Broncos' Kubiak: Cody Latimer 'starting to play faster'

Denver Broncos wide receiver Cody Latimer has been a major disappointment over his first two years in the league.

With only eight receptions in 22 games, the former second-round pick is playing for his future in 2016, and will have the chance to compete for the Broncos' third receiving spot behind Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders.

As his confidence waned, Latimer began playing slow, according to Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak, something that further stunted his development in a brand-new offense.

"But when you don't know what you're doing in football you get slow, when we first got here, to me, he was playing slow," Kubiak said on Thursday, according to Jeff Legwold of ESPN. "He wasn't showing his God-given talent, but now he's starting to play faster."

Latimer himself feels he's turned a corner. In an offseason in which he was arrested for failing to pay a traffic ticket, the Indiana product is finally making strides on the field.

"I'm ready for a big step, from my rookie year, to last year and now to what I think I can do this year," Latimer said following practice on Wednesday. "I just have a lot of confidence right now, I'm just ready to play, I feel like it's time to make an impact."

Kubiak agrees with Latimer's assessment, firmly believing the heretofore bust is ready to make a major impact in a new-look Broncos offense that's devoid of Peyton Manning for the first time since 2011.

"I think he's on his way to doing that, he's behind two great players," Kubiak said. "And my position with him has always been 'Cody, guys at your position do one of two things, some guys sit there and say 'Heck, I'm not going to pass up those two great guys' or some guys say 'I'm going to be better',' and he's taken the working approach to it. Now it's got to transfer to the field. I think Cody mentally having a better understanding of the big picture offensively of what you're trying to do in his job, it's allowing his talents to take over more."