Broncos special teams coach: Blocked field goal wasn’t low, “corrections” made to fix what led to protection meltdown vs. Chiefs

The Broncos’ special teams have seen a dramatic turnaround since Sean Payton hired Ben Kotwica before the 2023 season.

All the same, this has been a long few days for Denver’s special teams coordinator and his group.

First, Denver had a game-winning field goal at Kansas City blocked in the final second of Sunday’s 16-14 loss.

Then Tuesday senior assistant and longtime special teams coach Mike Westhoff stepped down from his job to monitor a potential health issue related to his vision.

“You’re making corrections continuously in this league,” Kotwica said, adding that Kansas City deserved credit for exploiting a weakness in Denver’s protection unit. “It’s very, very dynamic. We’ve done that over the past couple days. (Offensive line coach Zach) Strief has helped out. He’s played all those positions. So just getting another set of eyes on it. We’re all a part of it and we’ve made those corrections.”

Asked directly whether the Broncos felt they’d given up pressure on the left side in previous weeks, Kotwica said, “Over the last couple of years we’ve hit over 145 field goals and PATs, and we’ve been very good at that.

“So that’s on all of us as far as giving them some credit there where there was some pressure on that side,” he continued. “We’ve made those corrections over the past two days. I’m really excited about the energy and the resolve our guys have. Obviously, you bleed for a while and then you get up to fight again. That’s what this league is, man. It just keeps coming at you. The Falcons are an excellent football team. They have an excellent special teams unit. I’m really excited to watch our guys in that three-hour window put to life what we’ve talked about over the course of this week.”

Kotwica also downplayed the notion that Wil Lutz’s kick came off his foot low before it was blocked.

“No, I wouldn’t say that,” Kotwica said.

This week is a big one for Kotwica and Denver’s special teams, then. He and assistant Chris Banjo will move forward without Westhoff and will try to put the biggest mistake of the season in the rearview.

“It doesn’t change a whole bunch. We’re kind of in our battle rhythms,” Kotwica said of Westhoff’s departure after thanking him for being a mentor, a friend and one of the best special teams minds in league history. “There will be a few tweaks, but as I told the guys the other day, the structure and terminology of what we’re doing will remain consistent. That play on Sunday, catastrophic glitch, but we’ve got a good special teams unit. You look at any metrics and we’re in the top 10 in any of these that you look at. We’ve got a great group of guys and we’re looking forward to seeing what happens Sunday.”

Healthy group. Every player on the Broncos’ active roster and practice squad participated in practice Thursday, and the team is closing in on getting players off its injured lists, too.

The only player limited in Thursday’s practice was safety Brandon Jones (abdomen). Everybody else participated fully.

That list includes a trio of players close to returning from injured reserve (WR Josh Reynolds) and PUP (LB Drew Sanders and S Delarrin Turner-Yell).

Smith back. In the end, Keidron Smith missed only one day of practice after being waived Tuesday.

The safety cleared waivers Wednesday and by Thursday had signed back with Denver’s practice squad and was out at practice working.

The team waived Smith to clear room for the Broncos to promote fullback Michael Burton from the practice squad.

The roster and practice squads are now full, so Denver will need to clear roster spots if any of the reserve list players are to return to action this weekend.

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