As a new year of training camp dawns, the Denver Broncos will be one of the first to dip their toes into summer practice waters.
Receiver Emmanuel Sanders will not be a full-go just yet, but tight end Jake Butt's comeback from an injury appears to be going a bit quicker as the Broncos began reporting to camp today.
"I think going into camp I'm going to be doing more team things: 7-on-7 and team drills," Butt told the team website. "And they'll slowly work my reps back up to where they were."
Butt might be playing for a roster spot just a campaign removed from seemingly making strides at the onset of the season.
Over the first three games of 2018, Butt was the Broncos' starter, but an ACL injury changed all of that as he was lost for the season.
With Fant and all his promise and hype likely to garner an edge in the tight end training-camp competition, there's also Jeff Heuerman, who took over last year for Butt and signed a two-year contract, and Troy Fumagalli, who missed all of 2018 and is coming back, also.
So, a very intriguing position battle that will play out for the starter's role likely all the way down to a roster spot could be starting today.
Fortunately for Butt, limited as he may be, he's planning on being there on Day 1 of camp.
"I'll be active," Butt said. "I'm pretty, pretty sure. That's what we've been talking about. I feel good. I can basically do everything in my mind. So I should be out there with the team."