Fangio wants to see young players

Broncos coach Vic Fangio’s goal for Thursday’s Pro Football Hall of Fame game against the Atlanta Falcons: See as many young players as possible.

“I just really want to see all of them, to be honest with you,” Fangio said after Tuesday’s abbreviated practice. “This was Practice (No.) 11 so it’s going to be nice to go out there and go against somebody else, play live football and see where these young guys are at.

“I don’t think we can make any final conclusions off of one game, but it’s great feedback for us.”

To get the best take, Fangio plans on challenging his players with his defensive calls and wants offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello to do the same.

On defense, Fangio said: “If I’m pretty confident they might be throwing it, instead of giving a corner some help, I’ll see if he can cover his guy. Or I’ll play a light box even though we think they may be running it to see if we can handle it.”

On offense, Fangio said: “Let’s see who can block a good pass rusher without chipping. And even though they have the box loaded, let’s see if you can run the ball in there.”

Fangio said the coaches will have a pecking order of who plays when and how much.

“Some of it is by feel and the way the game is going,” he said. “I always tell the coaches, ‘Count on 65 plays.’ If one side is doing really well, you might have only 50 and the other side 80. You have to adjust as you go. If you’re on the side that gets only 50, some guys will get cheated.”

Fangio was asked if winning the game is important.

“As we stand here today, it’s not that important,” he said. “Invariably, when we get on that sideline Thursday, it’s like playing a game of horse in the backyard — you still want to win. We want to win, but we know there are bigger fish to fry in the game, meaning we need to get evaluations of these guys to help us pick the best 53 for the team.”