WARE, U.K. — The Broncos finished their practice week in England with an audible.
After practicing Wednesday and Thursday at Tottenham’s training facility north of London, Sean Payton’s team moved its Friday practice even farther out of the city to a field on its hotel grounds.
Minnesota used the practice field all of last week before playing against Cleveland at Tottenham, and Payton said it was in terrific shape after spending two days of practice elsewhere.
“The Friday schedule at home with the linemen and recovery, it’s easier to do logistically (at the hotel),” Payton said. “You know what you’re getting (at Tottenham). They do that for a living. But this field was remarkable.
“It just made the schedule work a little cleaner.”
The late change wasn’t driven by weather, but it conjured memories of Denver moving its Friday practice last year in West Virginia to indoor tennis courts due to heavy rain before they traveled to New Jersey and beat the Jets.
The field at the Hanbury Manor is certainly a more functional setting than tennis courts, and it backs to rolling country hillside.
“It’s picturesque,” Payton said. “You’re surrounded by — it’d be hard to describe this, a football field in the middle of nowhere. ‘Field of Dreams,’ if you will.”
Payton said the team’s Saturday walkthrough would be in the same location.
The third-year Broncos coach thought the week overall went smoothly, despite more transit than normal between the team’s hotel and its early-week practice site.
“The setup is fantastic,” Payton said. “… There’s a routine that I think all of us thrive on, and getting in that routine relative to recovery, the practice (is important). In other words, I didn’t feel like the routine was different at all this week.
“The routine last week was the challenging routine — Monday Night Football, off Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday was the first day we started. Friday fly (to Philadelphia). (Saturday) at Temple. That schedule was different. This week: Down pat.”
Roach questionable: The Broncos have a chance to get defensive tackle Malcolm Roach off injured reserve as soon as Sunday. Payton said Roach is “doing well,” and he was listed as a full participant the final two days of practice.
He’s listed as questionable for the game, but that could be because he still must be formally activated from injured reserve. The Broncos will have a spot on the 53-man roster open up when they formally put left guard Ben Powers (biceps) on IR.
Elliss out: Broncos second-year edge rusher Jonah Elliss was ruled out for the game against the New York Jets with shoulder and rib injuries. Payton would not provide any update on the severity of Elliss’ injury Friday.
This will be the first game Elliss has missed due to injury in the NFL, but the 22-year-old dealt with a major shoulder injury in college and fractured his shoulder in the Broncos’ playoff loss to Buffalo in January. He spent the entire offseason rehabbing that injury and told The Post recently that he didn’t feel fully normal until Denver’s first preseason game of the year in August.
Make-good for Engram?: The last time the Broncos played in London, tight end Evan Engram scored a touchdown.
He just did it for the Jacksonville Jaguars, who led until a late Russell Wilson touchdown drive.
Engram said he hadn’t given any of Denver’s remaining defensive players a hard time about the touchdown this week.
“We talked about it a little bit just because that was the last time the Broncos were in London,” Engram said. “It’s just ironic that we played them here. Hopefully, I can try to get a couple more here as a Bronco for sure.”
Down to the wire: During the Minnesota-Cleveland game last week at Tottenham, a Vikings field goal attempt appeared to hit a wire holding a sky camera, and it missed. The play can be challenged — Minnesota apparently did not realize the ball hit the wire — and if a ball is ruled to have hit the wire, the kick would get re-tried from the same spot.
Payton took notice, but didn’t think the wire was on the kick’s line because of Tottenham’s design.
“You hope that the powers that be learn from that,” Payton said. “I get the angles, but that’s not a new Tottenham thing. That’s an NFL thing. They want to get those angles, but when you’re in charge of that camera and you’re kicking a field goal, you probably want to be out of the trajectory. I think.”
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