ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — In the early days of training camp, the Broncos' focus will aptly be on the early moments.
As the Broncos reported to training camp on Tuesday, All-Pro cornerback Pat Surtain II spoke highly of the team that will soon take the field to prepare for the 2026 season.
"I think we've got all the right pieces, the right team — and coaches invest a lot into us and pour a lot into us, as well," Surtain said Tuesday. "I think when you put all that together, it makes for a great team."
On the heels of an AFC Championship Game appearance, both Surtain and All-Pro guard Quinn Meinerz said the key to capitalizing on the Broncos' potential may rest on the team's performance both early in the season and early in games.
The Broncos won 11 one-score games during the 2025 regular season, but Meinerz said Head Coach Sean Payton has spoken to the team about the likely unsustainable nature of that approach. In response, Denver's offense has prioritized starting games faster to avoid playing in as many close contests.
"He's like, 'How can this team get better?'" Meinerz said of Payton's evaluation of how to improve. "That was a very clear one that he's made clear to us as players, like, 'Hey, it's really cool that we have this backbone to not flinch in one-score games and almost have a clutch element to our defense or to our offense.' But I think it was like a historic 11-2, so that doesn't happen very often. And so, staying out of those situations and capitalizing earlier in those games [is important].
"I think we all kind of felt that the offense kind of took a little bit to kind of get going. It was like a very slow — you know how a train fully gets loaded up? It takes a long time for that train to get going, but once it does, we had a lot of success there. That's going to be our emphasis here in camp."
A year ago, the Broncos' 73 first-quarter points represented an average that tied for 20th in the NFL. Denver surged to 131 points in the fourth quarter — spurred by a 30-point frame against the Giants — and ranked 10th in the league in that quarter.
Surtain said the defense's approach will be comparable, though he noted a slightly more macro focus. Denver will begin the season against the Chiefs before playing five consecutive 2025 playoff teams, and Surtain emphasized the need to start fast defensively against potent offenses. Against quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, reigning MVP Matthew Stafford and a slew of other talented playmakers, Surtain and the Broncos must be ready for a challenge early in the season.
While the Broncos have aspirations of a championship, Surtain said the path to that goal begins with training camp snaps and each week of the season.
"Obviously, that's the main goal, but it starts right here in training camp," Surtain said. "It starts early on in the season. Our main focus is to start off fast, start off hot and early — so that way we can propel ourselves to that stage."
For Denver's defense, the focus also includes forcing more takeaways than a season ago. And the Broncos' offense will look to master a system that Meinerz said has "a lot of new, fun elements — new wrinkles" with a new play-caller.
Both players, though, seemed to adopt an approach that is largely mindset-based.
"The way I see it is I'm always prepping," Meinerz said. "… [It's] the cliche of 'Stay ready so you don't have to get ready.' If I wasn't mentally ready for whatever kind of run at a season, that's shame on you. That's how you should start every single training camp. That's the expectation, and move forward from there."
Added Surtain: "We've got the right guys with the right mentality to start things off the right way."
