ENGLEWOOD — When the Broncos signed Trent Sherfield Sr. in March, they knew what they had found in the special teams ace. He wants to be known as more than that, though.

If he keeps making plays like he did in Saturday’s preseason opener against San Francisco, he may just get his wish.

Sherfield’s sideline catch at the end of the first half against the 49ers was highlight-worthy, as the veteran reeled in Jarrett Stidham’s pass and did just enough to get both feet down on the ground before falling out of bounds. He was pretty ho-hum about it after the Broncos returned to practice on Tuesday.

“Just looking to continue to build on it,” he said.

He might have been signed to be a big part of the special teams, but that wasn’t the only reason the Broncos pursued him.

“There was a vision,” head coach Sean Payton said on Sherfield after the win over the 49ers. “He’s physical as a blocker and he can run … there’s a lot you can do with that, if that makes sense.”

What Payton noted was that he had similar receivers in New Orleans, namely Robert Meacham and Devery Henderson. When those guys were on the field, other teams figured it was a run play because of their ability to block. That allowed the Saints to use play-action to their advantage and take some shots down the field.

Sherfield, who has only caught more than 20 passes in a season once in his seven NFL seasons, might not always be the guy who they direct those shots toward, but those potential opportunities were what made Denver so attractive to him.

“I’ve always been sneaking through the back door, as far as special teams go,” the receiver said. “During this free agency, I’ve always wanted to make sure I pride myself on being a two-way player. I just really wanted to make sure that the place I went to could cater to both.”

So far, so good.

“He’s had a good camp,” Payton said.