With preseason in full swing, here’s our second installment of weekly Broncos buzz notes heading into the regular season.
Coach debut: Sure, it’s only preseason, but Nathaniel Hackett is off to a great start with the Broncos. Denver hired the former Packers offensive coordinator after firing Vic Fangio in January. Fangio and Hackett are opposites in nearly every way — Fangio (63) was a defensive guru; Hackett (42) is an offensive mastermind. Fangio was an old-school, no-nonsense, borderline no-fun coach. Music at practice? Not on Fangio’s watch. Hackett’s a younger, fun-loving coach who’s brought the music and energy back to Denver. Fangio’s defense often played well, but his game management was poor. Hackett, despite being a first-year head coach, already appears to be an upgrade in that category. While Fangio often kept timeouts in his pocket going into halftime, Hackett used his against the Cowboys last week to get the ball back and score a field goal just before halftime. That might not sound significant, but it marks a big improvement from the team’s clock management under previous management.
Rookie watch: With Tim Patrick (ACL) sidelined, Brandon Johnson has stepped up at WR. The undrafted rookie caught four passes for 64 yards in the team’s first preseason game, and he’ll have a real chance to make the 53-man roster if he continues playing well over the next two weeks.
This post originally appeared in Sports Weekly.
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