ENGLEWOOD — Broncos coach Sean Payton had a heavy heart Wednesday when he learned about the tragic attack in New Orleans.

Payton coached the New Orleans Saints for 15 seasons between 2006-21 and still has close ties to the city. Before taking the practice field at Broncos Park, he saw news about the attack in which a driver of a truck intentionally drove into a crowd of New Year’s revelers early Wednesday morning on Bourbon Street, killing at least 15.

“My heart is broken for the loss of a lot of innocent lives,’’ Payton said after the practice. “I haven’t seen any of the news specifically. I just know how late it happened and it’s awful. I’ll catch up when I go upstairs as to what exactly happened. It’s just gut-wrenching news, especially this time of year. There’s no great time of the year, but when it happens when so many people are down there for the bowl game and down there for the New Year’s festivities, I hate it.”

The Sugar Bowl, featuring Notre Dame playing Georgia in a college football playoff, was originally scheduled to be played Wednesday night. It was postponed until Thursday.

Broncos tight end Adam Trautman played for the Saints from 2020-22. The news about the tragedy hit him hard.

“I lived about 1.2 miles from there, so I lived close (to the area),’’ Trautman said about his time in New Orleans. “To know that happened that close to where I used to live, that’s scary. And it can happen anytime and it’s terrible that people do that type of stuff.”

Federal investigators identified Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, as the driver of the truck, which had an ISIS flag on a pole attached to the rented vehicle, authorities said. He died in a shootout with police.

Pro Bowlers announced

The Broncos had three players chosen last season to the Pro Bowl Games. More are expected for this season.

The Broncos (9-7) had cornerback Pat Surtain II and outside linebacker Nik Bonitto lead all NFL players at their positions in fan voting and tackle Quinn Meinerz and returner Marvin Mims Jr. were leaders for the AFC. The AFC and NFC teams will be announced at 7 a.m. Thursday, with selections determined by one-third fan voting, one-third by coaches and one-third by players.

“I think we’ll have a good five or six (selections),’’ said Broncos defensive end John Franklin-Myers. “I think that’s a respectable number.”

Other Denver players to finish high in the fan voting were Zach Allen, second at defensive tackle, Riley Dixon, fourth at punter, and Wil Lutz, fourth at kicker. Allen had 3.5 sacks of his 8.5 sacks this season in last Saturday’s 30-24 overtime win at Cincinnati, although that was after the voting had closed.

“I’m really appreciative of Denver fans, the public vote,’’ said Allen, who signed with Denver as a free agent in March 2023 after four years with Arizona. “They came out and that was a reason I came here. The fans are awesome here. I wanted to play for a storied franchise where a lot of people support it, and feeling the love has been awesome. We’ll just see (what happens).’’

Named to the Pro Bowl Games for the Broncos last season were Surtain, Mims and safety Justin Simmons, now with Atlanta.

Bouncing back

The Broncos returned to practice Wednesday after the heartbreaking loss at Cincinnati.

A win or a tie in that game would have secured the Broncos’ first playoff berth since they won the Super Bowl in a 2015 season. In Sunday’s regular-season finale against Kansas City at Empower Field at Mile High, a win or a tie again would lock up a spot. Denver also would clinch if Cincinnati (8-8), which plays Saturday night at Pittsburgh, and Miami (8-8), which plays Sunday at the New York Jets, both fail to win.

“The extra day definitely helped,’’ Franklin-Myers said of the Broncos being able to better shake off the loss to the Bengals after playing Saturday rather than Sunday. “You understand there’s nothing you can do but prepare for the next one.”

Briefly

Allen and guard Ben Powers were listed as being rested at Wednesday’s practice. Allen was limited and Powers was a non-participant. Rookie tackle Frank Crum missed the workout due to an illness. Listed as full participants were Bonitto (wrist), linebacker Justin Strnad (heel) and running back Tyler Badie (back), who has returned to practice but remains on injured reserve. … Outside linebacker Dondrea Tillman has had one sack in three straight games. “He’s giving us a physicality,’’ Payton said of Tillman, who has five sacks this season despite having been inactive for six games. “He works his tail off.” … Broncos defensive tackle Malcolm Roach said he lost his appeal and got no money back on a $14,069 NFL fine for making what the NFL called a “violent gesture” Oct. 17 at New Orleans. Roach said he lifted his shirt to make a gesture of fastening a seatbelt.