For one game and 12 snaps, Baron Browning put together a powerful start to his 2024 season.
Then the fourth-year outside linebacker dropped out of Denver’s 13-6 loss to Pittsburgh with a foot injury.
Head coach Sean Payton on Friday ruled Browning out for the Broncos’ Week 3 trip to Tampa Bay. The club has not put him on injured reserve to date and asked about that possibility Friday, Paton only said, “We’ll see.”
Third-year pass-rusher Nik Bonitto saw most of the uptick in snaps once Browning left last week’s game, bumping up to a 61% play rate after seeing 34% of Denver’s defensive snaps in Week 1. Jonathon Cooper carried his typical heavy load and rookie Jonah Elliss ticked up slightly from 31% in Week 1 to 34%.
“I already had confidence in everybody in our group,” Bonitto told The Denver Post this week. “Everybody knows they can play, everybody knows what they can do. No matter who’s out, whether it’s Baron, Coop, me, Jonah, we all have faith in the next guy up and that he’s going to do well.”
Still, losing Browning for any extensive period of time will be tough to overcome for two reasons. The first is that the 2021 third-round pick out of Ohio State was off to a terrific start to the season in a contract year. Though Browning does not yet have a sack to his name, his 19.2% pressure rate would slot in No. 7 in the NFL, according to Next Gen Stats, if he had enough playing time to qualify. That puts him at the top of a solid Broncos group that through two weeks is No. 2 in the league in pressure rate.
“Hopefully he gets back quickly because we need him,” Elliss told The Post. “He’s a huge leader in our room, so missing him is rough, but hopefully we can go out there and perform.”
The compounding issue is that Denver’s four-man rotation featured two clear starters — Browning and Cooper — and two reserves in Bonitto and Elliss, but also allowed for everybody to get some rest during games.
“It’s better for everybody. Just with limited rotations, you get to play hard in those couple of snaps that you’re playing,” Bonitto said. “And you know that whoever is coming in is going to bring that same amount of energy and production. So, I mean, it’s nothing to press about in terms of your (playing time).
“We believe in quality over here and we’re all just going to play as hard as we can.”
Without Browning, the three-man rotation might add Dondrea Tillman, who was promoted from the practice squad earlier this week. Whether he plays the number of snaps that the others in the rotation did remains to be seen.
Browning also provided a pairing with Cooper that could both rush the passer and play well against the run. Denver’s still got to make improvements as a whole in terms of slowing down opposing rushing attacks, and that doesn’t get easier if Browning is replaced by Bonitto or Elliss.
“Each of them, if I was describing the group, there are certain skill sets that each has,” Payton said Friday. “Man, Jonah’s been a good addition. He’s playing well for us and playing well in the kicking game. Nik the same way. And then look, Tillman is certainly someone who we felt strongly about and we know exactly what he provides.”
Bonitto said he’s made strides at the point of attack through his first two-plus NFL seasons, but knows he’s got room to improve.
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“I’m still not a perfect player when it comes to that,” he said. “But I’m just honing in on my technique and working with guys like ‘Coop’ who I feel like is, if not the best edge setter in the league than one of them.
“I always try to keep getting more tidbits from him and try to keep getting better at that. … I go back sometimes and look at my first camp here and I’m just like, ‘What was I doing, bro?’ So there’s definitely a lot of improvement there.”
Elliss, a third-round pick in April, said he’s starting to feel comfortable after playing in his first two NFL games.
“The nerves are starting to settle and I’m not out there freaking out,” Elliss said. “It’s just getting more comfortable in the scheme and the situations I’m put in. I’m glad to be starting to settle in.”
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