GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Broncos’ regular-season opener is still a month away, but coach Sean Payton said Friday night it’s time for his team to lace up its running shoes.

“Regardless of whether it is a preseason game or a regular-season game, you can’t stand losing. Especially in that fashion,” he said moments after Arizona mounted a game-winning touchdown drive that finished with two seconds left on the clock. “We’ll look at the tape (Sunday) and there will be a number of things that we’ll be excited about and there will be a number of things that we have to clean up.

“We are in a race to do that now that we have an opponent on film against us. We start from there.”

Denver goes back to full training camp Monday armed with a fresh trove of data from the desert and four days of practice before heading to the Bay Area to take on San Francisco.

Here are five things we’ve learned so far this month:

1. The starting lineups are relatively stable

Assuming good health, there is really only one spot up for grabs on offense and a defensive line rotation spot or two on defense.

The Broncos’ starting tight end could change by the week based on personnel, but the top three — Adam Trautman, Greg Dulcich and Chris Manhertz — already have clearly defined roles. Brandon Johnson may lock down the slot receiver spot if he returns quickly from a sprained ankle suffered last week. Otherwise, Marvin Mims Jr. and Marquez Callaway will get consideration there, too. The starting 11, though, hasn’t varied much in camp and there are no obvious spots where it would except for injury in the coming weeks.

Similarly on defense, Jonathan Harris and Matt Henningsen will continue to jockey for playing time up front. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said Denver will have packages for both safety Kareem Kackson and Caden Sterns and said, “it’s not really a competition.”

Perhaps most interesting: Just how deep is the edge group? Could Jonathon Cooper and Nik Bonitto push for even more work alongside Randy Gregory and Frank Clark?

Overall, the questions are about rotations and the back half of the roster much more than they’re about the top line. Which gets us to No. 2.

2. The Broncos have a couple of deep groups, but depth questions overall

Denver’s probably going to have a tough decision or two to make in its secondary. If the Broncos take 11 defensive backs total between corners and safeties, somebody’s going to get left off the roster that’s either played a lot or has potential. It could be Fabian Moreau or Jackson or JaQuan McMillian.

Other position groups, though, have more questions than answers. Isaiah Prince started at right tackle with Mike McGlinchey recovering from a sprained knee, but how many offensive linemen do the Broncos truly feel good about after its talented starting quintet? Denver has a lot of wide receivers on the roster, but until Marvin Mims Jr. is fully healthy and we see how his speed plays at the NFL level, how many past Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton are going to make opposing defensive coordinators uncomfortable during the game-planning process?

3. Payton is going to bat for Russell Wilson

He did it in headline-making fashion in an interview with USA Today at the beginning of camp. He’s been steadfast in saying that he likes where Wilson’s at throughout camp. And he was brief but positive again Friday night after the 12-year veteran quarterback finished 7-of-13 passing for 93 yards and a touchdown against the Cardinals.

“He was sharp,” Payton said of Wilson. “He’s had a good week at practice.”

Payton made it clear in the lead-up to the game that he worries less about the throw-to-throw performance from Wilson and instead focuses more globally.

Wilson had a few rough snaps against the Cardinals, but also showed sequences where he played in rhythm and on the same page with receivers Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy. That’s the raw material. Now comes the challenge of continued refinement.

4. The kicking competition is wide open and The Field is in play

Special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica on Tuesday was highly complimentary of kickers Brett Maher and Elliott Fry, saying each had hit better than 90% of their kicks in practice.

Then the preseason opener arrived and they combined to miss three of four field goal attempts, though Maher had one blocked. Fry did knock home a 55-yarder at the end of the first half, a nice bounce-back after missing a 50-yarder.

Maybe one or both will smooth out the in-game performance going forward. Or perhaps Payton’s story about a previous kicking battle that pitted two guys against each other and ended in a new player getting the job after he got cut from a different team at the roster cutdown will prove prophetic.

5. It’s Payton’s world, baby, and we’re just living in it

Payton’s wasted no time since arriving in February in putting his stamp on every facet of the football program. From meeting schedules to practice style to off-field operations and everything in between, the veteran head coach knows exactly what he wants and shows no hesitation in implementing his methods.

And he’s always thinking about situational football. Consider his response when asked about an undrafted running back scoring a touchdown on first-and-goal with 90 seconds left. If the game was tied in the regular season at the same juncture, would Jaleel McLaughlin have been better off sliding down and running time off the clock to set up a go-ahead field goal instead of scoring and leaving the Cardinals with 90 seconds to work?

“No. (There would have been) 51 seconds left. I don’t like that,” Payton shot back. “They had two timeouts. One timeout, we’re taking a knee. No timeouts, we’re taking a knee. Two timeouts and do we hand it off or take a knee? There’s going to be 51 seconds left and I don’t like that for (only getting) a field goal.

“So, no. I’m familiar with the situation, but they have two timeouts left. There is going to be too much time.”

Turns out there was too much time for the Cardinals anyway on this night. Every second ticks toward Las Vegas coming to town in September. The race is on.

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