ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — With one second remaining on the clock, quarterback Brett Rypien took the snap and looked to his left.
As he released the ball, the fate of the Broncos’ end-of-half drill hung in the balance. With a touchdown, the offense would earn the win. With an incompletion, the defense would hold the other side of the ball in check.
In the corner of the end zone, rookie Montrell Washington ran a comeback to the front pylon and hauled in Rypien’s pass.
Washington would celebrate the “winning” score with his teammates, but first he executed a backflip from a standing position.
The move was just the latest example that Washington can’t be held down.
When the 2022 fifth-round pick joined the Broncos out of Samford, he seemed poised to contribute on the Broncos’ special teams unit as a returner. But as practices like Tuesday’s illustrate, Washington may be hard to keep off the field on offense.
In addition to Washington’s practice-ending touchdown, he also caught a deep touchdown from Rypien. On the play, Washington showed off his speed to get behind his defender and then hauled in the arcing pass with ease.
His performance on Tuesday was just the latest in a string of good practices — and his coaches have taken notice. After practice, Hackett named Washington as a potential option to help fill the void left by Tim Patrick’s knee injury.
“He has worked so hard,” Hackett said. “I don’t think anybody really knew where he was going to put himself within the wide receiver rotation. He is a guy that Russell [Wilson] has latched on to and really tried to push with the rookies being around here. [The goal is for him to] just try to grow because it is so different, coming from where he’s been. He’s grasping a lot and he’s made a bunch of good plays around here. He had a great play at the end there. We’re excited. He’s going to have to step up.”
Day after day, Washington is stacking those days together.
Washington’s touchdown capped the reserve offense’s end-of-half…
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