The reps are so infrequent, and happen so quickly, that Kris Abrams-Draine didn’t even realize a member of his own cornerback room strapped on a set of boxing gloves in practice.
“He did?” Abrams-Draine smiled in confusion on Friday.
Yes, Riley Moss did. And has been doing.
In mid-November, Moss’s hand-fighting with receivers nearly cost the Broncos their rivalry matchup with the Chiefs. The Broncos’ cornerback drew a pass-interference call that went for 47 yards on a fourth-quarter, third-and-20 against Kansas City. Denver managed to pull out a 22-19 win despite three penalties on Moss.
After the game, Moss told reporters that the staff were going to “put the boxing gloves on him” to correct any grabbing in his technique.
He wasn’t lying. Broncos cornerbacks coach Addison Lynch confirmed to The Post Thursday that Moss has been strapping on a set of gloves for about five reps during team periods of practice the last two weeks.
“Just so we can work down the field to not latch (onto receivers), to not do some of the things that he’s getting called for,” Lynch said.
And Moss is getting called for a lot. Through 12 games this season, the third-year corner has drawn the most flags — 11 — of any NFL cornerback, according to Pro Football Focus. Players told The Post that the Broncos’ defensive backs often use boxing gloves during training camp or during general individual drills throughout the season to protect their fingers when practicing swiping at the ball.
To wear them during team reps, though? To shape technique? That’s unique.
“I think — it’s an interesting technique,” defensive end John Franklin-Myers told The Post this week, smiling. “But man, there’s a million ways to do it. And I mean he’s literally trying to find any way to get better and to stop them calls.
“And it’s hurting the team, but he’s competing. And he’s doing his thing, so ain’t nobody mad at him. We got his back.”
Indeed, Denver’s locker room has taken up verbal pitchforks for Moss at every opportunity. Some of those pass-interference calls have been obvious, as Moss clearly grabbed Chiefs receiver Marquise Brown on that third-and-20 go-ball. Some have been less so.
These Broncos aren’t shy about feeling that Moss — who the locker room has christened “White Boy Rick” — has gotten the short end of the stick from officiating.
“I think they racial profiling my dog,” Pat Surtain II said on his podcast “Closed on Sundays” in late October.
Safety JL Skinner told The Post that Moss is trying to not give officials “any leeway to call any bull—-.” Practice-squad linebacker Levelle Bailey said exasperatedly that 50-50 calls will go against Moss, because “that’s just how the season’s going on for him.” The sentiment’s shared by coaches, too, as Payton pivoted a Friday question on Moss’s efforts toward a pick play on the final play of Commanders-Broncos on Sunday that he felt wasn’t called.
Moss’s 2025 thus far has been a mixed bag. Some teams’ entire game plans, like Cincinnati’s in Week 4, have involved targeting Moss opposite reigning Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain. With Surtain out for most of November, Moss was often thrust into checking the opposing team’s No. 1 receivers. PFF has Moss tied for third among NFL cornerbacks in pass breakups, and Next Gen Stats says Moss has still surrendered just a 52% catch rate on the year.
“Honestly, I think Riley’s having a good year,” Lynch told The Post. “There’s a couple plays that stick out that are late in games, that are third-and-20-plus situations, that they’re not even doing anything scheme-wise — they’re just hoping for the call, and the refs are giving it to ‘em, you know what I mean?
“So some of that stuff — some of the calls you agree with, you gotta clean up. Some of them you don’t. But overall, I think he’s having a great year. He’s playing (expletive) hard for us.”
Moss’s performance last Sunday was marred by Washington’s final drive in overtime, when receiver Deebo Samuel beat him for a 38-yard route down the right sideline to set up a Commanders touchdown. But Moss broke up two passes and allowed just three catches on seven total targets.
And Moss drew no flags in his first game since he strapped on the gloves.
“Just seeing him play corner with it on, it is kinda funny,” Bailey said. “I mean, he says it helps. So hopefully, it’s gonna work out.”
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