ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Usually if there's any chirping going on at sweltering NFL training camps, it's between the massive offensive and defensive linemen who are pounding into each other or the wide receivers and cornerbacks fighting for 50-50 passes.
The biggest beef at the Denver Broncos' training camp this summer is between 6-foot-3, 290-pound defensive tackle Malcolm Roach, a notorious smack talker, and 5-11, 184-pound receiver Marvin Mims Jr., the NFL's reigning All-Pro punt returner.
Asked about the chirping back and forth at a spirited practice this week, Mims replied, “Yeah, I mean, it’s just Malcolm Roach. I mean, I sit next to him in the locker room, guy doesn’t shut up. He’s talking crap to receivers. It’s like, ‘Dude, like, you’re a fat guy. Like, go worry about that. Leave me alone.’”
They then took their “beef” to social media, jawing online.
Roach stepped up to the podium Friday knowing the first question would be about his good-natured bickering with Mims.
“Y'all think I really worry about 19?” Roach said. “I see him every day in the locker right by mine. Y'all think I talk? He really talks more than me. But I ain't worried about Marvin. Marvin knows he's not about to cut that ball back across the middle. That's all I have to say about that.”
Of course, Roach did have more to say.
“I can lose this weight,” Roach said. “He can't lose them looks.”
When coach Sean Payton was asked about the back-and-forth, he expressed surprise at the combatants.
“Malcolm, you hear him before you see him, and I like that energy about him," Payton said. "But, yeah, I wouldn't have picked Mims and Roach. I would have picked so many other combos."
Maybe it has roots in the Red River Rivalry. Roach went to the University of Texas; Mims hails from the University of Oklahoma.
Bo Nix finally threw his first interception of training camp, and it was a doozy. Safety Talanoa Hufanga made a leaping grab near the line of scrimmage for a pick-6 during team drills Friday.
“The interception, it was an RPO (run/pass option) and if you look at his distance from the throw I bet it was like eight yards,” Payton said. "And so to be able to go up and catch that with a crowded look in front of him? I'm anxious to seek it on film. I saw it from behind the line of scrimmage.”
That's the kind of play the Broncos are counting on this season from the free agent who left the San Francisco 49ers along with inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw to come to Denver last spring.
“You know, if I asked you to give us the best safeties that are in the Hall of Fame, the traits are always instincts and football smarts,” Payton said. "Some are faster than others, but it's hard to be real effective at that position if you don't have those football instincts. And certainly he brings that. I made a comment in the offseason: there's certain players the ball finds them, and he's one of those guys.
“So, that play was sick.”
Construction of the Broncos' $175 million training facility hit a milestone Friday with a “ topping out ” ceremony to commemorate the final beam being lifted into place.
Team owner Carrie Walton Penner signed the timber before a giant crane lifted the structural beam from the north side of the construction site to the south facade.
The Broncos broke ground last year on the 205,000-square-foot facility that will combine their football and business operations under one roof for the first time in franchise history. It's scheduled for completion in May.
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Denver Broncos safety Talanoa Hufanga talks to teammates as they warm up at an NFL football training practice Monday, July 28, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Broncos defensive tackle Malcolm Roach, center, raises his arms to acknowledge the applause of fans while warming up between defensive end Zach Allen, front, and defensive tackle Jordan Miller during an NFL football practice Friday, July 25, 2025, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
BALTIMORE (AP) — Twice in a row, Tyler Shough disappeared into a pile of bodies at the goal line with the game tied late in the fourth quarter.
Officials ruled he was stopped on third down and scored on fourth — it could well have been the reverse — and that was good enough for the New Orleans Saints.
Shough scored on a fourth-down sneak with 1:28 remaining, and the Saints rallied to a 24-17 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. After Shough didn't score on third down, New Orleans elected to go for it on fourth instead of kicking for a three-point lead. The second sneak was called a touchdown, and that decision was upheld after a review.
“It's a hard play on the goal line because ... sometimes they lose sight of the football. I think it's a challenging play for everyone,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said. “Fortunate for us to get that. Obviously we're going to go for it in that situation. Chance to score a touchdown. If not, we're forcing them to be on the minus-1 and go the long way.”
New Orleans (1-1) had first down from the 2 before a penalty and a costly incomplete pass allowed Baltimore — with only two timeouts left — to stop the clock after the next two plays. Shough finally scored on a 1-yard sneak.
The Ravens, who didn't have a first down on either of their previous two drives, made it to the New Orleans 37, but Lamar Jackson's deep pass was intercepted by Julian Blackmon with 13 seconds left.
Baltimore had a 17-9 lead and forced a three-and-out with sacks by Trey Hendrickson and Mike Green. That gave the Ravens the ball at the New Orleans 49 late in the third quarter with a chance to make it a two-score game.
But Baltimore went backwards 16 yards and punted, then the Saints drove to tie it with 9:42 remaining on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Shough to Chris Olave. After a penalty on the Ravens (1-1) moved the 2-point conversion to the 1-yard line, Travis Etienne Jr. ran the ball in to make it 17-all.
After another Baltimore three-and-out — Jackson curiously threw long on third-and-1 and his pass to Chris Moore was broken up by Kool-Aid McKinstry — the Saints took over at their own 32 with 8:06 remaining.
“A play that we liked, thought we had a shot there for an explosive,” Ravens coach Jesse Minter said. “Obviously, didn’t work out, so it’s always going to be, you know, looking at it after the fact.”
New Orleans then drove about as methodically as possible, converting two third downs and two fourth downs to seize the lead.
“We'd like to not make it as close,” Shough said.
The Saints had to sweat out a review on the touchdown.
“We exhausted all available angles and could not prove clear and obvious that he did not break the plane of the goal line,” Mark Butterworth, NFL vice president of instant replay, told a pool reporter.
Baltimore beat Indianapolis 41-23 in Minter's debut as coach, but in Week 2 the Ravens did many of the things that got John Harbaugh's staff fired, collapsing in the fourth quarter and dropping yet another home game. Baltimore was 3-6 at M&T Bank Stadium last season.
The Ravens were without top receiver Zay Flowers against the Saints. Baltimore did have offensive linemen Ronnie Stanley and John Simpson after their status was in question, but Stanley (toe) left the game in the second half.
New Orleans lost left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. to an ankle injury, but at the end the Saints moved the ball just fine.
Derrick Henry opened the scoring with a 1-yard run in the first quarter for Baltimore. After the Saints decided to kick a field goal on fourth-and-3 from the 5, Baltimore drove 80 yards and took a 14-3 lead on Jackson's 22-yard scoring strike to Rashod Bateman with 24 seconds left in the half.
Barion Brown's 53-yard kickoff return set up a New Orleans field goal before the end of the second quarter, and the Saints started the third with another three points on a 51-yard kick by Daniel Carlson. Tyler Loop connected from 49 for the Ravens to make it 17-9.
New Orleans lost in overtime at Detroit in Week 1 when its attempt at a game-winning 2-point conversion failed. This one came down to a huge play near the goal line as well.
The Saints trailed 21-0 in the second half before rallying to force OT against the Lions. Against the Ravens, they had 10 first downs to Baltimore's two in the fourth quarter.
“Our guys stuck with it all the way to the end, both games,” Moore said. “For both games to come down to one opportunity at the end, one possession, it's a good experience for our guys.”
In addition to Banks, the Saints lost cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. to a shoulder injury.
Saints: Host Las Vegas next Sunday.
Ravens: Face Dallas in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.
See AP’s full NFL coverage here
New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough (6) reacts after scoring the winning touchdown on fourth down in the second half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough (6) is sacked by Baltimore Ravens linebacker Trey Hendrickson (91) in the second half of an NFL football game in Baltimore, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) passes against the New Orleans Saints in the second half of an NFL football game in Baltimore, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22) carries against New Orleans Saints safety Justin Reid (21) in the first half of an NFL football game in Baltimore, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough (6) passes in the second half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
iNew Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough converts on a fourth and one for a first down n the second half of an NFL football game in Baltimore, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
