'Great in Meeting Room,' Randy Gregory Aiding Baron Browning's Move to Broncos OLB
Randy Gregory is about three months removed from accepting a $70 million free-agent contract from the Denver Broncos, and likely just as long until the former Cowboy makes his orange-and-blue debut.
Gregory underwent surgery in March to correct longstanding shoulder discomfort. The arthroscopic procedure, centered around his rotator cuff, was greenlit to "fix the shoulder once-and-for-all," though it meant Gregory would miss the entire offseason program — and then some — before returning in time for Week 1. The Broncos knew this when they handed him a five-year deal with $28 million guaranteed.
As Denver wraps up its final Organized Team Activity practices ahead of a mid-month mandatory minicamp, the final action until late-July training camp, all Gregory can do is participate in the classroom, absorbing mental reps alongside countless fresh faces. That's what's asked. That's what's done.
“He’s been great in the meeting room," head coach Nathaniel Hackett said Tuesday. "I’ve gotten to sit in on a couple of meetings with that group. Just watching them and how they talk and how they interact with each other is awesome. That’s partly him. He has to find a way to continually learn and we’ll just keep working.”
Gregory is a student under new Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, whose playbook differs greatly from that of Dallas DC Dan Quinn. But the soon-to-be 30-year-old is also a teacher at the UC Health Training Center.
His star pupil? Sophomore linebacker Baron Browning, who's in the midst of transitioning from off-ball to edge rusher. It's a complicated conversion that Gregory has simplified.
“I ask ‘RG’ a lot of questions [and] he breaks things down—small things, whether it’s the set line of the offensive tackle or if I could have taken a better approach," Browning told reporters Wednesday. "It’s just small things that he sees. I have even kind of gotten with him after practice just to pick his brain one-on-one. I definitely enjoy having him around and learning from him. He has a lot of knowledge in him that you can learn from him.”
With Gregory sidelined, Browning has seen an increased workload opposite OLB Bradley Chubb — and, in part because of Gregory, is acing his coaches tests.
“He’s done a really fine job," Hackett said of Browning. "He’s somebody that we saw a couple of things on tape last year [and said] that could potentially be something that he can do. His ability to bend and lower his hips and round that tackle is something that stood out on tape. That’s another rusher on the outside, and he’s doing a good job.”
Gregory will undoubtedly be judged on his own production, the sole critera to determine whether the Broncos overpaid or spent wisely for the multi-banned defender. The soonest that judgment can take place is September.
As of June, however, the dividends — albeit off the field — are bountiful.
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