{"id":960893,"date":"2026-08-01T01:03:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T01:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/960893\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T01:03:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T01:03:24","slug":"broncos-camp-observations-evan-engram-shows-he-can-be-big-asset-marvin-mims-jr-demonstrates-consistent-big-play-ability-on-day-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/960893\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos Camp Observations: Evan Engram shows he can be \u2018big asset,\u2019 Marvin Mims Jr. demonstrates \u2018consistent\u2019 big-play ability on Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ENGLEWOOD, Colo. \u2014\u00a0On Day 1 of training camp, the Broncos&#8217; playmakers flashed their potential.<\/p>\n<p>The offense found a rhythm early, with quarterbacks Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger all firing off\u00a0downfield\u00a0completions during seven-on-seven action. Wide receivers Courtland Sutton, Pat Bryant, Marvin Mims Jr. and Jaylen Waddle were among the players to haul in receptions.<\/p>\n<p>The theme continued during 11-on-11 action, as Stidham delivered the first big play of the day when he took a deep shot down the field and found tight end Evan Engram for what would have been at least a 60-yard gain under game conditions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think he can definitely be a big asset for us,&#8221; Head Coach Sean Payton said of Engram following Friday&#8217;s practice. &#8220;I think one of his strengths is he can run, and I think it&#8217;s good that he&#8217;s getting these reps, along with the younger guys.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Payton said new Offensive Coordinator Davis Webb is looking for\u00a0&#8220;different ways&#8221; to find matchups for Engram within the Broncos&#8217; offense.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Now it&#8217;s just executing, and it&#8217;s ball security, catching, the landmarks [on the field], some of the nuances,&#8221;\u00a0Payton said. &#8220;He&#8217;s one other piece where you&#8217;re trying to spread the ball around. Who&#8217;s going to earn those touches? Those have to be earned.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>During a later team period, Nix delivered the offense&#8217;s second explosive play of the day when he sent a deep ball at least 50 yards down the field to Mims, who hauled in the pass for a would-be touchdown.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s demonstrated it, time in and time out,&#8221; Payton said of Mims ability to make big plays. &#8220;There&#8217;s a lot of confidence that he plays with. He&#8217;s got that top-end speed, but his strength is locating the ball when it&#8217;s down the field, 50 yards or 40 yards. He does that really well.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The work is just beginning, but Payton said &#8220;it was good to see the ball get down the field&#8221;\u00a0on Day 1 of training camp.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think we&#8217;re always trying to stretch the field,&#8221; Payton said. &#8220;I think it&#8217;s something that Bo&#8217;s been really good at with his arm strength. Marvin has been very consistent. If you just looked at when we&#8217;ve called on him for those opportunities, he&#8217;s come down with a lot of plays.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Though the offense delivered two of the most highlight-worthy plays of the day, the defense had its fair share of big moments.<\/p>\n<p>The unit especially flashed during the second 11-on-11 team period. Cornerback Riley Moss broke up two consecutive passes, with Moss nearly intercepting the second throw.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after, inside linebacker Karene Reid recovered after a completed pass to force a fumble, recover the loose ball and carry it down the field.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026 Nix and Waddle flashed their developing on-field chemistry, as the duo connected several times \u2014 including on the first play of 11-on-11 action \u2014 during Friday&#8217;s session.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The transition speed, and his ability to stop is a really big strength that you see,&#8221; Payton said of Waddle. &#8220;He&#8217;s hard to tackle.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u2026 During a two-minute drill to end practice, Nix connected with wide receivers Troy Franklin, Sutton and Waddle. Nix then found Mims along the sideline for a big gain, appearing to move the offense into field-goal range with the clock winding down.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026\u00a0Defensive lineman Zach Allen and outside linebacker Que Robinson were among the defenders to bat passes down during 11-on-11 action, as the defensive line applied pressure.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026 Cornerback Pat Surtain II made his presence felt during seven-on-seven work, breaking on a route to knock a pass away.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026 Wide receiver Lil&#8217;Jordan Humphrey also posted one of the highlights of practice, recording a leaping grab in seven-on-seven action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ENGLEWOOD, Colo. \u2014\u00a0On Day 1 of training camp, the Broncos&#8217; playmakers flashed their potential. The offense found a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":960894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[123190,22331,232,231,258,2426,2826,7,7471,6,36630,1004,8896],"class_list":["post-960893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denver-broncos","tag-2026-training-camp","tag-adpartnerford","tag-broncos","tag-denver","tag-denver-broncos","tag-denverbroncos","tag-evan-engram","tag-football","tag-marvin-mims-jr","tag-nfl","tag-susanna-weir","tag-top-stories","tag-training-camp"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117017562597291617","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=960893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/960894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=960893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=960893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=960893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}