ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) \u2014 Usually if there\u2019s any chirping going on at sweltering NFL training camps, it\u2019s between the massive offensive and defensive linemen who are pounding into each other or the wide receivers and cornerbacks fighting for 50-50 passes.<\/p>\n
The biggest beef at the Denver Broncos\u2019 training camp<\/a> this summer is between 6-foot-3, 290-pound defensive tackle Malcolm Roach, a notorious smack talker, and 5-11, 184-pound receiver Marvin Mims Jr., the NFL\u2019s reigning All-Pro punt returner.<\/p>\n Asked about the chirping back and forth at a spirited practice this week, Mims replied, \u201cYeah, I mean, it\u2019s just Malcolm Roach. I mean, I sit next to him in the locker room, guy doesn\u2019t shut up. He\u2019s talking crap to receivers. It\u2019s like, \u2018Dude, like, you\u2019re a fat guy. Like, go worry about that. Leave me alone.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n They then took their \u201cbeef\u201d to social media, jawing online.<\/p>\n Roach stepped up to the podium Friday knowing the first question would be about his good-natured bickering with Mims.<\/p>\n \u201cY\u2019all think I really worry about 19?\u201d Roach said. \u201cI see him every day in the locker right by mine. Y\u2019all think I talk? He really talks more than me. But I ain\u2019t worried about Marvin. Marvin knows he\u2019s not about to cut that ball back across the middle. That\u2019s all I have to say about that.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, Roach did have more to say.<\/p>\n \u201cI can lose this weight,\u201d Roach said. \u201cHe can\u2019t lose them looks.\u201d<\/p>\n When coach Sean Payton was asked about the back-and-forth, he expressed surprise at the combatants.<\/p>\n \u201cMalcolm, you hear him before you see him, and I like that energy about him,\u201d Payton said. \u201cBut, yeah, I wouldn\u2019t have picked Mims and Roach. I would have picked so many other combos.\u201d<\/p>\n Maybe it has roots in the Red River Rivalry. Roach went to the University of Texas; Mims hails from the University of Oklahoma.<\/p>\n First pick<\/p>\n Bo Nix<\/a> finally threw his first interception of training camp, and it was a doozy. Safety Talanoa Hufanga made a leaping grab near the line of scrimmage for a pick-6 during team drills Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cThe interception, it was an RPO (run\/pass option) and if you look at his distance from the throw I bet it was like eight yards,\u201d Payton said. \u201cAnd so to be able to go up and catch that with a crowded look in front of him? I\u2019m anxious to seek it on film. I saw it from behind the line of scrimmage.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s the kind of play the Broncos are counting on this season from the free agent who left the San Francisco 49ers along with inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw to come to Denver last spring. <\/p>\n \u201cYou know, if I asked you to give us the best safeties that are in the Hall of Fame, the traits are always instincts and football smarts,\u201d Payton said. \u201cSome are faster than others, but it\u2019s hard to be real effective at that position if you don\u2019t have those football instincts. And certainly he brings that. I made a comment in the offseason: there\u2019s certain players the ball finds them, and he\u2019s one of those guys.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, that play was sick.\u201d<\/p>\n Under construction <\/p>\n Construction of the Broncos\u2019 $175 million training facility hit a milestone Friday with a \u201c topping out<\/a> \u201d ceremony to commemorate the final beam being lifted into place.<\/p>\n Team owner Carrie Walton Penner signed the timber before a giant crane lifted the structural beam from the north side of the construction site to the south facade. <\/p>\n The Broncos broke ground last year on the 205,000-square-foot facility that will combine their football and business operations under one roof for the first time in franchise history. It\u2019s scheduled for completion in May.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n