Rookie Running Back Javonte Williams breaks Linebacker Malik Reed's Tackle During Tuesday's Practice. (Photo: Gabriel Christus/Denver Broncos)
Day 1 in full pads for The Broncos means full contact, sort of. Teams still don't want players going down to the ground, and they really don't want you hitting your own teammates more than necessary. In fact, in football circles, they call it "thudding." Nonetheless, the first day of a full padded practice means a truer look at the offensive and defensive line, and the success or failure of the run game is a little easier to measure.
Head Coach Vic Fangio admits he didn't see anything revelatory in the first day of full pads. "Not a lot" he said. "I thought we ran the ball pretty damn good on offense. I need to go look at the tape. I just think we had a good progression. I think tomorrow’s practice will even be better with the pads on.”
All of the running backs have looked good, and this team will have to rely on it's run game to have sustained success. But, the ball carrier who's getting a lot of buzz, and understandably so, is 2nd round draft pick Javonte "Pookie" Williams. "Yeah, he’s been terrific," Offensive Coordinator Pat Shurmur said. "His running ability is very obvious, but the things that we see are his instincts as a football player. Some people just get it, and then we’ve all been around people that just don’t quite get it. They wake up every morning and start over. He gets it, and it shows up in his pass protection, it shows up in being able to get lined up, his awareness. He’s got a really bright future."
Because it was the first time the coordinators spoke, it was the first time Shurmur was asked about the quarterbacks, and he certainly seems to like what he's seeing from both incumbent Drew Lock and veteran Teddy Bridgewater who was in Minnesota when Shurmur was an offensive assistant. "I think he’s done a good job" Shurmur said. "I think he’s built on all the good work he did in the spring. I’ve got great familiarity with [QB] Teddy [Bridgewater] from our time together at the [Minnesota] Vikings, and I think he’s getting better each day. Obviously [QB] Drew [Lock] had an advantage to some degree as far as knowing how we focus and how we function, and Teddy has caught up. He’s doing a good job."
As for any separation, Shurmur didn't seem to think that there's much to this point, "I’ve seen both guys getting better," he said. This is the best version of Drew that I’ve seen. I think he’s done a really good job. I expected Teddy to come in—Teddy has got experience, he’s got experience in multiple offenses and so, what we call apple, somebody else called orange. So, he said, ‘Ah OK, it’s orange.’ So we roll. I think Teddy has done a good job, and I think the unintended consequence of this is sadly teams typically need two quarterbacks to play throughout the year. So all the good work that they’re getting will help both of them as we play this season out.”
There weren't any fights in Day 1 of full pads, but this is about the time of training camp that guys get sick of going against the same guys every day. And even though they are teammates, some minor fights, or in the case with the New York Giants, some major ones, can happen. But as you'll see below, Fangio isn't a fan of any camp fights.