ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — It all starts up front, in the trenches, or, as Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton likes to say about the offensive line: “It’s the one group that permeates your building.”
Meaning, if the O-line isn't right, a whole lot can go wrong.
“If you’re not really good on the offensive line, you don’t know how good you are then on the defensive line," Payton said. "It’s the first line of attack, so when that group is playing at a certain level, then very quickly the defensive front has to meet that standard or it’s not good.
“So from a football intelligence, it’s probably one of the most important position groups. The building, the roster, everything we’re doing, it’s hard to accomplish when that group is not what it needs to be,” Payton said. "It’s hard to evaluate the quarterback. It’s hard to evaluate the receiver because the quarterback’s having trouble. It’s hard to evaluate the runner. It’s hard to evaluate the coach.
"It’s extremely important to get that group right.”
The Broncos believe they've gotten it right.
Denver, which opens the season Sunday at home against the Tennessee Titans, is a rarity in today's NFL.
Like the Buffalo Bills, who beat them in the playoffs last season, the Broncos return all five starters on the offensive line, and they also return all their backup O-linemen from 2024.
From left to right, the starters are: tackle Garett Bolles, guard Ben Powers, center Luke Wattenberg, All-Pro guard Quinn Meinerz and tackle Mike McGlinchey.
“It's great,” second-year QB Bo Nix said. "It's great for communication, it's great for production. We have a really stout O-line. They're going to do a great job. They've played together for multiple years, so communication's going to be really high, it's going to be comfortable.
“Guys are going to know and understand movements, we'll be able to adjust on the fly with some things and I think it's just good to have a vet O-line that's been together over and over because they've just seen so many looks and they can refer back to maybe even a game from last year ... that they can just adjust to on the fly and we don't necessarily have to have a long dissertation or a long meeting about it. We can just adjust on the fly and we all know what it means.”
The importance of that can't be overstated, McGlinchey said.
“Certainly my position group, we’ve had a lot of continuity,” McGlinchey said. "I’ve very rarely have seen that, and I think that’s what we’re doing at a lot of different positions groups, not just the offensive line.”
The Broncos have a new running back tandem in free agent J.K. Dobbins and rookie RJ Harvey and Nix has a new tight end target in free agent Evan Engram.
“It's great to add some experience but also add some fresh legs from the draft,” Nix said.
The Broncos' cohesion in the trenches extends to the defensive side, where the only newcomer on the two-deep depth chart along the front seven is free agent inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw.
Denver is deep at pass rusher after leading the league with a franchise-best 63 sacks last season.
“They’re a talented bunch,” McGlinchey said. “They’re one of the engines of our football team and the way that they played a year ago obviously sets a huge bar of expectation for what’s to come this year. All of those guys can handle it. Across the board, I don’t know if there’s a deeper defensive line unit.”
The Broncos are tapping into the popularity of Hall of Fame safety Steve Atwater as a team ambassador by introducing the Atwater Grill at Empower Field. Atwater, who was known as “The Smiling Assassin,” said his favorite smashed specialty burger was, of course, the Assassin Burger.
“It has some jalapeños on it and a little bit of kick. But not too much kick, because I can’t eat it too spicy," Atwater said.
Notes: Payton declined to comment on Greenlaw, who worked on a side field Wednesday. He wouldn't say whether Greenlaw had suffered a setback in his recovery from leg injuries that have limited him all offseason. ... The Broncos elected eight captains: Nix, Meinerz, WR Courtland Sutton, K Wil Lutz, CB Patrick Surtain II, DL D.J. Jones, ILB Alex Singleton and S Talanoa Hufanga.
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Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix warms up before facing the New Orleans Saints in an NFL preseason football game Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Ella Hall)
NUUK, Greenland (AP) — Troops from several European countries, including France, Germany, Norway and Sweden, are arriving in Greenland to help boost the Arctic island's security after talks between representatives of Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. on Wednesday highlighted “fundamental disagreement” between the Trump administration and European allies.
“The first French military elements are already en route” and “others will follow,” French President Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday, as French authorities said about 15 French soldiers from the mountain infantry unit were already in Nuuk for a military exercise.
Germany will deploy a reconnaissance team of 13 personnel to Greenland on Thursday, its Defense Ministry said.
Denmark announced it would increase its military presence in Greenland, with NATO allies joining them, just as the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers met with White House representatives on Wednesday in Washington to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump's intentions to take over the island in order to tap its mineral resources and protect the security of the Arctic region amid rising Russian and Chinese interest.
On Thursday, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the intention was “to establish a more permanent military presence with a larger Danish contribution,” according to Danish broadcaster DR. He said soldiers from several NATO countries will be in Greenland on a rotation system.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, flanked by his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt, said Wednesday that a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains with Trump after they held highly anticipated talks at the White House with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rasmussen added that it remains “clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland.”
“We really need it,” Trump told media in the Oval Office after the meeting. “If we don't go in, Russia is going to go in and China is going to go in. And there's not a thing Denmark can do about it, but we can do everything about it."
Trump said he had not yet been briefed about the contents of the White House meeting when he made his remarks.
In Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, local residents told The Associated Press they were glad the first meeting between Greenlandic, Danish and American officials had taken place but suggested it left more questions than answers.
Several people said they viewed Denmark’s decision to send more troops, and promises of support from other NATO allies, as protection against possible U.S. military action. But European military officials have not suggested the goal is to deter a U.S. move against the island.
Maya Martinsen, 21, agreed and said it was “comforting to know that the Nordic countries are sending reinforcements” because Greenland is a part of Denmark and NATO.
The dispute, she said, is not about “national security” but rather about “the oils and minerals that we have that are untouched.”
On Wednesday, Poulsen had announced a stepped-up military presence in the Arctic “in close cooperation with our allies,” calling it a necessity in a security environment in which “no one can predict what will happen tomorrow.”
“This means that from today and in the coming time there will be an increased military presence in and around Greenland of aircraft, ships and soldiers, including from other NATO allies,” Poulsen said.
Asked whether the European troop movements were coordinated with NATO or what role the U.S.-led military alliance might play in the exercises, NATO referred all questions to the Danish authorities.
However, NATO is looking at how members can collectively bolster the alliance’s presence in the Arctic, according to a NATO official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Rasmussen, the Danish foreign minister, announced the creation of a working group with the Americans to discuss ways to work through differences.
“The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he said.
Commenting on the outcome of the Washington meeting on Thursday, Poulsen said the working group was “better than no working group” and “a step in the right direction.” He added nevertheless that the dialogue with the U.S. did not mean “the danger has passed.”
Line McGee, a 38-year old from Copenhagen, told AP that she was glad to see some diplomatic progress. “I don’t think the threat has gone away,” she said. "But I feel slightly better than I did yesterday.”
Speaking to FOX News Channel’s Special Report on Wednesday after the White House talks, Rasmussen rejected both a military takeover and the potential purchase of the island by the U.S. Asked whether he thinks the U.S. will invade, he replied: “No, at least I do not hope so, because, I mean, that would be the end of NATO.”
Rasmussen said Greenlanders were unlikely to vote for U.S. rule even if financial incentives were offered “because I think there’s no way that U.S. will pay for a Scandinavian welfare system in Greenland, honestly speaking.”
“You haven’t introduced a Scandinavian welfare system in your own country,” he added.
Trump, in his Oval Office meeting with reporters, said: “We’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out."
Niemann reported from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Ciobanu from Warsaw, Poland.
Fishermen load fishing lines into a boat in the harbor of Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, left, and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, arrive on Capitol Hill to meet with members of the Senate Arctic Caucus, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
