Quarterbacks know they aren’t going to be hit. The unflinchingly rigid commandment of NFL training camp states that any player who even thinks about contacting the guy throwing the ball gets sent directly to the principal’s office. Not even the comfort of that iron-clad rule, though, kept Broncos backup quarterback Brett Rypien from engaging in an act of self-preservation earlier this week.
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The scene unfolded Thursday, during an 11-on-11 period that had already been dominated by the defensive line. As Rypien took a snap and dropped back to pass, he immediately saw McTelvin Agim, the 6-foot-3, 300-pound second-year defensive end, barreling toward him. Rypien sped up his process and tried to throw the ball away, if only to freeze Agim in place. But by the time he released the pass, Agim had nearly grabbed the ball out of the quarterback’s hands. He settled instead for an emphatic swat of the ball that hit with a thud and drew rowdy cheers from his defensive teammates.
Afterward, Agim could only shake his head. He had used a powerful move to get into the backfield and then turned himself into a wall no pass could breach. But he wanted more, believing he could have intercepted the pass after swatting it into the air.
On Saturday, Agim didn’t miss his chance. He wasn’t quite as deep in the backfield this time as he pursued quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, but he again thrust his massive right hand into the air at the perfect time. The ball popped into the air and Agim came down with it, sprinting the other way as teammates escorted him to the end zone.
“I tried to beat my man with the swipe (move), but I didn’t get a good swipe in,” said Agim, the 95th pick in the 2020 draft out of Arkansas. “So I just got my hand up. When it hit it, the ball popped right in front of my face, so I just caught it and took it in for a touchdown.”
The play by Agim was the first interception for any Broncos player during 11-on-11 work in this training camp, but more than that, it was a representation of the growth coaches and teammates have seen from a high-upside defensive lineman who had a difficult time putting it all together as a rookie in 2020.
“The biggest thing was just him and his confidence,” fellow defensive end Dre’Mont Jones said. “Last year, his head was in the clouds because he was new and didn’t know what was going on. Now, he’s like, ‘I know what’s going on.'”
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Even with the Broncos’ defensive line decimated by injuries last season, Agim was on the field for only 141 defensive snaps across 10 games. His rookie season ended with just eight tackles and one pass breakup. Though Denver’s other third-round picks — center Lloyd Cushenberry and cornerback Michael Ojemudia — gained significant playing time, Agim toiled on the bench. He was a game day inactive for five of the team’s first seven games and played only 26 combined snaps in the other two.
It wasn’t that Agim couldn’t grasp the playbook as a rookie. It was, he said, “the little things” that evaded him. Reading the cues from the offensive lineman in front of him. Applying proper hand placement. Quickly registering audibles. It all felt like it was coming at him fast, especially with a “challenging,” pandemic-shortened offseason taking away valuable preparation time.
“I knew the plays, but I didn’t always know the adjustments, so there’d be stuff I was second-guessing myself on,” Agim said. “Now there is no second-guessing. I’m more comfortable with myself doing all the little things now. That’s where I’ve made the biggest jump.”
Broncos coach Vic Fangio this week credited Agim with “speeding up his progression,” by virtue of his offseason work. He showed up to OTAs in strong shape and has been hard to miss during the first four days of training camp, already tallying three pass deflections. The Broncos’ starting defensive line appears set with Jones and Shelby Harris at the end spots and Mike Purcell at nose tackle. (Purcell suffered a sprained ankle Friday and will miss at least a week of practice, Fangio said.) Behind those three, rotation spots on the defensive line appear firmly up for grabs, but Agim has wasted little time making a mark in this camp.
“He’s a lot better than he was last year,” Fangio said. “I feel a lot better about him.”
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Even amid his struggles in 2020, Agim was one of the Broncos’ more active players in the community. He spent a number of his off days hopping onto video to talk to kids experiencing homelessness and other similar issues, hopeful that his personal story could resonate with anyone who needed to hear it. He also supported the Texarkana (Texas) Salvation Army during last season’s “My Cause, My Cleats” initiative because it had been a haven to him and his family after the passing of his grandmother, family matriarch Charlie B. McGraw, when he was 11 years old.
“Growing up, I’ve had to stay in a homeless shelter before,” Agim said. “If that wasn’t there, we would have been in a car. So to be able to give back to the people who gave to me, it’s just what I strive to do.”
Bridgewater struggles
The interception by Agim lit a fuse on the roughest stretch of training camp so far for Bridgewater, who is in a battle with incumbent Drew Lock for the starting quarterback job. On the next snap, Bridgewater threw left near the sideline for Jerry Jeudy, but safety Kareem Jackson was waiting to jump the route. The veteran easily pulled down the pass for the second interception in as many plays after the defense went without one in team drills during the first three camp practices.
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“That coverage, it was the first time we had played it in this camp, so maybe (Bridgewater) got fooled, but I’m not sure,” Fangio said after practice. “There’s always a story behind every interception. We’ll see what that story was.”
Bridgewater’s subsequent spin behind center came during a red zone scenario. On his first play in that series, he attempted to hit Noah Fant in the back of the end zone, but it was tipped by linebacker Alexander Johnson and fell incomplete. Two plays later, Bridgewater had another pass batted near the line of scrimmage (it wasn’t clear while watching live who made the deflection). Jackson appeared to dive under the deflected pass for an interception. The defense certainly celebrated as if Jackson had made the grab, anyway.
It was part of a frustrating day for Bridgewater, particularly in the red zone, where he had two periods against the first-team defense and didn’t complete a pass in six attempts.
Bridgewater was given the heavier workload Saturday, attempting 22 passes (10 completions) to Lock’s nine (six). Fangio said at the start of training camp that though Lock and Bridgewater would see an even split overall as long as the competition lasts, certain days could feature one quarterback getting a larger share of the snaps than the other.
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“Then the next day would be flipped the other way,” Fangio said, suggesting that Lock, who had a brilliant 45-yard pass to Courtland Sutton in a tight coverage window during a seven-on-seven drill Saturday, will have a larger workload Monday after the players return from Sunday’s off day.
Extra points
• Linebacker Josey Jewell experienced groin tightness during the individual drills at the start of practice and did not participate in any seven-on-seven or 11-on-11 drills. Fangio said Jewell was held out of that portion of practice as a precaution. In Jewell’s absence, Justin Strnad joined the top defensive unit next to Alexander Johnson.
“He had some mistakes out there, but I think it’s always good when a guy gets thrown in there with the ones so that you can see where he’s at,” Fangio said of Strnad, who missed all of his rookie season after a freak wrist injury in last year’s training camp required surgery.
• Rookie linebacker Baron Browning has not practiced since being drafted by the Broncos in the third round April 30. Browning, who is recovering from a lower-leg injury and has been wearing a brace over his right leg, did not participate in OTAs or minicamp and remains on the physically unable to perform list as training camp enters its second week. Browning is currently “stuck” in the latest stage of his rehab, said Fangio, who offered no timeline for Browning’s return.
(Photo of McTelvin Agim: Ron Chenoy / USA Today)
