Sean Payton’s back, and we are, too—from Denver, my 15th camp stop. Here’s what I saw and heard …
1) This is an old-school camp. It’s the first one where I saw the players running, as a team, post-practice gassers. Every player wears a Guardian cap—not just the backs, linemen, tight ends and front seven guys—because if it’s good for one, it’s good for all. And the practice I was at lasted well over two hours. There’s a method to all this, of course, and Payton’s going to have a tough, calloused team come September. It also explains a lot of the Broncos’ offseason additions. He and GM George Paton emphasized football makeup for the new acquisitions, and got it in guys like Mike McGlinchey, Ben Powers and Zach Allen. There are two reasons for it. First, they wanted guys they knew would be able to handle the demands of the program. Second, they wanted to make sure the locker room saw exactly what sorts of players, and people, they’d reward.
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