How Broncos WR Troy Franklin started ‘stopping like a Tesla’ en route to Week 2 breakout
At first when Jonny Bridgewater suggested his two millionaire clients play red light-green light Troy Franklin and JL Skinner looked at the man like he was insane Bridgewater a longtime movement specialist at Kula Sports Performance is cool Franklin explained But definitely fascinating the Broncos receiver added The trainer is an enigma a self-described neuroscientist who spends as much time explaining the brain s gamma waves as he does the body s muscle fibers He identified Franklin s main issue right away when they began working together this spring He s inevitably been a cannon Bridgewater explained But I felt like Troy was a cannon on a canoe Because he didn t have that stability that he needed to basically shoot the explosivity that he had Franklin may not describe himself as a cannon But he knew this concept held him back in a quiet rookie season the former Oregon standout showing nothing close to the same chemistry he d had with Bo Nix as a Duck When he sat with Sean Payton for year-end meetings after a -yard Payton stated Franklin he desired him to work on his deceleration He talks about having Tesla starts Franklin commented and stopping like a Tesla A year later Franklin is stopping fast Faster than ever The receiver s Payton-predicted leap materialized throughout camp and preseason and has sprouted wings early in after a career-best eight catches for yards in the Broncos loss Sunday The -foot- receiver s improved deceleration proved largest part obviously in a star-making second-quarter drive when Franklin caught four balls including a -yard heave from Nix It exhibited more quietly on one third-quarter grab Franklin caught a short pass and turned it into a -yard gain after purely absorbing and discarding contact from a Colts defender And at the heart of Franklin s deceleration is Bridgewater and this funky offseason work The receiver shot his trainer a text after a two-touchdown preseason performance in August The work is working Franklin wrote One day as Franklin brought along Skinner to train at Kula Bridgewater brought out a medicine band Both players the trainer noted had natural burners But they couldn t stop on a dime It cost Franklin separation on his routes in his rookie year the receiver reported It cost Skinner tackling angles when he realized he couldn t position his body the right way So Bridgewater introduced this red light-green light drill modeled after the kids playground meeting Franklin would tug on a pair of straps the band dangling behind him Skinner would grab the other end of the band almost like a carriage to a horse The two would have to sprint in tandem when Bridgewater yelled green light and suddenly stop when he shouted red This was not initially received well They were just kinda looking at me like Are we five Bridgewater remembered As with the greater part of his drills though the rationale made sense to Franklin once Bridgewater explained it The match taught him how to better absorb force To plant To drive into the turf Lightning generates in the core of the earth Bridgewater declared But you see it in the sky So if we don t generate the power from the ground up you won t be seen in the sky at all It worked for Skinner When petitioned if all this paid off the safety grinned and pointed out he d made the -man roster for the first time in his Broncos career And it worked for Franklin who Skinner reported took so naturally to the deceleration work that the safety tried to copy him Franklin s Week performance was on the horizon a mile away to anyone inside the Broncos building since May The receiver added visible muscle in the offseason in an effort to improve his physicality at the top of his trail And he d do what Bridgewater called death drop-off box jumps trying to build elasticity in his lower body Related Articles Renck Blaming refs for Broncos loss to Colts is just plain dumb This one s on Denver Broncos analysis Leverage serves as final dagger but Sean Payton s group set itself up for failure several times Broncos review card Sean Payton s play-calling shines but Vance Joseph s defense struggles in loss to Colts What is leverage Referee explains call on Dondrea Tillman that handed Broncos Week loss at Colts PHOTOS Denver Broncos fall to Indianapolis Colts - in NFL Week When you hit Troy now Bridgewater disclosed you feel it more than Troy feels it The Colts felt it on Sunday Through two games Franklin not Courtland Sutton not Evan Engram not Marvin Mims Jr leads the Broncos far and away in catches and yards And his gains after the catch have taken a noticeable leap as Franklin s producing from both the slot and outside At first he didn t understand what I meant because he s such a great athlete Bridgewater reflected And now that he s started to feel it and feel it he s like Holy cow ' the trainer continued It s starting to work Want more Broncos news Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis
