ENGLEWOOD • “Bend” helped a Denver Broncos rookie regularly break through the Cowboys’ offensive line in Thursday’s joint practice at UCHealth Training Center.

With the Broncos’ defense squaring off against the Dallas offense in front of a mostly orange crowd, linebacker Nik Bonitto was able to maintain his speed around the edge while keeping his 6-foot-3, 240-pound frame low. The result for the rookie out of Oklahoma was four likely sacks of Dallas quarterbacks if it had been a full-contact situation.

“The bend, bro,” fellow Broncos outside linebacker Bradley Chubb said when asked what stood out about Bonitto in his first exposure to outside competition. “Nik Bonitto is one of the best rookies in this class. I’m excited to see what he does, man. I’m excited to continue to work with him in all those different packages we’re going to have with all of us on the field. It’s going to be fun.”

While the former first-round pick credited Bonitto’s success to his physical gifts, the 64th pick in this year’s draft out of Oklahoma said the strength and athleticism of Denver’s offensive tackles, namely Garett Bolles and Calvin Anderson, prepared him for success against the Cowboys.

“You’ve got to bring different moves,” Bonitto said. “You’ve got to work different games because doing the same thing is not going to work against them. It’s just being able to have a mixture of speed and power to go against those guys.”

A growing understanding of the Broncos’ defensive playbook and scheme has only helped.

“I feel like I’m playing a little bit faster now that I got the playbook under me a little bit,” Bonitto said.

Bonitto’s bursts around, or through, the left side of Dallas’s line were the most common highlight, but he wasn’t alone in having success against Dak Prescott and the Cowboys’ offense.

Safeties Kareem Jackson and Justin Simmons and cornerback Damarri Mathis broke up deep passes, while Jonas Griffith stuffed a couple of inside runs. Prescott hit wide receiver CeeDee Lamb for a few chunk plays, including a touchdown. But the Broncos got some revenge when Kana’i Mauga picked off back-up quarterback Cooper Rush.

“Very active guys,” Prescott said of Denver’s defense. “Knowing the team that they had last year, obviously knowing the things that they like to do, they can get after it in the rush.”

As encouraging as his showing against outside competition was, the rookie isn’t satisfied with just one big day in a practice session. Bonitto will likely have another chance to showcase his ability Saturday when the Broncos and Cowboys open their respective preseason schedules at Empower Field at Mile High.

“I still have a lot of work to do, trust me,” Bonitto said. “I’m just trying to play as fast as I can, play as aggressive as I can and just be a guy the coaches can look (at) to be accountable.”