Inside Jaylen Waddle’s first practices with the Denver Broncos

**Henry Chisholm** (0:01)
This is the DNVR Broncos Podcast from the Xfinity Studio.
Like I said, we've got a lot to talk about today. We got me, Hank, and Ryan over there. And as much as I would really like to talk about this game of 20 and that I have been playing, it's unfortunately a day where we have a lot to talk about for the first time in a long time.

**Ryan Koenigsberg** (0:21)
I would say fortunately, and I would also say, the Broncos are back.

**Henry Chisholm** (0:25)
Right, right. Let's just go on over to the Xfinity Mobile call in line to talk to our friend Zac Stevens.
Oh, there he is.

**Zac Stevens** (0:34)
The Broncos are so back, baby. For the first time, they took the field as a 20-26 team, guys. And as Sean Payton said, man, he still gets excited when this happens. And man, I'm fired up. Sean's fired up. And the boys are back. John said everyone is back. He said they've had 100% attendance this off season. So let's go. We're fired up.

**Ryan Koenigsberg** (0:56)
Love it, Zach. All right. Everyone is fiending to know. Everyone is just ready for updates. So just rattle them off. What do we need to know about what happened to practice today?

**Zac Stevens** (1:06)
Got to start with number 10, Bo Nix. Good news. He was at the practice field. Bad news. He did not participate in practice. Good news. We'll just keep going. Good news, bad news. Good news is he did not have a brace. He did not have a boot. He did not have anything on his ankle, except a white sock and then a normal shoe over it. He's walking around just fine. He was in the middle of practice. I mean, he's right next to Sam Ellinger, Jared Stidham chopping it up, chopping it up with the receivers, giving him tips on what to do, what not to do. So I loved his involvement there because honestly, the thought with the media, but also the thought inside the building was Bo was not going to be out there during these practices, just to kind of take away any storyline that's there. And this is probably the most realistic best storyline that we could have heard about Bo as he's out there. He looks fine. And then Sean Payton gave us some good news afterwards, saying that Bo will still be back on the field practicing in two weeks for mandatory mini camp. So that is very good news because we need to see that. And if we see that, then the timeline is the same that it was a month ago, and it's being consistent, which is what we want to hear after Sean Payton told us a month ago that the timeline had changed. The second thing is he said that Bo Nix is throwing before practice. So that means that his ankle is good enough where he's putting able to put a lot of weight on that. So another very encouraging sign. So all is good on the Bo Nix front. It's just a waiting game now. Let's see if he's out there in two weeks. And if so, then we're all set for training camp right there. So really good news on the Bo front. You want me to keep going, Ryan, or you want to break that down?

**Ryan Koenigsberg** (2:39)
You got any comments you want to add? No, I think that's good. That's great news. Keep it rolling.

**Zac Stevens** (2:43)
Jaylen Waddle, speaking of great news, this guy is as advertised. He's fast, explosive. In fact, I asked him after, how would you design, how would you describe your game to Broncos country? And he said fast, physical, and exciting. And that is exactly what he looks like on the field. And I will tell you, when Broncos fans come to training camp this year, and when they see him on the field, they're going to be like, wow, he's short. Yes, he's short, but he's fast, physical, and definitely excited. And one of the things that Portland Sutton said about him after practice was just how great he is at run after the catch and how well those two complement each other. And I think this is something that we've been talking about for a long time with Jaylen, is his run after the catch. But for another elite receiver, to say that really just shows how good he is run after the catch. So number 17, we also learned, he's just going to play everywhere. Sean Payton was asked what their vision was. And he said, we've had a crystal clear vision for Jaylen since the moment we traded for him. And he can play outside in, inside out. He can play anywhere. That's what Jaylen Waddle provides, just like we knew. And over the middle is going to be big. Taking those slants and taking them very, very far. I will say Riley Moss, he sees all the attention going to the Broncos receivers this off season. He absolutely covered Jaylen Waddle on one route where Jared Stidham threw a high pass. He probably wouldn't have been able to have been caught. But Riley Moss got a hand on it, tipped the ball up. A safety almost picked it off. So Riley hears all the noise going on on the other side and says, I want some attention too. So I think Riley had a very good day. It's a little hard to tell what's going on with the offense when you don't have your quarterback in there. So it's really just looking for things here and there. The defense had a very good day. I would say Sam Ellinger probably had the best day from the two quarterbacks out there. But again, we don't really have to break that down as we know when number 10 is back. He is that guy right there. So Jaylen Waddle, as advertised, we also talked to him after. And man, he's just a joy to talk to.