Eventually, Evan Engram’s body language said enough for Sean Payton to speak up.
The touches weren’t there on Sunday through three quarters. They hadn’t been this year. Payton trotted out reserve tight end Lucas Krull on Denver’s first offensive series of 2025 and has kept trusty Adam Trautman on the field for a majority of the Broncos’ snaps. As Denver sank in Philadelphia, their $23 million mismatch tight end again felt more like a mismatch for Payton’s offense than he did for opposing defenses.
Payton sensed frustration, as Engram had one catch for minus-3 yards late into the third. And the head coach “got after him a little,” as Payton recalled postgame.
“I was pissed at him,” Payton said. “He was pissed at me.”
The corners of Payton’s mouth turned up because of the breakthrough he ignited in an eventual 21-17 win in Philadelphia.
“Don’t think I like it any other way,” Engram said. “I like to be coached hard. And Sean will definitely let you know when he’s upset. He’ll let you know even when he’s excited or happy, too.
“So it was just good to start getting involved, and just help the offense.”
Payton made an effort to call Engram’s number on a fourth-quarter drive that upended the game. And Engram made an effort, period. First came an 18-yard snag over the middle, as the 6-foot-3 Engram stretched for a fingertip grab on a first down. And as the Broncos motored into Philadelphia’s red zone with a chance to tie, Nix rolled out on a bootleg as Eagles outside linebacker Joshua Uche Jr. barreled down his line of sight.
Running back Tyler Badie, flaring out of the backfield, wasn’t open. Courtland Sutton, Nix’s go-to man, was blanketed. So Nix did what he’s rarely done through five games: look back to Engram as a safety, sitting a few yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
Engram caught Nix’s toss, ran through the diving arms of Philadelphia’s Jalen Carter, and dove into the end zone with his first score in a Broncos uniform.
“He adds a level of experience, slash, competitive nature that not everybody in that situation has, especially not playing a whole lot, probably as much as he wanted to,” Nix said postgame. “But he never really complained, never wavered.”
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Payton confirmed that Engram wasn’t Nix’s primary read on that game-tying score. That’s a key development for Denver. Engram’s slow start hasn’t come from a lack of play design. Nix and Payton have both said previously that the Broncos have scripted concepts for him. The problem has been that Engram hasn’t lingered often on the field on plays where he’s not a first target, and Nix has rarely looked his way as an escape valve.
This is a process, the 31-year-old Engram has said. He found the next step in a four-catch, 33-yard day that felt much bigger in the fourth quarter than on the stat sheet.
“We all know what he can do,” receiver Trent Sherfield told The Denver Post. “Everybody’s seen what he can do. It’s not Sean’s fault. It’s not Evan’s fault. It’s just about putting pieces together and letting them fall where they may.
“We draw up plays for everybody to make plays, and it may not shake out one game, or it may not shake out a couple of games,” Sherfield continued. “But that doesn’t mean you just dismiss somebody, or ‘Oh, we gotta scramble and turn things around,’ or, ‘Oh, this guy isn’t what we thought he was.’ No, bro. It’s been a couple of weeks. Like, it’s literally Week 5.”
The nature of the Broncos’ erratic personnel groupings makes for erratic receiver production. Payton said this week Denver wasn’t playing “the fantasy game” with Engram. But Sunday’s win planted the seeds for more consistent contributions from their splashiest free-agent signing.
“I think he showed today,” Nix said, “that he’s on the right track.”
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