Nik Bonitto isn’t satisfied with how last season ended.
Losing in the AFC Championship Game stung.
So, too, did Bonitto’s performance down the stretch. The Denver Broncos star registered six sacks over the final 11 games — not bad, but below his expectations.
Following the team’s recent minicamp, Bonitto, 26, reflected on what prevented him from doing more.
Bonitto Had Offseason Wrist Surgery
Not long after the season-ending loss to the New England Patriots, Bonitto underwent wrist surgery. Speaking on the matter last month, Bonitto suggested the injury affected his play.
“It was just trying to work through the whole wrist thing,” he told 9News. “Not being able to have … wearing the cast, it kind of takes away a lot of stuff you can do. Hard to shed, hard to grab, all those things.”
Bonitto still finished with a career-high 14 sacks, giving him 37 through his first four NFL seasons. That earned him a second straight Pro Bowl appearance.
Moving forward, Bonitto acknowledged he’ll need to adapt to how opponents are blocking him.
“Getting doubled more, getting chipped and cut more,” Bonitto said. “It was all those things in a combination where it was a learning process for me as I continue to grow in my career.”
Broncos ‘Hungry’ For More Success
Expectations are reasonably high for the Broncos coming off a 14-3 season, their winningest campaign since winning Super Bowl XXXIII in 1999.
Denver ranked second in total defense (278.2 yards allowed per game) and led the NFL in sacks (68).
“I think we’ve got a hungry team, man,’’ Bonitto said. “Just knowing how close we were last year and I mean you can see it from where we stepped in for OTAs Day 1, everybody was hitting the ground running. We’re all competing against each other. OTAs felt like fall camp practices sometimes. We’re just hungry, we want to get back to it.”
Broncos’ Nik Bonitto Admits Reason Being Second-Half Sack Slump