Sean Payton has made a decision that cuts against the grain of modern NFL preseason scheduling, and he made it sound almost casual.
"This year, you know, we know we have the preseason games, but we're not going to have a joint practice," Payton said Friday.
A reporter followed up. "We play them in the games. Does that, does it make a difference?"
Payton's response came without hesitation.
It was a short exchange. But the choice itself tells a longer story about where this Broncos roster sits, what Payton values in the final weeks before the regular season, and how he intends to handle a team that looks meaningfully different than the one that took the field a year ago.
Why the joint practice trend exists
Joint practices between two teams--usually two or three days of controlled, 11-on-11 work before a preseason game--have become a staple around the league over the past decade. Coaches like them because they get live reps against unfamiliar opponents, test their schemes against different looks, and break the monotony of camp. Players like them because the intensity is higher than practice but safer than a full game.
The Broncos participated in joint practices under previous coaching staffs. Vance Joseph, now the defensive coordinator, has been part of them as both a head coach and a coordinator. Payton himself has held them in New Orleans.
But he is choosing not to this summer.
What Payton is prioritizing instead
Payton has been open about his philosophy this offseason. He wants to evaluate his own roster deeply before he starts testing it against someone else's.
"This is the time of the year to do that," Payton said earlier this week, referring to OTAs and the evaluation process. "You'll get a chance to see and probably have a better evaluation of each player."
That sentiment carries forward into training camp and preseason. The Broncos have a roster that is still being assembled. There are competitions at receiver, running back, tight end, and along both lines. The 2026 draft class--including Tyler Onyedim, Jonah Coleman, Kage Casey, and others--needs live reps against NFL competition. But Payton seems to believe those reps are better served in practice against his own defense, with controlled tempo, specific teaching points, and the ability to stop and correct on the spot.
There is another layer. Joint practices can get heated. Fights happen. Injuries happen. Payton may be betting that the cost--lost practice time, frayed relationships, bruised egos--does not outweigh the benefit for a team that still has questions to answer internally before it can answer them externally.
What the Broncos lose by skipping joint practices
There is a tradeoff. Joint practices give a coaching staff a compressed, high-intensity look at how their players handle situations they do not see every day. The offensive line faces a different front. The quarterbacks read a different secondary. The defensive backs cover unfamiliar route combinations.
Without that, the Broncos will rely more heavily on preseason games to simulate live, game-speed competition. That is not a perfect substitute. A preseason game rotates players in and out more quickly, limits the number of snaps any single unit gets against a specific look, and offers less opportunity for the on-field teaching that practice permits.
Still, Payton does not appear concerned. "We play them in the games," he said, gesturing toward the preseason schedule. To him, that is enough.
How this fits Payton's broader approach
Payton has been deliberate about managing the Broncos' ramp-up period all spring. He praised the team's OTAs attendance--"I think we had a hundred percent attendance. And it's good to see everyone back out here," he said earlier in the week. He has remarked on the physical shape of returning players, noting that Kage Casey, the rookie offensive tackle, "looks entirely different in this camp."
He is not rushing anything. The joint practice decision is consistent with that.
Payton also values depth. He said as much when talking about the defensive line. "The reason we've been so good the last couple of years is because of our depth." That depth takes time to develop. Young players need to be taught scheme fundamentals before they can be tested against an opponent's starters.
By keeping the Broncos' camp in-house, Payton keeps the teaching environment controlled. That may slow the ramp-up for some players who benefit from seeing different looks early. But it also ensures every rep is a coaching rep--not a competitive rep where the priority is winning the drill.
What role rookie Tyler Onyedim will play
One rookie who stands to benefit from the in-house approach is third-round pick Tyler Onyedim, the defensive tackle out of Texas A&M. Payton was specific about what he saw in him.
"It was really the athleticism, you know, when playing a position that it's always hard to find defensive tackle," Payton said. "He got to see him do that more at A&M, which he'll be doing here."
Onyedim is expected to have packages designed for him--"position flex inside out and then there'll be packages," Payton said. Getting those packages installed and polished in a controlled practice environment, without the distraction of a joint session, may accelerate his integration into the defensive rotation.
What this means for the quarterback battle
The Broncos' quarterback room is not a battle in the traditional sense. Bo Nix is the starter. He played all 17 games last season, completing 388 of 612 passes for 3,931 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, and added 356 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the ground.
But the decision to skip joint practices does affect the quarterbacks indirectly. Without joint sessions, Nix and the backups--Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger--will only face the Broncos' defense in practice until the preseason games begin. That local defense, coordinated by Vance Joseph, is a strong unit. But it is a known unit. The reps will be valuable. They will not provide the same kind of stress test a new defensive coordinator's scheme would.
Payton is not worried. He said of Nix earlier this week, "Bo Nix is doing great. He'll be well ahead of time for training camp."
The team's larger narrative
The Broncos are not just any team this season. They are a team that believes it can compete for the Super Bowl. That belief is not just rhetoric. It is backed up by a 2025 season where Nix played at a Pro Bowl level, the defense was stout, and the roster was deep enough to absorb injuries.
DraftKings lists the Broncos at +2000 to win the Super Bowl. That is not among the favorites, but it is not far off either. It is the kind of number that says: this team is in the mix, but there are still questions.
Payton's joint practice decision suggests he believes the answers to those questions are in the room. He does not need to fly in another team to find them.
There is also the matter of health. Every joint practice carries injury risk. A slip on a wet field during a two-minute drill against the Rams costs a starter three weeks, and the entire plan shifts. Payton has been around long enough to know that preseason scheduling decisions are ultimately about managing probability. He is choosing to reduce the probability of a camp injury, even if it means reducing the probability of accelerated development.
That is a bet most coaches would not make. Most coaches err on the side of more reps, more competition, more intensity. Payton is erring on the side of control.
What happens next
Mandatory minicamp runs this month. Training camp opens in July. The preseason games begin in August. Payton has already started evaluating his roster in OTAs, and he will continue that process all summer.
The Broncos will play the teams on their preseason schedule. They will line up, run plays, and tackle. They just will not practice against them first.
That is a small detail in the grand calendar of a season. But it reveals something about how Payton sees his team right now: as a team that needs to answer its own questions before it asks anyone else's.
He has built that conviction over a spring of high attendance, improved conditioning, and a clear evaluation plan. He is not looking for external validation in July. He is looking for internal clarity by September.
And if that means a few less days of joint contact, he is fine with that. The games will come soon enough.