Mike McGlinchey smiled at the very first question of his 2025 season from a reporter and opted for a gentle let-down.
Does the massive right tackle think, he was asked Tuesday, that this version of the Broncos has the feel of a championship-caliber team?
“Uh, well,” he responded with a smile, “We haven’t even practiced yet.”
Indeed, this is the earliest of days of the football calendar. Denver’s veterans reported for duty Tuesday, but they don’t actually hit the practice field for the first of two ramp-up sessions until Wednesday. Then, fans join the party for the first of 13 open training camp practices Friday.
McGlinchey stood at the podium Tuesday with no tape on his hands and ankles, no sweat on his brow, and no bumps and bruises just yet. He rocked a T-shirt and flip flops, spiriting the final fleeting moments of relative freedom before the grind of camp hits in earnest.
“(The offseason) flew by, to say the least,” reigning defensive player Pat Surtain II said. “Now we’re here.”
Now comes the first steps of attempting to forge championship mettle.
Camp is for building out frameworks of offensive and defensive systems — or in the Broncos’ case, expanding them.
Camp is for creating an identity.
Camp is for hardening calluses in hopes of staying mostly healthy over an arduous regular-season and, ideally, beyond.
It’s for building a belief that you can compete for a championship.
In that final regard, at least, the continuity boasted by the Broncos puts them ahead of schedule.
They think they’re ready to burst into the NFL’s upper echelon.
“Certainly we feel like we could be (a championship-level team),” McGlinchey said. “But we’ve got to put in the work day in and day out. We’re obviously very, very excited about what we have here. Everybody feels a little more comfortable with the experience we gained last year and the year that we had. And knowing that’s still not good enough.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to come in and work and earn the opportunity to be atop the NFL.
“That’s what we’re trying to do.”
All the same, Denver’s long journey toward those kinds of lofty goals started just the way head coach Sean Payton likes it Tuesday: With relative quiet.
Payton speaks with reporters for the first time Wednesday. Quarterback Bo Nix will likely talk later in the week.
On Tuesday, McGlinchey and Surtain served as an accomplished but low-decibel opening salvo. Zach Allen and John Franklin-Myers wandered past. Courtland Sutton and Nik Bonitto, too. Each is entering a contract year and each is expected to be a major contributor on a team heavy on continuity and returning production.
“You want to set expectations pretty high, but you can’t let that allow yourself to waver from the fact that we’ve got a lot of goals to accomplish as a team,” Surtain said. “We’re going to take it day by day in training camp and keep on sharpening iron, sharpening our toolbox and just keep on getting better out here on the gridiron.”
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There will be no such surprises this year.
The questions about expectations are framed around the second weekend in February and whether the Broncos can make the Super Bowl for the first time since 2015.
The questions around Nix are about whether he can build on a 34-touchdown rookie year rather than if he can win the job.
Those types of questions won’t have real answers for months.
The building toward them, however, begins now.
“I think we have guys that are made up of the right stuff in this locker room and certainly the right coaching staff to get us in the right place to have those opportunities to win those kinds of games,” McGlinchey said.
“But it’s July 22. We’ve got a long way to go.”
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