Trautman says the ”swag” head coach Sean Payton brings helps explain the Broncos’ turnaround from three years ago
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — They make Adam Trautman block darn near every single play. When at last they let him catch the ball a few times this past Sunday night at Washington, he was going to do something with it.
Trusted on fourth-and-1 no less, Trautman nudge blocked from the right side, dragged left across the line of scrimmage, caught an easy pass from Bo Nix at the first down line, wide open. The lumbering 6-foot-5, 253 pound tight end built for blocking defensive ends and rushing linebackers then turned upfield and broke one Washington defender’s tackle attempt along the sideline. He kept running and broke another tackle. Now he was lifting his knees, picking up steam towards the red zone before he was pushed out of bounds following a 22-yard gain.
First down at the Washington 23. The Broncos settled for a short field goal, but the 3 points were needed in what was eventually a 27-26 win.
Trautman’s friends and family credited him with the victory, of course.
“It was awesome to do something with the ball,’’ Trautman said in an interview with 9NEWS this week for Broncos’ Game Day Live that will be broadcast at 9 a.m. Sunday. “Yeah, it’s crazy how many more texts you get when you’re on a nationally prime time game than when you’re in the 2:05 time slot.”
Trautman wound up with three catches for 47 yards against Washington and now has more catches with five games remaining this season (14) than he had in all 17 games last season (13). OK, still not much playmaking action for a tight end who lines up for 54 percent of the snaps. Evan Engram, by comparison, plays only 45 percent of the time in Sean Payton’s offense yet has 38 catches.
But with the Commanders playing a heavy amount of soft zone, Payton arranged for both Trautman and Engram (six catches, 79 yards) to get their share of underneath coverage targets.
“Sean knows when he’s putting the game plan together we need to have some tendency breaking things,’’ Trautman said. “He does a good job of that. Obviously, my primary use is to block and I love that. That’s my role. But.”
Yes. You were saying. But?
“It’s always nice to touch the ball,” Trautman said with a smile.
The Broncos are 10-2 with a 9-game winning streak heading into their game this Sunday against the Raiders in Las Vegas. To think where this team was just three years ago, 4-11 and embarrassed on Christmas Day in Los Angeles. The next day Broncos’ owner Greg Penner fired head coach Nathaniel Hackett.
That led to Payton becoming the new coach in 2023 but the turnaround was not immediate. Three games in, the Broncos were 0-3 and coming off a 70-20 humiliating whipping from the Miami Dolphins. From that moment, Trautman is perhaps the Bronco player least surprised by the team’s relatively quick turnaround. He’s been with Payton the longest, having been selected by him out of Dayton for the New Orleans Saints in the third round of 2020 draft.
“Specifically him, there’s a type of swag that he brings,’’ Trautman said of the Broncos’ boss. “And I felt that when I was drafted by New Orleans. He has this type of swag and confidence that … every single game since I’ve been here, even the first year, we went into every single game expecting, ‘Hey, we’re going to win.’
“On top of that he knows how he wants his team to look, how his team is to be built. He knows who’s right in the building and who’s wrong in the building. Players, they shouldn’t be here. Other players, they should be here. It creates culture. Which is what we have. Which is why we believe so much in every single game, whether we’re down 19-0 to the Giants or overtime against the Commanders, we know we’ve got to score because we got the ball first.
“It’s culture that he’s created by his personality and who he’s helping to bring into the building and who he’s helping to … leave.”
It’s why grinders like Trautman, blocking receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey and injured fullback Michael Burton are no good for your Fantasy League team, but don’t leave. They fit well within the Broncos’ locker room and Payton’s system.
Not that their jobs are totally selfless. There are rewards. Like playing for a 10-2 team.
“It feels pretty good,’’ Trautman said. “The games have been really, really close. And it’s a good thing that you’re not blowing everyone out. Now granted you don’t want to be in all these heart-racing games but … we’re finding different ways to win just about every game so that’s pretty telling.”
Something else about being one of Payton’s guys, which also includes kicker Wil Lutz. They stick up for their own. When Nix was drawing significant criticism from social media QB experts and other X critics following a particularly rough game against Houston’s No. 1-ranked defense, Trautman called them “cowards” a week later while addressing an in-person media throng following Nix’s big performance in a win against the Chiefs.
“It ties into the role that I play,’’ Trautman said. “To be honest blocking is kind of thankless. Nobody notices you unless you mess up. It’s kind of the same for the 0-Line. You just don’t get paid the same, if you know what I’m saying.”
He chuckled at his meandering thought.
“So I take a tremendous amount of pride in protecting my teammates,’’ Trautman said. “Whether its schematically helping, making sure everyone’s on the same page, whether its defending whoever in the media, I’ll do it. I don’t really care.
“But it’s also our culture. Everybody in our locker room wants to protect everybody. Everybody respects everybody. You see the work everyone puts in and when you see people bashing at … you want to protect them.’’
Payton, unlike other longtime coaches who cringe at words said to the press that wind up on opponents’ bulletin boards, is not afraid to speak about the team’s long-term goals. The No. 1 AFC playoff seed has become a public proclamation – it’s “silly,’’ he stated last week, to suggest otherwise – and therefore the game against the Raiders is significant. Win and the Broncos will have clinched the tiebreaker from the New England Patriots, who are 11-2 and the Broncos’ primary rival for the No. 1 seed. Lose, and the Pats will likely wind up with the tiebreaker over the Broncos.
“Yep. It is a huge game and that’s a reason,’’ Trautman said. “But, cliché, this is the next game and we have to continue to win to even have a chance at that thing because they’ve been winning a lot, too. We see it.
“Yeah, we have an understanding of that stuff and honestly most of the time you know about that stuff you see it before it’s brought to you. But yeah we’re aware of that. We’re not afraid to talk about it. That goes back to what I said about Sean with the swag and the confidence. He hasn’t been afraid to talk about it since the first day in OTAs on April whenever it was, 22nd. We take great pride in that and obviously that’s (winning the Super Bowl) what the ultimate goal is but we are trying to win the division as well.”