Broncos

Broncos OLB Nik Bonitto said that the wrist injury that had him in a cast was a factor in the lack of production down the stretch.

“It was a little bit of everything really,” Bonitto said, via Around The NFL. “It was just trying to work through the whole wrist thing. Not being able to have … wearing the cast, it kind of takes away a lot of stuff you can do. Hard to shed; hard to grab; all those things.”

Bonitto added that teams are also game-planning for him as a threat off the edge.

“It was game-plan stuff too,” Bonitto said. “Getting doubled more, getting chipped and cut more. It was all those things in a combination where it was a learning process for me as I continue to grow in my career.”

Broncos

Broncos QB Bo Nix said that WR Jaylen Waddle adds an explosive element to the offense that can help stretch the field.

“There’s an element of explosiveness that I think as an offense we’ve lacked for a couple years,” Nix said, via Broncos Wire. “We’ve had plenty of explosive plays, plenty of points, all that kind of stuff. We’ve made great strides, but there was a level of explosiveness that a guy like that adds. So you could be first-and-10 and starting a drive and go one-and-done because he takes it 75, 80 yards. That’s the kind of weapon that we added, and that’s, I think, what we all have been out here watching and sort of really enjoy watching. Just seeing him get out here and move and run around. You just can’t replace speed. That’s just what he brings to the table. He’s extremely fast with the ball in his hands. He looks like he doesn’t really slow down to make cuts, which is pretty tough to do for a fast guy. He’s just going to add an element of relief for everybody else and take a little bit of the touches so that other guys don’t have to take them all. Once those guys take them, they’re fresh and ready to take them. I think a guy like that makes everybody on the offense better, and then it obviously helps the defense in the same way.”

Chargers

Chargers WR Quentin Johnston is entering the fourth year of his career and his first season under new OC Mike McDaniel. Johnston said he’s working on the timing of some of his routes and getting his head turned around more quickly.

“I’m not going to say I do it differently, but some of the routes just working on timing as far as out of break stuff,” Johnston said, via Omar Navarro of the team’s site. “Just getting my head around with different stuff quicker. As far as running routes, it’s not that much that I feel like he even wanted to tweak with me. He liked my stride, he liked my running, he was just like keep doing that and as far as the plays, he’s going to put me in the right position to be successful.”

Johnston thinks McDaniel’s system is setting him up well for yards after the catch. 

“I feel like the scheme he has is set up for the yards after catch,” Johnston added. “There’s not always a lot of room for that in this league but just showing us different angles and stuff to get to the ball after the catch and turning, going across field and doing different stuff in the plays he has built for us.”

Johnston is glad to have the confidence of their coaching staff and feels it’s been “validation” for his career. 

“It means a lot,” Johnston concluded. “With that validation comes a little relief for myself, a weight I have previous years on my shoulders about how I was playing and what’s going to come after that if I don’t change. Like I said, I’ve been working as hard as I can the past few years, end up getting that validation now. I got previous years of experience under my belt so I feel free, taking my time learning this playbook and just go out there freely and play football.”