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Jeff Legwold joins Moser, Lombardi and Kane 8-7-25 · Jeff Legwold ESPN Broncos Reports

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Let's head out out to the hotline and bring on
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: in our Broncos inside from ESPN, it is the great
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Jeff leg Will Jeff, how Santa Claire, California treating you.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: This morning? Traffic is light and Santa Clara can reform? Okay,
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: all as well?
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: What do you expect to see out of this joint practice?
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  Speaker 3: Are they gonna get ultra physical? Is it going to
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  Speaker 3: be sort of a tag team of it? Is you
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  Speaker 3: gonna play flag football today and save all the physicality
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  Speaker 3: for Saturday?
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  Speaker 4: What do you think they do?
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  Speaker 2: You know, like, I really think they're hoping, you know,
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  Speaker 2: I don't know how physical they're gonna be. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: everybody's gonna be good up and everything, but I think
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  Speaker 2: they want to do the sort of some of the
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  Speaker 2: unscripted work, and even the scrimmage the Broncos had was
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: thoroughly scripted every situation, every down, So I think they
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  Speaker 2: want to see these guys on both sides of the ball.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, the practice periods will be scripted overall, but
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  Speaker 2: they'll be calling plays in order like they would in
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  Speaker 2: a game in some situations, So I think they really
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  Speaker 2: want to see how they look doing that, and just
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  Speaker 2: in the competitive situation. You know, how do some of
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  Speaker 2: the younger guys handle the competitive situation? Because these things
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  Speaker 2: always start with good intentions and then as they go
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  Speaker 2: a little longer that it kicks in that these guys
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  Speaker 2: compete for a living, and you know, they really get
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  Speaker 2: you know, after that at some point. So that's kind
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  Speaker 2: of what I'm looking for. But I think that's why
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  Speaker 2: they do just one day now most teams, because that
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  Speaker 2: the second day usually gets a little ugly.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, we saw what happened between the Patriots and the Commanders, right, Yeah, I.
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  Speaker 2: Mean Brabel got Rabel waited in and got you know,
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  Speaker 2: Futt his cheat trying to break a fight up. So yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I think that's why a lot of teams are going
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  Speaker 2: to this one day format is it stays a little
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  Speaker 2: cleaner and they get a little more out of it.
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  Speaker 4: Jeffrey, I mean, do you think that this is still
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  Speaker 4: a valuable thing for teams. You can't replicate gameplay, obviously,
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  Speaker 4: but it's still valuable to go against another team, even
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  Speaker 4: if it's practice.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. I think I think they all like what they
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  Speaker 2: get out of it, and I think they feel like
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  Speaker 2: they they need it so and I think this is
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  Speaker 2: you know, this sort of replaces that all their game
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  Speaker 2: you know, they used to have. If they can cluster
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  Speaker 2: enough of these, I think they're still good about, you know,
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  Speaker 2: kind of having enough work in the preseason or without
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  Speaker 2: risking too much with the players they want to get healthy.
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  Speaker 1: How do you think the Because coach Payton seemed to
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  Speaker 1: allude to the fact that he knows that they're going
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  Speaker 1: to go down to two preseason games, we get to
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  Speaker 1: eighteen regular season games, and it seems like his brain
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  Speaker 1: is already trying to work on how do we make
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  Speaker 1: decisions when it comes to player personnel when you have
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  Speaker 1: just two preseason games. But let me ask you, how
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  Speaker 1: do you make those kind of decisions when we go
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  Speaker 1: down to just two.
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  Speaker 2: Well, b I think they are always a lot closer
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  Speaker 2: to making those decisions than they would let on. You know,
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  Speaker 2: I think they could. I think most teams after OTA's
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  Speaker 2: and Mini camp and then the first few weeks of
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  Speaker 2: training camp feel like they could get to fifty one
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  Speaker 2: fifty two players very easily. Their concern is always that
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  Speaker 2: fifty third, fifty fourth, fifty fifth guy. You let one
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  Speaker 2: or two guys go because you make an evaluation and
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  Speaker 2: two years from now you're looking at them on another
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  Speaker 2: team and they're flourishing. And those are the ones the
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  Speaker 2: football people I talk to worry about, you know, in
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  Speaker 2: this and everybody believes they're going to eighteen days with
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  Speaker 2: a two preseason game format at some point. But that's
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  Speaker 2: the ones they worry about, those last one, two or
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  Speaker 2: three guys that you don't keep and they end up
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  Speaker 2: going somewhere else and really doing something.
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  Speaker 3: Who do you think veteran wise, they would not even
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  Speaker 3: trot out there Saturday nights? Drake Greenlaw given his injury
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  Speaker 3: history recently? Of course, will he play?
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  Speaker 4: Will JK?
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  Speaker 3: Dobbins? Will they take the wrap off of him? Do
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  Speaker 3: they need to?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, again, that's an answer I'm looking for a little
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  Speaker 2: bit today. He was pretty Shawn is pretty adam at
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  Speaker 2: the other day about I don't care how many snatch
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  Speaker 2: they practice, you know today that they're playing in the game.
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  Speaker 2: So he he does believe, you know, guys are gonna
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  Speaker 2: play in the preseason. Now, does that mean every veteran
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  Speaker 2: player is gonna play in the preseason. I don't think
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  Speaker 2: we know the answer today yet. I could see Dobbins
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  Speaker 2: playing Saturday Greenlaw. I still wonder he's still kind of
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  Speaker 2: coming back from the injury. He wasn't full gear, you know,
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  Speaker 2: Tuesday for practice. But you know, let's see how much
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  Speaker 2: he does today, and I can see them not doing
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  Speaker 2: much of him Saturday for the game and maybe getting
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  Speaker 2: him his one preseason cameo against the Cardinals next week.
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  Speaker 3: That you have said this preseason, one of the goals
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  Speaker 3: for the Broncos is to establish a running game, something
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  Speaker 3: they could not do last year. So how does that
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  Speaker 3: endeavor manifest itself in Saturday night's contest? How do you
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  Speaker 3: see them trying to achieve that goal?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, personally, then I'd like to see him force feed
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  Speaker 2: it a little bit, you know, just decide you're going
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  Speaker 2: to do it, whether you pumped a couple of times
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  Speaker 2: or not. But you know, I don't want to get
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  Speaker 2: too deep in the weeds. But this will be at
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  Speaker 2: least if they follow through what I've seen in OTA's
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  Speaker 2: mini camp in this first couple of weeks, this is
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  Speaker 2: going to be more of an outside his own run team,
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  Speaker 2: you know, kind of a little bit of a glimmer
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  Speaker 2: of what you know Shanahan Kubiak did for so long there.
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  Speaker 2: It looks to me like there are far more elements
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  Speaker 2: of that in this run game than there were last year. Now,
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  Speaker 2: does that hold over in the regular season. I can't
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  Speaker 2: say that yet, but it looks to me like they've
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  Speaker 2: made a concerted effort to really add that to the
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  Speaker 2: run game. And that's kind of what I'm looking for
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  Speaker 2: in the preseason to see how many of those elements
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  Speaker 2: actually show up in the game.
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  Speaker 4: But Jeff, that's interesting that you say that, because I'm
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  Speaker 4: sure that Sean Payton has all the good intentions of
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  Speaker 4: establishing that running game and making it work and so on.
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  Speaker 4: But you've gotten, i guess, maybe to a better read
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  Speaker 4: on him than me, what makes him go back to
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  Speaker 4: just let's just use the passing game as a running
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  Speaker 4: game and then let bo do his thing. Is it
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  Speaker 4: like a is it a security blanket type of thing?
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  Speaker 4: What do you think? It is?
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  Speaker 2: A lot of it's comfort level most you know, I
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  Speaker 2: don't think people will admit it, but you know, as
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: football has gone to quarterbacks in the shotgown almost exclusively
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  Speaker 2: from the time they're seven years old until they get
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  Speaker 2: to the NFL, the footwork in the run game is
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  Speaker 2: a lot more complicated than we all give it credit for,
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  Speaker 2: and the timing is you know, we we sort of
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  Speaker 2: think of it as it's it's the simple part of offense,
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  Speaker 2: the sledge hammer, you know, just smash people that there
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  Speaker 2: is a lot of footwork involved in the exchange of
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  Speaker 2: the ball and getting the timing right up front, and
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  Speaker 2: I think that's what deters people because it takes time
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  Speaker 2: to smooth it out and when it doesn't go well
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  Speaker 2: right away in the game, that they want to return
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  Speaker 2: to the comfort level, you know, if everybody involved, and
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  Speaker 2: I think that's sometimes what happens. And the other part
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  Speaker 2: of it is is, uh, you know, sort of the
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  Speaker 2: long time creative play callers I've known through the years,
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  Speaker 2: and you know, Sean is certainly one of those guys
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  Speaker 2: who's come up through offense in his career. They tend
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  Speaker 2: to want to cruise around the play sheet more, you know,
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  Speaker 2: try more, do more, add more, and I think the
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  Speaker 2: volume of plays they want to call in a game
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  Speaker 2: sometimes gets in the way of the run game. You know,
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  Speaker 2: Whether anyone would admit that or not, that's just kind
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  Speaker 2: of what I've seen over the years. Mike Shanahan was
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  Speaker 2: a rare and Gary Kubiak there were rare offensive coaches
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  Speaker 2: in that they thought the hammer was a very important
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  Speaker 2: part of the toolbox. I always repeat Mike told me
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  Speaker 2: a long time ago, when you're calling plays, once you've
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  Speaker 2: made a bruise, keep hitting it. And he was not
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  Speaker 2: opposed to call and plays over and over again if
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  Speaker 2: they kept working.
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  Speaker 4: I'm point to I love that that comment. I've never
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  Speaker 4: heard that from you before about Shanahan because again, and
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  Speaker 4: when you look at those second halves with TD Jeff,
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  Speaker 4: you just would you would abuse secondaries right as the
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  Speaker 4: time went on. But I guess my question is do coaches, sometimes,
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  Speaker 4: these these elite play callers and play developers, do they
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  Speaker 4: get infatuated with their their own work to a detriment sometimes?
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know, moj I think it's hard for guys
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  Speaker 2: to to drift from what they've had success doing. And
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  Speaker 2: if you've been creative and you've called a lot of plays,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, it's hard to argue with what the Saints
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  Speaker 2: did in Shawn's tenure. I mean, Breeze three set records.
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  Speaker 2: You know, a lot of quarterbacks may never touch, you know,
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  Speaker 2: five thousand yard seasons. He's you know, he's one of
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  Speaker 2: two guys to throw for eighty thousand yards in a career.
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  Speaker 2: You know, you're gonna believe in that if you've seen
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  Speaker 2: that kind of success. I just think that, you know,
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  Speaker 2: the run game is a quirky thing. You know, a
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  Speaker 2: three yard run in the first quarters, probably a six
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  Speaker 2: yard run in fourth quarter. But you got to do
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  Speaker 2: the work in between to get the from the three
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  Speaker 2: to the six, you know, if you know what I mean.
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  Speaker 3: Last question for me, and somebody asked last week. So
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  Speaker 3: Sean Payton calls the offense, he has the play sheet
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  Speaker 3: in front of him, he does that. Davis Web handles
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  Speaker 3: the quarterbacks. So what does Joel Lombardi do on game day?
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  Speaker 2: Joe is sort of Sean's eyes in the in the
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  Speaker 2: box upstairs. You know, uh, defensive personnel, you know, what
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  Speaker 2: are you seeing some up It's easier to see coverages
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  Speaker 2: up top. You know, Sean can see where the safeties
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  Speaker 2: are and what the splits are up front, and you
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  Speaker 2: can see the splits on the safety and you can
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: see where the you know, where the Mike linebackers aligned.
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  Speaker 2: But it's hard to get that overview. And and Joe
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  Speaker 2: gives Sean that overview. And they've worked together so long
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  Speaker 2: they can have a very quick shorthand you know, Joe
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  Speaker 2: Lombardi could say one word and Sean has a picture
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: of what that means, you know, what he's seeing from above.
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  Speaker 2: So you know, there's just a lot of that. You know,
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  Speaker 2: all play callers on the sideline like to have somebody
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  Speaker 2: in the box they trust because they can't see it.
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  Speaker 2: They can't see the All twenty two as it were, like,
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: you know how they watch the video through the week.
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  Speaker 1: That's Jeff Legwalder, ESPN Insider. Jeff, thanks for stopping off
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  Speaker 1: and enjoy your time in California. We'll talk to you
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  Speaker 1: next week.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, see you follows.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: That's Jeff legwald is brought to you by the International
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: Brotherhood of Electrical Workers IBW Local sixty eight. Start with
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: a job, end with a career