Broncos

Broncos GM George Paton said rookie TE Justin Joly was waived mostly because he fell behind after missing a large chunk of the preseason, and they didn’t feel he was ready to contribute this season.

“Justin is a talented player. We knew it when we drafted him. We knew he was raw,” Paton said, via Broncos Wire. “We still like the player. He was coming on towards the end of training camp. Tight end position is a tough position for a rookie. He missed a lot of the offseason, just a little bit behind. We wish we had another game or two.”

• Broncos OLB Jonathon Cooper pled not guilty to all charges, and his trial by jury is set for November 10th, 12th and 13th. (Mike Klis)

Broncos

Veteran Broncos LB Alex Singleton and RT Mike McGlinchey both offered praise for QB Bo Nix, as did QB Sam Ehlinger, who thinks that based on what he has seen in practice so far, Nix will perform at a stellar level by the time the regular season rolls around, as things are coming together with the offense.

“He’s playing out of his mind,” Singleton told The Denver Post.

“I think he’s letting things that are out of his control not bother him,” McGlinchey said. “I think, as a young player, you think you need to take on every challenge and take on all these different things. Bo is now learning, ‘Hey, that can be a waste of my energy, but that isn’t.’ He’s learning how to pick his spots. He’s learning what to get fired up about, what to fight the things he doesn’t like and let the things go that maybe don’t really matter.”

“He knows the ins and outs of the offense, he’s comfortable with the offensive line,” Ehlinger added. “He has a ton of reps. Add up how many reps he’s had in the regular season, and that’s a lot of ball. He knows all the receivers and all the running backs too. He’s making great decisions. He’s always been really talented as a thrower but you can really tell that everything’s lining up really well for him.”

Raiders

Raiders HC Klint Kubiak talked about fourth-round RB Mike Washington and the possibility of him having to fill in for RB Ashton Jeanty.

“He has done a phenomenal job of growing up really fast,” Kubiak said of Washington, via Raiders Wire. “We drafted him, you come to the NFL, there’s a lot on your plate and then we throw all these new protections at you, these new fronts and blitzes and routes, and I think that he’s a guy that understands that we are counting on him and he need to get up to speed quickly and he’s been mature about that. And he’s going to keep working.”

• Kubiak also talked about Jeanty‘s injury: “Still on the mend. Still working to get him back. We got another week to assess how he’s going to look going into this first game, but we’re counting on him.” (Warren)
• With both Jeanty and Washington Jr., Kubiak opened up on their partnership: “I think that they’re both going to prepare to play a lot of football. As these games unfold, you react to the game. I think we’ve got two guys that we’re really excited about. We’ve got some younger guys that we’re really excited about too. All of our backs are going to play this year. Offense, defense and special teams. They’ve just got to make the most out of every rep that they get.” (Warren)
• He continued on how they will handle the two running backs: “Not making any promises on percentages of play time. When you get to a game, sometimes the guy you think is going to have 5 carries has 20. Sometimes, the guy you think is going to be just a scat protection back is in there blocking six-man protection for 20 reps. So we’ve got to get them ready to play in all phases.” (Warren)
• Kubiak said WR Dont’e Thornton Jr. is still working back from an injury: “Working really hard at it too. That’s part of football. He’s straining to get better and get back on the field.” (Warren)
• At quarterback, Kubiak feels they have three who are ready to play but wouldn’t go into the pecking order: “It’s going to be some hard decisions on who’s one, who’s two, and that’s not a decision that we have to make today. But those are discussions that are ongoing.” (Warren)
• Kubiak feels QB Kirk Cousins is “leading the offense.” He also praised first-round QB Fernando Mendoza’s ability to communicate pre-snap and adjust post-snap: “There’s just so many things that have nothing to do with throwing a tight spiral or an accurate football that goes with being efficient. That’s what the best quarterbacks do. That’s what they are, and that’s something that a young QB like Fernando will keep getting better at with reps.” (Warren)
• Per Sam Warren, CB Darrell Luter was the only player the Raiders claimed on Monday with their top waiver priority.