In 2003, the year that Sean Payton crossed paths in Dallas with the man who’d inform much of his NFL coaching career, he sent the Cowboys’ quarterbacks and receivers out on the practice field in the first week of offseason workouts.
Then-Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells walked out the door to the field and started staring at his disciple.
“If one of these receivers gets a hamstring,” Parcells told Payton, as the Broncos coach recalled Thursday, “I’m going to have another quarterback-receiver coach.”
Two decades later, it’s become the genesis of Payton’s offseason philosophy, from New Orleans to Denver. When players first pull into the parking lot in Dove Valley for offseason activities, Payton doesn’t even want them thinking they’re coming for a football practice. This, for all intents and purposes, is a glorified conditioning and weight-room program, with a few team periods in OTAs and minicamp for some installs.
“We’re probably the only team,” Payton said Thursday, “that stays in Phase One for five weeks.”
Entering Payton’s third year in Denver, the strategy’s paid off in two key areas: offseason participation and injury prevention. Thursday’s final day of minicamp was a “salt day,” not a sugar day, as Payton emphasized Wednesday. It was an unfortunately ironic proclamation, given the presence of a post-practice snow-cone truck. The day was light enough that the Broncos ended minicamp without any major injuries or absences.
Rising second-year receiver Devaughn Vele missed all three days of camp, as did running back Blake Watson and receiver A.T. Perry. Cornerback Delarrin Turner-Yell appeared to sustain an injury Wednesday, and undrafted rookies Karene Reid and Johnny Walker Jr. have both missed time. But Payton said Vele would be “full go,” and the only player that might be limited into training camp is Perry.
“Outside of that,” Payton said, “we expect everyone back.”
Free-agent signee Dre Greenlaw (quad) has also been present across OTAs and minicamp, doing rehab work on a side field or observing practice. It’s a nod to the progression of offseason work under Beau Lowry, hired in 2023 as the Broncos’ vice president of player health and performance.
“You are selling, and there is a trust that you believe in,” Payton said of players building rapport with Lowry. “I’ve been with him a long time. That was a very important hire, extremely important.”
Other takeaways and notes from the final day of Broncos minicamp:
Bo Nix, decisive: As Dove Valley has seen a changed Nix throughout a much different offseason in 2025 — chirping at defenders, engrossed in constant back-and-forth with top target Courtland Sutton — Payton offered a summation of his quarterback’s comfort level heading into July training camp.
“Less pause, less hesitation with the play-calling in the huddle,” Payton said. “Less pause, less hesitation in the pocket. He’s playing faster.
“And again, protecting the ball. He’s hard to sack. He was hard to sack in college. So, you’re seeing him play faster — more confidence.”
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Strnad and Sanders, in particular, will be counted on this fall in some capacity and Payton said the extensive work this spring should continue to pay dividends.
“When you look at the amount of snaps Strnad had, now there’s a confidence of ‘I’m not just a guy running down on special teams, I started a whole season,'” Payton said. “And Drew, getting that work, constantly, inside, I think is extremely helpful.”
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