This afternoon began the same as every day in Dove Valley, the Broncos’ roster greeted by a familiar pre-practice musical rotation. They roll around on the grass, usually, to the thumping bass of a Drake song. Or “FE!N” by Travis Scott.
On Thursday, “FE!N” again rattled throughout Denver’s practice facility during dynamic stretching. Suddenly, though, a trap beat transitioned to the slow acoustic strings of George Birge’s “It Won’t Be Long.” Two more country songs followed.
And still, the Broncos’ Thursday warm-up playlist was more cohesive than their offense has been through three games.
“I think that’s a little bit of our thing is — we’re not really catching a rhythm,” quarterback Bo Nix said Thursday. “We’re just kinda hit or miss. And as an offense, it’s tough.”
Traditionally, Sean Payton’s teams deploy a revolving personnel carousel that can leave opposing defensive coordinators dizzy.
Early in 2025, though, these Broncos have yet to fully integrate their new pieces from a high-impact offseason. They closed a Week 1 win by leaning on a dual-headed ground game of J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey, and lost a Week 3 nailbiter as Dobbins and Harvey received one combined carry in the fourth quarter. Nix and Payton love to generate passing-game momentum by hitting on crossing routes, but Nix has been the worst-rated quarterback in the NFL on intermediate throws through three weeks.
Payton’s offenses thrive on chaos. But with the Saints, there was targeted chaos. Drew Brees spraying 650-plus balls around on quick dropbacks. Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara running opposing teams into the ground.
In Denver, entering 2025’s Week 4, there’s been too much stop-and-start dysfunction.
“It’s important, and I think this sums it up, to say, ‘Hey, this is an identity relative to running and throwing the ball. This is our identity,’” Payton said Thursday.
“And I would say, we’ve yet to establish that clearly for anyone watching, or ourselves,” he continued. “And so, that’s us as coaches.”
How long, historically, does that take?
“I think — soon,” Payton smiled. “Soon.”
The message was clear: The Broncos’ offensive identity needs to round into form. Soon.
After the Broncos’ 23-20 loss to the Chargers, after three games through which Denver sits tied at 19th in the NFL in yards per game, Monday’s review was a “big thumbs-pointing-in kind of a day,” guard Quinn Meinerz said. Thursday’s practice was spent primarily on early down work, too, after the Broncos continued to put themselves in rough third-and-long situations against the Chargers.
“This is a big learning game for us as an offense,” Meinerz said Monday. “And moving forward, we’ll be better because of it.”
It starts with Nix. The second-year quarterback has, at times, processed in the pocket with the speed of a machine-learning algorithm. Other times, he’s looked stressed under pressure.
Nix made clear that this was Payton’s offense, saying Thursday he had “not much” input with coaches during the week on running specific concepts he likes. But the quarterback still outlined a fairly clear vision for what Denver’s offense can be — and sometimes is.
“We still have an identity up front,” Nix said. “They’re going to keep the guys off of me. We’re going to be able to not stay in long yardage because of sacks. We’re going to complete passes. Courtland (Sutton’s) going to have good games. And those other guys, as they continue to grow, they’re going to find their rhythm.”
On those other guys: Dobbins is the only offseason acquisition who’s jumped right in. Rookie receiver Pat Bryant hasn’t seen the field much. Harvey is still learning the ropes. Tight end Evan Engram has been riddled with injuries. Sutton has accounted for 36% of the Broncos’ passing yards through three games, an even higher share than he had in Nix’s rookie year.
Nix expressed a belief Thursday that it generally takes “about three or four weeks” to fully integrate an offense.
“I’m going to continue to get better and better and see things well,” Nix said. “And then, we’re going to continue to find the rhythm and the plays that we like, the scheme that we want to fall back on.”
For one, Denver will continue to trust Nix’s right arm in taking shots, where they’ve actually been plenty effective in 2025. He sits at 11th in the NFL on yards on deep balls, and that would be plenty higher if he’d put just a bit more touch Sunday on a couple of well-documented throws to Marvin Mims Jr. and Sutton.
Nix stood by himself on Thursday, saying he was going to “keep throwing ’em.” And if he does, the picture of a fully-formed Broncos offense is there: Dobbins wearing down run defenses and Nix wearing out underneath looks to create strikes over the top.
“Just keep firing,” Payton said. “He’s going to hit plenty of those.”
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