The Broncos chose their leaders for what is expected to be a resurgent season for the franchise.
In a team vote Tuesday, Denver elected five captains for 2022: quarterback Russell Wilson, receiver Courtland Sutton, safety Justin Simmons, outside linebacker Bradley Chubb and kicker Brandon McManus.
Head coach Nathaniel Hackett met with those captains Tuesday, and noted a main takeaway from the election was how many different players received votes from their peers.
“There were numerous guys (in contention),” Hackett said, “and we had a bunch of guys on the offensive line get votes.”
Wilson, a longtime captain in Seattle, gets the nod in his first season with the Broncos. Meanwhile, Sutton, Simmons and McManus repeat as captains after earning the honor in head coach Vic Fangio’s final season last year. (In Fangio’s first two seasons, the Broncos elected weekly captains.)
McManus is now a six-time Denver captain, but he, Sutton and Chubb are more of the lead-by-example guys, while Wilson and Simmons are the more vocal leaders in the meeting rooms and on the practice field.
“I’ll show you more than I tell you,” Sutton said of his leadership style. “I try to show the young guys the right way. I’ll take them off to the side and talk to young guys. I’m not a big rah-rah guy.
“(With Wilson), he always knows what to say, how to say it, how to deliver a message and get guys to buy into what his mission and ideas are. Bradley’s also a guy, you might not hear him as much, but he’s always able to articulate (his message) to teammates. It might be short and simple, but he gets it across.”
The only remaining player from the Super Bowl 50 team, McManus views his captainship as “helping with the overall philosophy for special teams and guys’ roles on those teams.”
“I’m not teaching gunner releases or techniques for our specialists, but I’m focused on just trying to get younger guys to understand the role and the importance of it,” McManus said. “And helping them with things that I see are just kind of nuances with certain punting styles or whatever it may be, stuff that will give us an advantage that a lot of people might not have.”
Chubb said he sees safety Kareem Jackson, a captain last year and the Broncos’ oldest and most veteran player, as a key leader even though the safety wasn’t elected again this year. Plus, center Lloyd Cushenberry, who played every snap in 32 of 33 possible games through his first two seasons, drew the same praise from the edge rusher.
“(Cushenberry) doesn’t say too much, but he goes out there and handles his business, and makes sure other guys do the same,” Chubb said. “Same thing with (left guard) Dalton Risner, (left tackle) Garett Bolles and (cornerback) Pat Surtain even though he’s a few years younger than me. This team is full of guys who could fit the role of captain, and I’m just blessed to be one of them.”
No game plan yet. As the Broncos begin preparation for Seattle in Week 1 on Monday Night Football, Hackett said Denver hasn’t yet put in its offensive game plan. That will come Thursday, four days ahead of the season opener.
“It’s so fluid because there’s such a long period of time (because of playing on Monday instead of Sunday), and you don’t want the game plan to get dull,” Hackett said. “We’ve been talking about some things but haven’t put in anything officially yet.”
Griffith returns. Inside linebacker Jonas Griffith, who dislocated his elbow in Denver’s preseason opener against the Cowboys on Aug. 13, returned to practice Tuesday in Dove Valley.
Griffith is expected to be the team’s starting inside linebacker alongside Josey Jewell, who will wear the “green dot” as the team’s on-field defensive play-relayer.
Hackett expects Griffith to be ready for Seattle, and said the same thing about right tackle Billy Turner and tight end Albert Okwuegbunam. Turner worked his way back during the preseason from a knee scope, while Okwuegbunam was experiencing lower-body tightness last week, but is okay. If for some reason Turner can’t play, the Broncos can turn to either Cam Fleming or Calvin Anderson.
“(Turner) is a veteran, so he’ll know if he’s ready to rock,” Hackett said. “We definitely want him to play the whole game. I’ve been with Billy a long time (the last three seasons in Green Bay), so I trust he’ll let us know if he’s ready to go.”
