ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos hit the field Friday morning for the first day of open training camp.
About 800 members of Broncos Country packed the temporary bleachers set up due to the construction of the new training facility. They were loud and proud, and the players and head coach Sean Payton took note.
“It was good. We’re fortunate to be able to have some set up," Payton said. "A year ago, we knew this construction was getting done. I don’t know that we envisioned how that was going to unfold for the fans. So it’s good to have them out here.”
The Broncos practiced in shorts and helmets with no pads and no hitting, so it's hard to evaluate just how good certain players looked on Day 1. But you could certainly see edge rushers Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper are ready to pick up where they left off last season, and that was leading the NFL in sacks.
"I don’t see any reason for us not to be the most dominant unit in the league," said Cooper after practice. "There’s nothing holding us back. There’s nothing stopping us. Just even taking it up another level. I don’t think any of us have reached our potential, and we’re just going to keep working until we are the best in the league, honestly.”
You could also tell that tight end Evan Engram is going to be the "Joker" weapon that Sean Payton was looking for. Engram was heavily involved in the 3rd down situations on Friday, and quarterback Bo Nix looked his way on multiple plays.
Engram and the offense exchanged some competitive banter with the defense. He said he is looking forward to Monday when the team will practice in pads for the first time.
“When the pads come on, it’s going to even go up a little bit. I think that’s just the mark of a really competitive team," said Engram. "You want guys that want to win every rep. You want guys that want to play confident. That’s going to push us to practice harder, make each other better and truly iron sharpens iron."
Training camp continues Saturday with another practice scheduled for 10 a.m.
