The NFL Preseason is three weeks of exhibition games that all 32 teams have to prepare for the regular season. This is a three-week period where teams finish their training camps, and have these games to evaluate players, see if they will or will not make the final 53-man roster, and get used to the rhythm of the game.
The preseason officially kicked off on Thursday, August 3, with the Hall of Fame game between the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns. The other 30 teams will kick off their preseason matchups starting this Thursday, August 10.
The Denver Broncos start their preseason on the road, against the Arizona Cardinals, on Friday, August 11, at 8:00 MT, in State Farm Stadium. The game will be broadcast on NFL Network.
New Broncos head coach, Super Bowl champion head coach Sean Payton, talked to the media about what he wants from the team going into preseason.
The preseason is just another dress rehearsal for the regular season, and it’s important that every aspect is covered. #Broncos HC #SeanPayton stressed why this is a valuable part of the evaluation process. #BroncosCountry pic.twitter.com/Nr5OaUcsd9
— Nick Ferguson (@NickFerguson_25) August 7, 2023
#Broncos Payton on what doesn’t want and wants to see in preseason #Denver7 pic.twitter.com/rbkfMBOGfU
— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) August 7, 2023
It is the first game for Payton as the Denver Broncos head coach. It is not an official game, but it will be a very important game, as he will be coaching the team for the very first time in a real game, with his new staff, and they (the staff) will try to evaluate as many things as possible to enter the regular season in the best shape, and to build confidence among the players and the rest of the staff.
Sean Payton says starters will play about 15 snaps in Friday’s preseason game.
— Broncos Avenue (@BroncosAve) August 7, 2023
Payton officially announced that the players from the starting roster will play between 15 and 18 snaps, which is a reasonable number of snaps to get them in rhythm but obviously, not play for the entire game. Running back Javonte Williams, who is coming back from a season-ending knee injury will not play in Preseason week 1, but he will likely play in a few snaps in week two of the preseason.
Last season, former Broncos' head coach Nathaniel Hackett, who was a first-time head coach with Denver last year, decided to not play his starters in the preseason. The season obviously went very badly for him and the team. I'm not saying that you should or should not play your starters in the preseason, but if you are a new head coach with a new coaching staff in a new team, you should play them a little bit to build confidence between player-coach in real-game situations.
Which players are you excited to watch in Denver's first Preseason game? Is 15-18 a good amount of snaps for the starters?