Rookie Cornerback Pat Surtain II celebrates with Safety Justin Simmons following his first interception of Training Camp. (Photo: Gabriel Christus/Denver Broncos)
Since almost the day he was drafted, all anyone in the Broncos organization could do was talk about the maturity of 1st Round Pick, Cornerback Pat Surtain II. Maybe that comes with winning a national title at Alabama, and being the son of a father with the same name who was an All-Pro and Pro Bowler at the same position. But the younger Surtain is making a name for himself in his first training camp in Denver, and it was only a matter of time before he got his hands on a football.
Here's the No. 9 overall pick describing the play where he picked off Quarterback Drew Lock, albeit in 7-on-7 drills, "I just read the quarterback's eyes and I was just looking for it," Surtain said. He sort of led me to the pick."
Surtain has been moving all over the defense as Head Coach Vic Fangio finds ways to get all 4 "1st Team" Cornerbacks on the field. In addition to Bryce Callahan who was rated as Pro Football Focus' best corner before missing the last 5 games because of injury, General Manager George Paton added Ronald Darby who played the most snaps of any CB in football last year in D.C. and former All-Pro under Fangio, Kyle Fuller who comes over on a 1-year deal.
Fangio admits that Surtain's ability to learn multiple positions quickly is not typical of most rookies, "It’s rare," he said. "It’s rare that you would ask a rookie to do that, No. 1, and it’s rare that he’s been able to handle it and do it. Now, he’s not perfected any of them yet, by any means, but we think he can and it’s not too big for him."
And Pro Bowl Outside Linebacker Bradley Chubb, who knows about high expectations as a rookie, after being selected 5th overall by Denver in 2018, is equally as impressed but Surtain quick transition from college to the NFL, "He’s handled it like a pro," Chubb said. "He’s been here. You’ve seen the guys say he’s picking up things like he’s a vet. I see nothing different. He’s carrying himself with a confidence and a swag. That’s what you love to see in a rookie, especially a DB. That position gets challenged a lot, whether it’s deep balls or guarding the best athletes in the world. He’s been doing a really good job with it and we’re excited to see him when the season comes."
Monday did mark Chubb's return to the practice field after off-season ankle surgery. He said he'll be ready to go for the opener in New York, against the Giants, "Yeah, for sure," Chubb said, "I’m going to be ready by September—100 percent. I’m just doing what the trainers are telling me and slowly working into team drills and slowly working into the 7-on-7. [I’m] just getting my feet under me again. I feel like it’s going to be special when everything is full go."
Fangio admitted it was good to have his Pro Bowl starter from a year ago back, but didn't want to over-evaluate where Chubb is right now in his recovery, "It’s hard to say," Fangio said. "Today was his first day of action since he had the offseason surgery, so going to look at it. I’m confident that he’s going to be fine. It’s more of a case of getting in shape and having a logical progression for him because when you have your foot in a boot for however long he did, you can’t do any work."
Chubb, who missed the last the final 2 games of 2020, explained why he ultimately decided to have surgery, "It was just one of those things where I couldn’t do my job as well as I wanted to do it," he said, "We made the decision to go in there and clean it out. It was supposed to be a longer recovery. Luckily, they had the chance to go in and clean it out and nothing happened to it. It’s structurally good, and I should be ready for sure."
Other News & Notes:
Fangio said linebacker Josey Jewell, is battling a groin issue that will keep him sidelined at least 10 days, which means he won't practice or play next week in Minnesota.
And, the daily QB score sheet was hard to determine a clear cut winner, but conventional thinking from everyone who saw the final practice without pads, thought Teddy Bridgewater had the slightly better day compared to Lock.
Tuesday is the 1st day in pads, and right guard Graham Glasgow had no problem hiding his enthusiasm, "I’m super excited," Glasgow said, "I think that getting the reps and getting the fits and what not—I mean no pads is fine, but I feel like there’s nothing that can take the place of actually getting in the pads and really feeling what football is like."