Broncos safety Brandon Jones tries kicking at camp

Denver Broncos safety Brandon Jones drew attention at Saturday’s training camp in Englewood, Colorado, not for a defensive play but for a brief stint as a stand-in kicker. With the team’s primary kicker, Wil Lutz, away from the session, Jones took a handful of field-attempts and converted three of four.

Team personnel treated the moment as an impromptu contingency check rather than a position change. Officials indicated the kicking work was tied to planning for scenarios in which a specialist is temporarily unavailable during the season.

How the kicking session happened

Lutz was absent because he attended the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Drew Brees, creating a practical opening to test another option during the workout. Jones stepped in during the session and produced a set of makes that, at minimum, gave coaches a real-time look at his mechanics and baseline accuracy.

The idea of Jones as a fallback came out of informal conversations with special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi about roster contingencies. Those discussions, officials said, led to the decision to see what Jones could do when asked to kick in a camp setting.

Range shown, but no formal kicking resume Jones does not have formal competitive kicking experience, but he does have a soccer background. During Saturday’s work, he connected on a 41-yard field attempt, a distance that helped demonstrate some functional range rather than only short tries.

Coaches also had at least one prior reference point. Jones had previously made a 50-yard attempt in private practice drills with Lutz, according to the details provided, giving the staff a longer-distance data point beyond the Saturday session.

Wil Lutz remains the only kicker under contract

Despite Jones’s makes, the Broncos’ depth chart at the position is unchanged. Lutz remains the sole designated kicker under contract on Denver’s 90-man roster, and there has been no indication the team is moving toward a second specialist based on this one-day tryout.

Instead, officials framed Jones’s showing as a way to give the coaching staff a verified emergency option if the primary specialist becomes unavailable during the upcoming season. It is a practical measure that can be logged and revisited, rather than a new roster plan.

Jones downplays any long-term switch

Jones has not suggested he intends to transition into kicking permanently. He also acknowledged the psychological gap between kicking in practice conditions and attempting field goals in a high-pressure game situation, signaling that the team’s view of him remains primarily rooted in his safety role.

For Denver, the immediate takeaway from the camp moment is straightforward: the staff now has a documented, on-field look at a potential emergency kicker while keeping its specialist plan centered on Lutz.