Broncos
The Broncos’ season-opening 17-16 loss to the Seahawks in 2022 set the tone in a lot of ways for what happened next, from Seahawks QB Geno Smith outplaying the quarterback he replaced to awful game management for Denver. The Broncos had the ball with a chance to drive down the field for the lead but HC Nathaniel Hackett eschewed going for it on fourth-and-5 with a minute left and all three timeouts, instead running the clock down to try a 64-yard-field goal that missed.
So it’s no surprise new HC Sean Payton is hammering end-of-half and end-of-game clock management and situations with his squad this summer. He has a board of 43 different scenarios the team went through at a recent practice.
“(There) are unique end-of-game, end-of-half, and sometimes middle-of-the-game situations that may come up once every four weeks — maybe once every two years,” Payton said via the Athletic’s Nick Kosmider. “We begin teaching those, and not just to those involved. In a perfect world, the whole bench is going to know what to expect at the end of the game in a certain situation. We spent all of the walkthrough (last Thursday) on about eight different situations. (During) training camp on each day, we will take two and we will review. They have to know those cold and they have to know what we’re thinking so that when they come up, we can execute. If you don’t address one because it doesn’t come up until every two years, then you’re going to be faced with it, and no one’s going to know what to do.”
The new approach is a hit with the players so far.
“Everything to (Payton) is very intricate,” Broncos WR Courtland Sutton said. “There’s a rhyme and reason to everything he’s doing. For us to be working on situational football as in-depth as we are during OTAs, it’s amazing. It shows to us that he understands and knows what to do when we get into these games. There’s going to be no wavering, no question marks. Everyone understands that he knows what he’s doing.”
Chargers
Chargers HC Brandon Staley is optimistic about the team coming to an agreement with a contract extension for QB Justin Herbert.
“I’m hopeful, confident, but it’ll happen when it’s supposed to happen,” Staley said, via PFT.
Chiefs
Chiefs HC Andy Reid said the team has a lot of depth at the receiver position, which includes some of the younger players stepping up into key roles.
“Yeah, we’ve got a lot of numbers,” Reid said, via Chiefs Wire. “We’ve got some young guys who are mixing in with the 1s there. So, it should be great competition. I can’t wait for (training) camp, where you really get an idea of that next level. What they can do. Bullets are flying there.”
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes echoed Reid’s statements and believes it will be an intense competition leading into training camp to see who secures a spot on the final 53 man roster.
“Yeah, I mean, I think we’re deep,” Mahomes said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. Usually, you have a good feel for kind of who the guys are going to be and everything like that but with this group it’s like every single guy I could see him making a path to making the team. And so, I mean that’s what you want. You want that competition. I thought even the young guys that have stepped in have stepped in and done a lot of great things and guys from other systems have stepped in and done great things. So, (there’s) a lot of competition in that room will play out through OTAs and camp but I’m happy with where we’re at in that receiving room.”
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