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

Either way, it’s been a long day for Denver’s special teams coordinator and his group.

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

Then on Tuesday, senior assistant and longtime special teams coach Mike Westhoff resigned from his position. to monitor a potential health problem related to one’s vision.

“You continually make corrections in this league,” Kotwica said, adding that Kansas City deserves credit for exploiting a weakness in Denver’s protection unit. “It’s very, very dynamic. We have done this over the last two days. (Offensive line coach Zach) Strief helped. He played all those positions. So you just need to take another look at it. We’re all part of it and we’ve made these fixes.

He was asked directly if the Broncos they felt like they had given up pressure on the left side in previous weeksKotwica said, “Over the last two years, we’ve made over 145 field goals and PATs, and we’ve been very good at it.

“So it’s up to all of us to give them some credit where there was some pressure from that side,” he continued. “We have made these corrections over the last two days. I’m really excited about the energy and determination of our guys. Obviously you bleed for a while, then you get back up to fight again. That’s what this league is all about, man. It keeps coming to you. The Falcons are a great football team. They have a great special teams unit. I’m really excited to see our guys in this three-hour window bring to life what we’ve been talking about over the course of this week.

Kotwica also downplayed the idea that Wil Lutz’s kick went off his foot before being blocked.

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

So this week is an important week for Kotwica and Denver’s special teams. He and assistant Chris Banjo will move forward without Westhoff and try to put the biggest mistake of the season behind them.

“It doesn’t change much. We’re kind of in our fighting rhythm,” Kotwica said of Westhoff’s departure after thanking him for being a mentor, a friend and one of the best special teams minds in NFL history. league. “There will be some adjustments, but as I told the guys the other day, the structure and terminology of what we do will remain consistent. This Sunday game, catastrophic problem, but we have a good special teams unit. You look at all the metrics and we’re in the top 10 in every single one. We have a great group of guys and we can’t wait to see what happens on Sunday.

Healthy group. All players on the Broncos’ active roster and practice squad participated in practice Thursday, and the team is also in the process of removing players from its injured list.

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

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