AP

All teams with new head coaches are permitted to conduct an extra minicamp. The Broncos have launched theirs, and in one specific respect they have fast-forwarded to September: They’re wearing game jerseys.

“It probably is,” coach Vic Fangio told reporters when asked whether the technique is unusual. But he has a good explanation for it.

“The whole reason we do that is to cut down on the grabbing,” Fangio said. “When you wear the loose shirts, it’s very easy — almost unavoidable — for the players to grab each other when they’re going against each other. Whether it be wide outs, DBs, the interior linemen, it’s just so easy to grab those loose jerseys. It’s not easy to grab in the game because they’re tight. So we want to make it game-like as much as we can. That’s why we practice with them.”

It makes so much sense that it’s hard not to wonder why more teams don’t do it. Maybe now that Fangio, a first-time NFL head coach at 60, has provided the example and the basis for doing it, maybe more team will.