Denver Broncos Open Training Camp With Bo Nix's Ankle Front and Center

The quietest week of the Denver Broncos' offseason is officially over. Rookies have been in the building since July 22, veterans report Tuesday, July 28, and the first practice of training camp goes off Friday, July 31, at Broncos Park in Englewood. For a franchise that came within one game of the Super Bowl last season, the Denver Broncos news cycle this week revolved around one question that will hang over everything until September: how does Bo Nix's surgically repaired ankle look when the pads come on?

Bo Nix's Ankle Is the Whole Ballgame

Let's recap why that ankle matters so much. Nix injured it in the final moments of Denver's Divisional Round win over Buffalo in January, a game in which he threw three touchdown passes. He then watched the AFC Championship loss to New England from the sideline, underwent two procedures on the joint, and spent the spring as a limited participant in the offseason program. The team's own reporting says doctors deemed the ankle "as good as new" back in June, and every indication this week is that he'll be a full participant when camp opens.

The resume he's carrying into year three is genuinely impressive: more than 3,500 passing yards and 25-plus touchdowns in 2025, a league-leading seven game-winning drives, and membership in a club with Peyton Manning and Justin Herbert as the only quarterbacks to hit those passing marks in each of their first two seasons. Behind him, Sean Payton says backup Sam Ehlinger has improved "considerably" in his command of the offense — nice to have, but nobody in Denver wants to find out how much it matters. As Pat Surtain II and others have noted publicly, Nix has looked sharp in offseason workout footage. Camp is where the film gets real.

New Coordinator, New No. 1 Receiver

The second-biggest storyline in Denver Broncos news this summer is the offense around Nix, which got two significant renovations. Davis Webb takes over as offensive coordinator, and this camp is his first running the show. And then there's Jaylen Waddle, acquired from Miami in a blockbuster finalized during the 2026 draft, with Denver sending a package of picks that included its 2026 first-rounder. Waddle gives Nix the kind of vertical, yards-after-catch weapon this offense simply didn't have.

Webb inherits a unit with obvious warts to sand down. Denver ranked 26th in EPA per rush in first quarters last season, and its receivers dropped 13 first-quarter passes — most in the league. Slow starts forced Nix into comeback mode constantly; he ranked near the top of the NFL in comeback wins, which is a compliment to him and an indictment of everything before halftime. If Webb can get this group playing from ahead, the ceiling changes.

Injury Report: Mostly Good News, With Asterisks

Payton said the team is "coming into the training camp pretty healthy," which is broadly true, though the rehab list is longer than you'd like:

• RB J.K. Dobbins — foot injury landed him on IR in 2025; his practice window opened before the AFC Championship, and the team is playing the long game with his recovery.
• RB RJ Harvey — tore his labrum in the AFC Championship Game, had surgery, and is expected to be ready as camp opens.
• OL Nick Gargiulo — knee injury kept him out of minicamp; he was reportedly placed on the PUP list this week, with LB Jordan Turner reportedly landing on the NFI list.
• OL depth — Ben Powers, Alex Forsyth and Calvin Throckmorton all sat out mandatory minicamp with undisclosed issues, and Matt Peart is still working back from a torn MCL.
• TE Caleb Lohner — missed minicamp with a lower-body injury.

None of these are five-alarm situations, but the interior offensive line names are worth watching. Denver's whole offensive formula depends on protecting a quarterback coming off ankle surgery, and three interior linemen sitting out minicamp at the same time is the kind of quiet detail that becomes a loud problem by Week 3 if it lingers into August.

A Draft Class Without a First-Rounder

The Waddle trade meant no first-round pick, so this rookie class is about finding contributors on Day 2 and 3. Running back Jonah Coleman, taken in the fourth round at No. 108, is the headliner — he projects as the No. 3 back behind Dobbins and Harvey in Payton's committee, and given the injury histories ahead of him, that role could grow fast. Third-rounder Tyler Onyedim of Iowa State is competing for the defensive end job opposite Zach Allen, though he's unlikely to win it outright in August. Fifth-round tight end Justin Joly is auditioning as a long-term Evan Engram successor, and seventh-rounder Red Murdock, a Buffalo linebacker who forced an FBS-record 17 fumbles in college, is the kind of late-round flier who makes rosters on special teams. Undrafted corner Brent Austin (Cal) and linebacker Taurean York (Texas A&M) round out the names to know.

Where This Roster Stands After 2025

It's worth saying plainly: this is a team that won a Divisional Round playoff game last season and lost the AFC Championship to New England without its starting quarterback. The defense, anchored by Surtain and Zach Allen, remains the backbone. The offense has a rising third-year quarterback, a legitimate No. 1 receiver for the first time in the Nix era, and a deep backfield — if it stays healthy. The questions are the ones camp exists to answer: interior line health, the pass rush opposite Allen, and whether a first-time coordinator can fix the slow starts. On paper, this is the most complete Broncos roster in a decade. Camp battles at defensive end, the back of the receiver room, and the No. 3 running back job will fill in the margins.

The Calendar: Camp Dates, Preseason, and a Monday Night Opener

Fourteen open practices run July 31 through August 19, all starting at 10 a.m., with capacity limited to roughly 1,000 fans per session because of construction at the facility. Tickets are free but mobile-only, fans can claim up to four per practice for up to two practices, and gates open at 9 a.m. ahead of the two-hour sessions. Back Together Weekend is Saturday, August 1, with alumni appearances and autographs sprinkled across the schedule. Then the games start counting, sort of:

• Friday, Aug. 14 — preseason opener at Atlanta (5 p.m. MT)
• Friday, Aug. 21 — vs. Green Bay at Empower Field (7 p.m. MT)
• Friday, Aug. 28 — vs. Minnesota at Empower Field (7 p.m. MT)

The real thing opens with a Monday Night Football trip to Kansas City in Week 1, the start of a stretch in which Denver faces five 2025 playoff teams in its first six weeks, including the Rams on Sunday night September 27 and Seattle on Thursday night October 15. The holiday slate is heavy: a Black Friday game at Pittsburgh on November 27 and a Christmas Day rematch with Buffalo on Netflix. The bye lands in Week 10, and the season closes with a Patriots rematch and a finale against the Chargers in January.

So that's the setup as veterans walk in the door this week: a healthy-ish quarterback, a new play-caller, a new star receiver, and a schedule that will tell Denver exactly what it is by mid-October. If you're tracking Denver Broncos news this summer, circle July 31 — the first time Nix, Waddle and Webb share a practice field with the season actually in sight. The AFC Championship hangover only cures one way, and it starts Friday.