and you lay down after, take a good nap, and you wake up and go eat again? We’re about to eat again. It’s time. We got the numbers, we got the men, we got the willpower, we’ve got free will to go do it. So, it’s up to us, and we’re going to do that.”
Jones noted that Broncos defensive end Malcolm Roach even knocked quarterback Bo Nix down in practice, which is a no-no, but Jones said that’s just the physical nature of the Broncos’ defense.
“Bo got knocked down, but we play physical. You can’t slow down for nobody,” Jones said. “It got quiet. It got quiet real quick. Everybody stopped. But he was just doing his job.”
The Broncos think they have a lot of players who can do the job of taking down the opposing quarterback this season.
Broncos wide receiver Jaylen Waddle left practice early on Wednesday.
Coach Sean Payton said, via Nick Kosmider of TheAthletic.com, that Waddle left with muscle tightness but should be fine.
Waddle, 27, went to the locker room during an individual period and didn’t return.
The Broncos practiced without their other starting wide receiver, Courtland Sutton, for a second consecutive day. He had a vet day Tuesday, per Payton, who didn’t specify why Sutton missed Wednesday’s work but said Sutton will return Thursday.
Outside linebacker Nik Bonitto did individual work on a side field, per Kosmider, after leaving early on Tuesday with an undisclosed injury.
The Jaguars have added an experienced offensive lineman to their roster in the wake of Trystan Colon’s retirement.
The team announced the signing of Sam Mustipher on Thursday. Colon was placed on the reserve/retired list on Tuesday.
Mustipher has played for four teams and saw his most action while starting 41 games for the Bears between 2020 and 2022. He appeared in nine games for the Ravens in 2023 and 12 games for the Chargers in 2024 before being limited to one appearance for the Broncos last season. Mustipher made three more starts across those stops and most of his playing time has come at center.
The Jaguars have Robert Hainsey installed as their starting center. Hainsey and Mustipher played together at Notre Dame before moving into the NFL.
