Denver Broncos cornerback Damarri Mathis, who suffered an ankle injury in last week’s preseason finale, was placed on short-term injured reserve Tuesday, the team announced.

Mathis will first be eligible to return for Denver’s Oct. 6 home contest against the Las Vegas Raiders. He won’t count against the 53-man roster limit while on IR.

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A 2022 fourth-round pick, Mathis has appeared in 33 career games for the Broncos. The Pitt product lost his starting job to Fabian Moreau last season and entered this year competing with Levi Wallace, Riley Moss, and Kris Abrams-Draine for the coveted CB2 role opposite Pro Bowler Patrick Surtain II.

“Most of the battles that we have, it’s battles where you need both guys to play well for you. It’s battles where you need both guys to play in a package, like corner,” defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said on Aug. 22. “We need multiple corners, so it’s encouraging to watch all of the guys get better. Obviously during a game week, we have schemes, and we have package for all the guys to play. Most of those battles are ongoing past the weekend, and then we’ll decide who starts first, but that won’t matter at corner.”

With Mathis shelved, the Broncos chose to carry five corners on its initial active roster: Surtain, Wallace, Moss, Abrams-Draine, starting nickelback Ja’Quan McMillian, and special-teamer Tremon Smith.

The club also moved linebacker Drew Sanders (Achilles) and safety Delarrin Turner-Yell (knee) to the Physically Unable to Perform list to begin the 2024 campaign. Sanders and Turner-Yell will be permitted to play in Week 5 — same as Mathis — but are expected to remain sidelined for a longer duration.

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Bo-mania has sparked new life within the Broncos organization.

During a groundbreaking event for Denver’s renovation and expansion of team headquarters, team owner/CEO Greg Penner expressed his excitement for rookie Bo Nix taking over as the team’s starting quarterback.

“I’ve been impressed with his poise and maturity,” Penner said Thursday. “I think he’s got some incredible traits.”

When Nix, the 12th overall pick in last spring’s draft, was named starting quarterback last week, Penner said he had a “great” phone conversation with the 24-year-old.

Nix will be Denver’s 14th starting quarterback since Peyton Manning retired and the first rookie to start in a season opener since John Elway in 1983. The Oregon and Auburn product earned the job after completing 23 of 30 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns in two preseason appearances. He rushed for 29 yards on six attempts with no sacks or turnovers.

“All rookies are going to go through some ups and downs in their first season,” Penner said. “I told him, ‘We’re going to support you.’ I’m excited to see what he can do on the field and the rest of this roster.”

The potential surrounding Nix and Denver’s young roster has inspired optimism throughout the organization. Penner said it’s too early to call the offseason a success, but he was impressed with the moves made by head coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton during free agency and the draft.

Penner noticed a different kind of enthusiasm, passion and intensity from the team on the first day of organized team activities. The mentality carried over into training camp and preseason.

“It’s a young team, but I’ve got high expectations for what we can accomplish,” Penner said.

Payton has repeatedly referenced a new energy going into his second season as Broncos head coach. Part of that, according to Penner, is that he, Payton and Paton have developed a real sense of partnership, respect and communication.

“He’s had a chance to reshape the roster in a way that he’s excited about,” Penner said. “It’s been great to see his approach.”

After Broncos president Damani Leech fielded questions about the Broncos Park upgrades — set to be completed by June 2026 — he expressed his own eagerness for the Broncos’ season-opener at Seattle next week.

The Broncos finished the preseason 3-0 and recorded the second-most points in the league (99) behind Chicago (115). Leech understands it’s important to temper one’s enthusiasm for games that featured primarily reserve players, but the way Payton operated the offense has him encouraged.

“It is exciting to see what we’re seeing on the field,” Leech said.

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Originally Published: August 29, 2024 at 11:57 a.m.

Sean Payton found himself watching running back film one day during the leadup to the 2024 NFL Draft.

He had a running back from North Carolina on-screen that he really liked. Powerful runner. Capable of breaking tackles. A pretty decent receiver even though he didn’t get a ton of targets in the passing game.

The guy averaged 7.3 yards per carry his junior year and 6.3 per carry for his career.

Payton and the Broncos, though, didn’t select him in April’s draft.

Turns out, they already had the player on their roster for the last three years.

Now it looks like they might have the best version of the player back on the field.

That’s Javonte Williams.

In a moment undoubtedly orchestrated by Payton, Williams stopped by to see the head coach at one point this spring while Payton had his college film on.

“It was kind of crazy seeing me in a North Carolina jersey and him watching that, but like I said, he knows what he’s talking about, so I’m going to listen,” Williams said.

The order: Trim up. Get back to the guy in the powder blues.

So Williams spent the summer cutting out snacks and nighttime eating, dropped 12 pounds to get down to 221, and showed up for training camp feeling lean and strong.

“I called him in and I said, ‘This is the runner I want,’” Payton said. “That player that I saw was versatile — outside, inside — and I think we’ve seen that from him in camp. I’m encouraged with his progress, and obviously, he’s healthier.

“He’s having a good camp.”

The fourth-year running back is entering a critical season in his career. The shelf life on NFL backs is notoriously short and seems to get shorter every year. Not only that, but Williams is entering the final year of his rookie contract and is now closing in on two full years since a devastating knee injury against Las Vegas on Oct. 4, 2022.

That not only ended his second pro season, but it also impacted his entire third year. He spent all of last offseason focused on recovery and pushing hard just to get back to the field.

“Last year’s offseason was pretty much just rehabbing and trying to regain strength,” he said. “Even trying to learn how to run again and things like that. This offseason, just being able to get away and focus strictly on football, drills, and moving.

“I feel like it was a huge benefit.”

Factor in a veteran offensive line, potentially a mobile quarterback in rookie Bo Nix and a set of running backs that overall has a combination of skill sets, and Williams should be at the tip of a running game spear that’s much sharper than a year ago.

One key area where the shed pounds and increased explosiveness could really help Williams: In the passing game.

Consider this: Williams had a career-high 47 catches in 2023. If it feels as though that flew under the radar, it’s in part because he turned those grabs into just 228 yards (4.9 per catch). According to Pro Football Focus data, only four of his catches and six targets out of 58 came past the line of scrimmage and outside the numbers. The rest were either behind the line of scrimmage, between the numbers, or both. When he catches the ball, there will be people around him and often in front of him.

Getting some burst back and trending back toward his early career ability to break tackles and make people miss could turn modest receiving numbers into solid ones very quickly.

The Broncos easily led the NFL in target share to running backs (31.9%) last year. And though quarterback Russell Wilson is gone, it stands to reason that the backs will be heavily involved in the passing game once again this fall.

Payton has a long history of it. Over 14 seasons in New Orleans — taking out an injury-scrambled 2010 — the back with the second-most touches on Payton’s Saints teams averaged 155 per year. He had nine seasons where a back finished with 70-plus catches. And though there may not be an Alvin Kamara on the Broncos’ roster, they have the kind of balance to meet or exceed last year when Williams (No. 17), Samaje Perine (No. 18) and Jaleel McLaughlin (No. 39) each finished in the top 39 in the NFL in targets among running backs.

2023 Broncos RBs in the passing game

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* Pro Football Reference data

2023 RB target share by team

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* Compiled using PFF data

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Originally Published: August 29, 2024 at 5:45 a.m.