Parker joined The Denver Post in September 2022 after covering the Broncos for USA Today. Before that, he spent five years covering Nebraska football and athletics for the Lincoln Journal Star. He's a New Glarus, Wisconsin native and a University of Wisconsin graduate.
Head coach Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos speaks during OTAs at Broncos Park in Englewood, Colorado on Thursday, May 29, 2025. The Broncos’ final day of offseason program work checked in at just about an hour and came with last-day-of-school vibes.
The light workload, shaved ice and food trucks on the edge of the practice field, however, belied the feeling that permeated the team’s facility most of the spring. Denver head coach Sean Payton put his finger on it one day earlier when confirming that his team would, indeed, be on the practice field for the final day of minicamp rather than getting out for summer a day early.In the end, it was probably semi-sweet. Low sodium. However you want to phrase it.His voice was hoarse from the start. He stalked the practice fields and made corrections with young players. He did not look or talk like a coach three months from being on the sideline for a real game.The expectations are welcome. Any hype associated with them: Not so much. Ten wins and a Wild Card appearance last year might have been nearly unanimously considered a surprisingly good outcome, one that sparked widespread optimism and bullishness about his team this fall. But that all means exactly nothing. The coach spent the offseason program seemingly intent on not letting his team feel like it has arrived or that it has any reason to feel comfortable.“I think they have a high standard of how they see themselves, and where we can be,” Payton said earlier this week. Payton’s always intense on the field, regardless of the calendar. He took a particular edge to the past several weeks, though, that came through loud and clear to anybody listening — including his players. “Each year you start over,” quarterback Bo Nix said recently. “Nobody really knows what anybody has. That’s why you go out there and play the season. If we were all what people said we were going to be, we wouldn’t play the season. We would just finish with the final standings of what they said we were going to be.Payton was asked Thursday if he had a parting message for his team before it broke for summer. Maybe to get some rest and stay out of trouble. Maybe to ensure that nobody picks up in late July where they left off this week — a common refrain from Payton this time of year. Maybe all of that.“There’s different messages depending on what practice we’ve finished, but nothing I want to share,” Payton said.Broncos connected to real estate purchases around Burnham Yard, potential stadium siteHe and the Broncos have big plans and expectations for the fall, too. Payton spent the past several weeks making sure his team didn’t get too caught up in looking down the road at them. “I think we’re attacking it the same way,” safety Brandon Jones said of being a team carrying real expectations rather than an upstart attitude. “We control our own destiny, and we know that we will be as good as we want to be.”Colorado protesters push back after Douglas County town orders them to cancel 'No Kings' rallyKeeler: Broncos’ Riley Moss on Jahdae Barron, Sean Payton, Ted Lasso: “No one is going to outrun me”Critically endangered tortoise hatches for first time ever at Denver ZooSafeway and Albertsons workers prepare to strike after rejecting management offerSmall earthquake hits town north of Denver early Friday morning
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