Davis Webb turned back toward the Broncos’ sideline in the final minute of the first half on Saturday and saw players and coaches lined up for high fives and fist bumps.
On a night when Denver’s backups dominated Arizona’s in a 27-7 preseason win, several Broncos had good nights.
Quarterback Jarrett Stidham was razor sharp for a second straight week.
Second-year receiver Troy Franklin caught two touchdowns, including one on a perfectly thrown ball from Stidham in the back corner of the end zone with 47 seconds left in the first half that polished off a breezy two-minute drill.
Few, if any, had a better night than Webb.
The 30-year-old Broncos quarterbacks coach and offensive passing game coordinator called plays in an NFL game for the first time.
Preseason game? Hardly any starters in the mix? No matter. Not to Webb.
Head coach Sean Payton, of course, calls plays for Denver in the regular season but will delegate the duty to offensive assistants at times during the preseason. Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi called Denver’s first preseason game against San Francisco, for example, and senior offensive assistant Pete Carmichael is one of the few who’s stepped in for Payton in a regular-season game.
Payton gave Webb his first crack at the job and threw down a bit of a challenge during the practice week.
“I had thrown a couple of call sheets or stat sheets from my first time and highlighted a few things and said, ‘see if you can beat this,’” Payton said after the game.
“And he did.”
The Broncos steamrolled to 562 offensive yards and averaged 7.8 per snap.
Stidham engineered a four-play, 97-yard scoring blitz to open the game, led Denver to points on four of his first five drives and then orchestrated the touchdown drive in a two-minute scenario late in the first half.
During that march, he said he “kind of knew where Davis was going with some of those play calls.”
“It’s great because we have so many conversations in our quarterback room with him and me and Bo and Sam (Ehlinger), really just talking about, ‘OK, in a two-minute situation, against this certain defense, what do we like? What do we not like?’” Stidham said. “So you’re able to kind of pick up on things before they happen a little bit.”
Payton gave Webb a game ball in the locker room after the win. He largely stood near Webb on the sideline with the play sheet at his side or behind his back. He’d occasionally lean over and talk with Webb, but the veteran head coach said he let his young assistant call the whole game.
“I said this to (CEO and owner Greg Penner) earlier, if you had Pete call a game, Davis, Joe, myself, whoever, you’re going to get so many different combinations on that call sheet,” Payton said. “You’ll get the emphasis in the run. We wanted to run the ball well tonight, but I thought (Webb) was — the biggest thing is getting on to the next play as soon as you’ve called that play.
“And I thought he was fast, efficient, had a lot of energy. The players responded. I thought he did a great job. It’s no different than a player that has a real good game, like, I can do this at a high level.”
Webb’s considered a fast-riser in the industry and somebody who could one day soon be coordinating an offense or even find himself in charge of a team.
Stidham’s going into his third season with Webb and has seen his positional work up close since Webb jumped from playing to coaching after Payton got hired in Denver.
“Tonight was a big deal for him,” Stidham said. “If you’re a coach and you want to be a play-caller in this league, when you get your first opportunity, it’s a big deal. So, honestly, super proud of him, super happy for him.
“He’s an incredible coach, and he’s going to be an incredible coach for a very long time in this league. I’ve been fortunate to be around some of the greats, and Davis, he’s amazing. I can’t speak highly enough of him.”
The nature of the preseason is that there’s not nearly as much opponent-specific prep work as there is during the regular season. As such, Stidham said he didn’t exactly know what to expect with a new voice in the headset.
“We really only did practice (Friday) with him calling it in the headset and stuff,” he said. “But just seeing how he flowed within the game, it was really fun. He’s got a bright future for sure.”
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