ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos could be due for an intense week of work after a 33-13 drubbing at the hands of the Packers during Friday’s preseason game. Head coach Sean Payton left little room for doubt about his feelings on the team’s performance afterward.“It wasn’t good,” he said bluntly. ” … I can’t think of one area that we outplayed them, honestly.”Even had the score been reversed, though, this would have been a pivotal week for final evaluations ahead of Sunday’s 4 p.m. MT deadline for roster cuts. Here’s what we’ll be watching as that critical roster checkpoint approaches:Top Plays from Packers @ BroncosCould there be a trade on the D-line?There are five roster certainties along the defensive line: Zach Allen, D.J. Jones, Malcolm Roach, Eyioma Uwazurike and rookie third-round pick Tyler Onyedim. The Broncos kept five defensive linemen to start the season in 2023, six in 2024 and seven last season, so it’s possible there are two more spots available among a camp group of reserves that includes Jordan Jackson, Kristian Williams, Jordan Miller and second-year player Sai’vion Jones.Jackson has played in a combined 24 regular-season and playoff games for the Broncos over the past two seasons. The Broncos have added to the defensive front through the draft over the past few years while also addressing the position in free agency, but Jackson has managed to stick around — and this may have been his best training camp out of the four he’s spent with the Broncos.If Jackson’s performance over the past month pushes him to the initial 53-man roster for the third straight season, could it mean Jones is left on the outside when cuts land? Onyedim has flashed in camp more consistently than has Jones, a third-round pick in the 2025 draft for whom the Broncos moved up to select. That’s not to say Jones has had a bad camp. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph challenged Jones to bulk up this offseason and the former LSU standout is clearly bigger than he was as a rookie. Moving on from the 23-year-old now would be a surprise, but he can’t be considered a slam dunk at this point either.The Broncos at this time last year traded a promising second-year player, wide receiver DeVaughn Vele, in part because a logjam at his position created an opportunity for the Broncos to listen to offers that came with the right value. Denver ultimately flipped Vele, a 2024 seventh-round pick, to the Saints for a fourth-round pick. The Broncos used that pick in April to select running back Jonah Coleman, who has already positioned himself in this camp to make an impact in Denver’s backfield this season. Jones — or Jackson, for that matter — wouldn’t bring back the same return the Broncos got in the Vele trade, but it won’t be surprising if the Broncos get calls about a deep group on the defensive line.Can Badie or McLaughlin hang onto a roster spot?During Payton’s second season as the head coach in New Orleans, he cut a fourth-round pick at running back, Antonio Pittman, because he had been outplayed in the offseason by undrafted rookie Pierre Thomas. History, though, won’t be repeating itself with Coleman, this year’s fourth-round running back. He has been a standout performer during his first NFL training camp. He is angling toward a role that should feature him consistently, even if he’s listed on the depth chart behind veteran J.K. Dobbins and second-year player RJ Harvey, who continues to solidify himself as a hybrid back who will get plenty of work in the passing game.The question at running back then is whether two players who have been on the roster the past two seasons, Tyler Badie and Jaleel McLaughlin, can squeeze into Payton’s initial 53-man configuration this time around. At least one of those players will be left out, and it’s possible the Broncos will go with only three running backs — especially if they decide to put fullback Adam Prentice on the opening roster.Jaleel McLaughlin runs the ball against the Packers on Friday night. (Isaiah J. Downing / Imagn Images)Badie was Denver’s running back during two-minute situations last season, catching 19 passes for 141 yards. He had a third-down role at times and also played 59 percent of Denver’s special teams snaps. McLaughlin, meanwhile, was active on game day only once last season before Week 11, when he was thrust into the lineup because of Dobbins’ foot injury. He averaged 5.1 yards per attempt, but he was limited to only 37 carries all season — and he played only 14 snaps on special teams.The prediction here is that Denver moves forward with Dobbins and the two young running backs.Rookie Jonah Coleman looks like missing piece in Broncos' backfieldNick KosmiderWhat does Rapp’s arrival mean for the safeties?When Brandon Jones suffered a pectoral injury late last season, Joseph turned to P.J. Locke as a replacement. The veteran safety had started 23 games in Denver’s defense across the previous two seasons, experience that shined through as Locke made a critical interception of Josh Allen in the playoff win against the Bills.Locke joined the Cowboys on a one-year deal in free agency, leaving the Broncos without an experienced presence behind the strong starting tandem of Jones and Talanoa Hufanga. Enter Taylor Rapp, the former Rams and Bills safety with 72 starts in seven NFL seasons. The Broncos signed him to a one-year deal last week after hosting a workout for the Rams’ 2019 second-round pick. Rapp, who had seven tackles for Los Angeles in its Super Bowl victory over the Cincinnati Bengals following the 2021 season, played only six games with Buffalo last season because of a knee injury, but he’s fully recovered and is set to join the Broncos in practices this week.What does that do for the logjam of young safeties down the depth chart? This is a big week for a group that includes Devon Key, an All-Pro selection on special teams last season, JL Skinner, free-agent acquisition Tycen Anderson and rookie seventh-round pick Miles Scott.The Broncos have typically kept a high number of safeties because of the role players at that position tend to have in Darren Rizzi’s special teams units.Will Payton keep three QBs?Sam Ehlinger did not take a snap until the fourth quarter of Friday’s preseason game against the Packers. He threw only two passes, completing both for 10 yards, as he navigated the end of a blowout loss.It was not the kind of runway given to a quarterback truly competing for a backup job. Jarrett Stidham, the team’s No. 2 quarterback since 2023, has played ahead of Ehlinger in both preseason games and appears to have that role in hand as Denver approaches the preseason finale Friday against the visiting Vikings.Payton has kept just two quarterbacks on cutdown day in two of his first three seasons. In 2024, though, Zach Wilson, the quarterback whom the Broncos acquired in a trade with the Jets shortly before drafting Bo Nix, was kept on the roster as the No. 3. Though Ehlinger began last season on the practice squad, he was promoted to the active roster in October. The Broncos have been high on Ehlinger’s development and the Colts’ sixth-round pick has clearly looked more comfortable this offseason during his second year in Denver’s offense. But if he’s not kept on the initial 53-man roster, will the Broncos be able to convince him to remain on the practice squad with a similar path back to the roster as last season?Payton said Friday that the final preseason game would still factor into how the Broncos ultimately decide to handle the quarterback room.“I’m still working through it,” Payton said. “It matters.”How will injuries impact the initial roster?Second-year tight end Caleb Lohner earned unsolicited praise from Payton during a rookie minicamp in May for the way that he had developed since being chosen as a seventh-round pick one year earlier. That created a swelling of intrigue around Lohner as the offseason program and then training camp approached, but Lohner hasn’t been on the field for any of it. A knee procedure shortly after that minicamp kept Lohner out of action during OTAs, and he hasn’t been on the field for any part of training camp.Lohner was seen on the sideline during Friday’s preseason game without the knee brace he was spotted wearing earlier in camp, so it’s reasonable to think he could be returning to practice soon. The Broncos never put Lohner on an injured list before training camp began, so it’s unclear how they’ll handle his roster status as cuts approach. He could be placed on injured reserve on cutdown day with a designated-to-return tag and would then be eligible to return in Week 5.The Broncos will have tough decisions at tight end even if Lohner isn’t a candidate for the initial 53-man roster. Adam Trautman and Evan Engram are locks. The group beyond that duo includes veterans Nate Adkins and Lucas Krull and rookies Justin Joly (fifth-round pick) and Dallen Bentley (seventh round).Fourth-year outside linebacker Drew Sanders, who had a sack in Denver’s preseason win against the Falcons, missed all of last week’s practices with an unspecified injury and didn’t play against the Packers. His status is also worth monitoring as cuts near.Meanwhile, at inside linebacker, it’s a player returning from injury who could make the final race for roster spots interesting. Jordan Turner, who began camp on the non-football injury list — it’s typically a designation for players who are injured working on their own during the offseason — returned to action in Friday’s preseason game, playing all 16 of his snaps in the second quarter on Denver’s second-team defense. If Turner, who was on the roster to end last season, makes it back onto the 53-man group come Sunday afternoon, that likely leaves one spot for one of Karene Reid or rookies Red Murdock and Taurean York.