SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Runnin’ Russell Wilson and the Broncos’ No. 1 offense got off to a much better start in their second preseason game.
The Broncos starting quarterback engineered just one drive — a 13-play, 49-yard march that ended in a field goal after getting beset by a pair of penalties — before backup Jarrett Stidham got some run with the top unit Saturday night against San Francisco.
“I thought he looked sharp,” coach Sean Payton said of his quarterback.
That’s been the going rate the past two weeks for Wilson.
“I thought protection, we were better,” Payton said. “I thought Russ did a good job of tucking it a few times. Our time of possession was good, and I thought we ran the ball better than we did a week ago.”
Payton could do without wide receiver Courtland Sutton holding on the edge as Wilson scooted for a big gain on a zone-read keeper, or Garett Bolles jumping early late in the play clock. But the Broncos’ top offense looked sharper than it did on its opening pair of drives last weekend against Arizona — even if the game produced an oddly similar result, 21-20 loss capped by a last-second score from the opponent.
The two most interesting developments: Wilson’s work with his feet and a relatively heavy workload for Javonte Williams in his return from October knee surgery.
Payton wasted no time getting Williams involved after saying during the week he wanted him to get a couple of carries and maybe a target in the passing game.
In fact, Wilson targeted Williams on three of the game’s first four snaps — a drop on a screen and a 12-yard catch on the perimeter out of an empty formation and a 4-yard catch — and handed it to him on the other.
Williams was heavily involved in the Broncos’ first two series and finished his night with three carries for 12 yards and four catches for 18.
Wilson, meanwhile, used his legs to terrific results. He recognized man coverage on third-and-6 and scooted up the middle for an easy 17 yards. He showed good ballhandling on the zone read and would have had a chunk gain even without Sutton’s hold on the perimeter.
“To go out with our first-team offense and play well and battle and do the things we were able to do, it’s a good measure of where we can be and where we can go,” Wilson said. “Still a lot more work to do, but I’m excited about who we are and where we’re going.”
He stepped up in the pocket as rushers went wide rather than retreating. That’s been a feature of Wilson’s training camp work.
“It’s a fine balance,” offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said Wednesday of Wilson’s work to climb in the pocket rather than dash out the back door. “He’s got such great instincts in the (pocket), but also recognizing, ‘Hey, this is the pocket really breaking down, you’ve got to go,’ vs. ‘There’s a little push here, but there’s still room to find a place to throw the football.’ It’s something he’s always aware of and stuff that they work on in drill work. Just finding that right balance because he’s made so many plays off schedule.
“You don’t want to lose that.”
Wilson was calm and decisive in that regard on his one drive of work in the Bay Area. Given that Payton said the Broncos will likely approach the third preseason game entirely differently from the first two — translation: it’s far less likely starters will see much or any playing time Aug. 26 at home against the Los Angeles Rams — the next time Wilson takes the field may well be Sept. 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Payton scoffed Thursday at a question about whether Denver had gotten everything he wanted done so far in training camp.
“From a coach’s perspective, there’s always meat left on the bone,” he said. “We’re hitting these situations we’re installing, and I’d say we’re pretty much on schedule, but the answer’s never ‘yes’ to that question if you ask a coach.”
The Broncos have three weeks still until their season-opener — “There’s no light even at the end of the tunnel,” Payton said Thursday. “It’s dark.” — so plenty of work remains. But the 33 snaps of work Wilson got over a pair of preseason games showed the blueprint for how Payton wants him to play this fall, the progress he’s made and also the ways in which he still has room to get more comfortable.
For the second time in as many preseason weeks, the Broncos reserves gave up a last-minute scoring drive. This time, Jake Moody knocked in a 32-yard field goal on the game’s final play for a 21-20 49ers win. Denver led 20-12 with 5:40 to go after an 9-yard Jaleel McLaughlin touchdown catch — the undrafted rookie from Youngstown State’s second score of the night — but San Francisco mounted two straight scoring drives led by quarterback Trey Lance around a Broncos three-and-out.
“I thought we did a good job with takeaways, I thought we ran the ball, defended the run well,” Payton said. “Certainly would have liked to have won, but I was pleased with pretty much most of that game.”
Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.
