The Broncos\u2019 final day of offseason program work checked in at just about an hour and came with last-day-of-school vibes.<\/p>\n
The light workload, shaved ice and food trucks on the edge of the practice field, however, belied the feeling that permeated the team\u2019s facility most of the spring.<\/p>\n
Denver head coach Sean Payton put his finger on it one day earlier when confirming that his team would, indeed, be on the practice field for the final day of minicamp rather than getting out for summer a day early.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no sugar days,\u201d Payton said. \u201c(Thursday) is a salt day.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the end, it was probably semi-sweet. Low sodium. However you want to phrase it.<\/p>\n
Overall, though, Payton had plenty of salt through the spring.<\/p>\n
His voice was hoarse from the start. He stalked the practice fields and made corrections with young players. He did not look or talk like a coach three months from being on the sideline for a real game.<\/p>\n
Payton\u2019s posture is not complicated to interpret.<\/p>\n
The expectations are welcome. Any hype associated with them: Not so much.<\/p>\n
Ten wins and a Wild Card appearance last year might have been nearly unanimously considered a surprisingly good outcome, one that sparked widespread optimism and bullishness about his team this fall.<\/p>\n
But that all means exactly nothing. The coach spent the offseason program seemingly intent on not letting his team feel like it has arrived or that it has any reason to feel comfortable.<\/p>\n
His team, Payton said, received that message, \u201cI think pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they have a high standard of how they see themselves, and where we can be,\u201d Payton said earlier this week.<\/p>\n
Payton\u2019s always intense on the field, regardless of the calendar. He took a particular edge to the past several weeks, though, that came through loud and clear to anybody listening \u2014 including his players.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach year you start over,\u201d quarterback Bo Nix said recently. \u201cNobody really knows what anybody has. That\u2019s why you go out there and play the season. If we were all what people said we were going to be, we wouldn\u2019t play the season. We would just finish with the final standings of what they said we were going to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s why you play the game. That\u2019s why you go out there and go through a full season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Payton was asked Thursday if he had a parting message for his team before it broke for summer. Maybe to get some rest and stay out of trouble. Maybe to ensure that nobody picks up in late July where they left off this week \u2014 a common refrain from Payton this time of year. Maybe all of that.<\/p>\n
Payton, though, wasn\u2019t saying.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s different messages depending on what practice we\u2019ve finished, but nothing I want to share,\u201d Payton said.<\/p>\n
Nor was he in the mood to talk about summer break.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have plans. I\u2019m not willing to share,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He and the Broncos have big plans and expectations for the fall, too.<\/p>\n
Payton spent the past several weeks making sure his team didn\u2019t get too caught up in looking down the road at them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re attacking it the same way,\u201d safety Brandon Jones said of being a team carrying real expectations rather than an upstart attitude. \u201cWe control our own destiny, and we know that we will be as good as we want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n