From a superb preseason to a place in the starting 11 to a Sunday sideline spot in sweats. Running back Mike Bell wasn’t the only rookie to experience that kind of start to his NFL career, as Tony Scheffler, a starter in three of Denver’s first five games, found himself out of the mix in Week 10.
“Right before the game Sunday is when I first knew,” Scheffler said. “It’s hard, obviously, (because) coming off of preseason it looked pretty good.
“Finally, I think, (I was) starting to turn it around against Indianapolis (a four-catch, 51-yard day), but obviously there’s still a lot of work to be done, so I’ve just got to keep working hard.”
But at Oakland, he watched as Denver’s tight ends had their most productive collective performance of the year. After combining for 123 yards on 11 receptions in the first eight games — including 67 on six catches for Scheffler — Stephen Alexander and Nate Jackson collaborated for nine grabs and 82 yards at Oakland.
“Obviously I’m not doing something right,” Scheffler said. “It’s one of those things where you’ve just got to look at everything that you do and re-evaluate and keep working hard, know the system and that sort of thing.”
When asked whether he’d been told specifically what he needed to do to get back on the field, he replied, “Not really,” but then continued and had an idea where he’d come up short.
“It’s kind of frustrating, but at the same time I think it’s something of a confidence issue,” Scheffler said. “Maybe they just need to see a little bit more out of me in practice I guess.”
Which is exactly where he can get his playing time back.
“We’re going to evaluate guys on a day-by-day basis, how they do in practice (and) how they do in the games,” Head Coach Mike Shanahan said Monday, “and sometimes practice weighs as heavy as game day, and part of the decisions that we make during the season are based on all those ingredients.”
For now, though, Scheffler’s most pressing indvidual goal is making himself an ingredient in the Broncos’ on-field recipe once again.
“(Being benched) can take your confidence down or else you can keep working hard and get back out there,” Scheffler said. “You try to not let it affect you and just keep practicing hard and hopefully get back out there sooner than later.”
Tags: Tight ends, Tony Scheffler
I really don’t care who runs the ball as long as they run effectivly this week, the running backs hav only averaged 40 yards per game the last 3 weeks. If not for Javon’s big run in Pit, our running game is all of a sudden non existant. This part of the game is huge. It free’s up Plummer’s roll out’s. They must run the ball this week and keep Tomlinson on the sidelines. I can’t see our offense putting up 40 plus points. If they don’t run the ball, they’ll have to.
Thanks,
Bronco fan in Pats country
Id love to see Scheffler develop into a Todd Heap type TE, but its his rookie year and we’ll all have to be patient to see how he develops. This week is going to be tough, we need alot of players to have big games and keep the momentum on our side.
I think the problem is the same thing that was a problem for him in college, poor run blocking skills, but they drafted him knowing this and thought they could coach those skills into him, so its as much the coaching staffs fault then it is Tonys that he hasent picked it up as quick as they thought he would, we all know he can catch it, but in denvers system if you cant run block you wont see much playing time at the TE position.
I’m disappointed to learn that the Broncos haven’t told Scheffler why he was benched. Whenever someone else moves ahead of you on the depth chart, it’s good to know the reason why so that you understand the change and can improve.
I think Nate Jackson simply looked better in practice. When healthy, Nate Jackson is an excellent receiving TE. The problem is that he never stays healthy for an entire year.
Scheffler is probably just surprised by the level of competition in the NFL. There is a big difference between the Mid-American conference and the NFL. I wonder how much time young players spend with veterans. If I were a rookie TE, I would deliberately become best friends with Rod Smith and Tom Nalen. I would become their shadow. They wouldn’t be able to get rid of me.
These guys are veteran Pro-Bowl players who clearly have exceptional work habits, dedication, and an understanding about what it takes to be great. I would learn the details about TE from Tim Brewster and then gain wisdom, work habits, etc. from Smith and Nalen. Along the way, I would work hard and pay attention for tips about receiving (from Smith) and run blocking (from Nalen).
Who better to learn from than Brewster, Smith, and Nalen? Sheffler is in a great situation to learn and develop quickly if you ask me. Hopefully, he takes advantage of his resources.