Earlier in the morning, I wrote about the preseason numbers comparison between punters Paul Ernster and Todd Sauerbrun.
Bad timing.
By the time the Broncos took the field Tuesday, Ernster was not present. Nor was safety and fellow special-teamer Quentin Harris, as they joined eight other non-injured players who missed both practices the last two days.
“Paul’s worked extremely hard and hopefully he’ll catch on with another team,” Head Coach Mike Shanahan said. “Theres not very many people that can both kick off and punt, so he brings a lot to the table.”
Ernster’s departure leaves Todd Sauerbrun to handle punts and kickoffs.
“I’m just happy with the way it turned out and I’m thankful for the opportunity Mike Shanahan and Scott O’Brien gave me,” Sauerbrun said. I’m very appreciative and I’m going to do the best to make the most of it.”
“I need more reps in the games. I am where I want to be, but I just need more game reps, so to speak, so I think this week will be good for me. I’ll be able to take all the reps in (Thursday’s preseason) game. I think that’s exactly what I need.”
Among the others absent Tuesday, there were no changes from the day before, which meant that the defensive line absorbed the losses of tackle Demetrin Veal and end Kenard Lang, both of whom played in all 16 games last year.
“It’s always tough,” Shanahan said. “You take a guy like Kenard Lang; Kenard’s a veteran player (and) a first-round draft choice that gives you everything hes got. Obviously (we’re) going with some younger players. But (Lang is( a true pro, the way he practiced, the way he played, tried to help the young guys. We tried to be fair and let him go a little earlier just so hopefully they can get a chance to play for another team.
“Same thing for Demetrin Veal. Theres a guy that worked extremely hard. We let them go a week earlier than they would normally, so hopefully they can catch on. Thats the tough part of the job. Guys that worked extremely hard and maybe you get a little younger on certain positions and you go a different direction.”
Shanahan also commented on wide receiver David Kircus, who is no longer with the Broncos after a 20-month stint that saw him rise from Subway refugee to the active roster for all 16 games in 2006 before a 2007 season that saw an off-the-field incident and a tumble to the fourth team of the depth chart.
“David has got great speed; (he) was a competitor,” Shanahan said. “We just decided to go in a different direction, but he’s got some talent.”
The other players who missed both of the last two days included wide receiver David Terrell, running back Cedric Cobbs, fullback Troy Fleming, tight end Teyo Johnson and kicker Brandon Pace.
Tags: Brandon Pace, Defensive linemen, Demetrin Veal, Kenard Lang, Paul Ernster, Special Teams, Todd Sauerbrun
Andrew thanks for always getting us the latest – you rock the blogosphere!!!
My heart strings tug for the likes of Paul Earnster, didn’t really come to “need” any of the other cuts – but I’ll give Sauerbrun the credit – He is a much better tackler than Earnster and he always remembers his helmet – I hope he doesn’t get too many reps on Thursday, or all season, if you catch my drift.
Are you kidding me? Ernster is out and Sauerbrun is in? Rediculous, I can’t believe the Broncos would cut him instead of Sauerbrun, who is not as good of a performer, has character issues, and more than likely costs more money than said better achiever. Mason, what can you attribute to this?
rev79:
I’m going to write more later about Ernster and Lang, among others … I feel like just saying that the Broncos let these guys go isn’t enough. They’re terrific people who have been wonderful to talk to since they each arrived in Denver, and I think all of us who write and talk about the Broncos for a living are going to miss them and their unique personalities.
Man what a bust David Terrell was, not particularly for us but in general.
I don’t understand why he would have come back here after he got absolutely no chance last preseason, and the same thing happened to him again this year. Kind of strange when a former top-10 pick gets next to no playing time.
I bet this is the end of the line for him.
I’m very disappointed in Paul Ernster’s release. Mike Shanahan picked the wrong guy to stay. Ernster has been more consistant throughout preseason. But I am pleased with David Kircus being cut. Something about him is irritating besides the fact that he can’t catch 85% of the time.
Can you please provide a list of all the cuts?
What about Parsons?
Buckin:
The players who did not practice today were Quentin Harris and Paul Ernster.
The players who did not practice during both of the last two days were Kenard Lang, Demetrin Veal, Brandon Pace, David Terrell, Cedric Cobbs, Troy Fleming, Teyo Johnson and David Kircus.
The Broncos have not yet officially announced the cuts.
Cuts happen… This isn’t exactly Al Wilson that we’re talking about. How often do you expect Kircus or Lang to play? We are talent heavy and they were slipping. Kircus can’t catch. Lang can’t rush. They have a lot of heart, but that only wins games at Notre Dame (Rudy…Rudy…Rudy…). Let the studs step in and step up to win games. Youth is obvously the way of the walk these days and that should allow us to play strong for 4 quarters for 16 or more games.
cuts deadline was 2pm this afternoon. they were announced to the nfl. how long does it take for the info to get to the bronco web site?
buckin:
We cannot publish the final cuts list until the team announces it via a press release, which is the official announcement. As soon as that happens, we will have the information.
How many players are cut during this first round of cuts?
I really think the Ernster cut was political. Sauerbrun is buddy buddy with the special teams coach. Moreover, the last time he was on our team he s—ed it up. Also, Kenard Lang played great last year and I haven’t seen a lot of good things out of our D-line this year so that move could hurt us.
Hate it that Ernster was cut. I have emailed him several times and he is really a nice guy. Hope he does catch on with another team.
gmanv29:
It depends on the team and how many NFL Europa allocations they had … you have to be at 75 men regardless. The Broncos cut 10 players today, although one (Teyo Johnson) will move to injured reserve should he clear waivers. The full list of cuts is here.
This seems really a bad decision that Mike has ever taken this season, cutting off Paul????? C’mon Todd is more of a complicated and costly kick/punt player than Paul….where is the effeciency here…….????
cutting paul was a bad bad bad decision on mikes part
Wait…
“In addition, the club moved tackle Doug Nienhuis (knee) and cornerback Lamont Reid (pectoral) to its reserve/NFL-Europa injured list.”
If NFL-Europa does not exist, then how can this list…exist?
Perhaps they were injured prior to camp while playing in Europa, but what happens next year to these exceptions?
DenverDon:
Perhaps it’s because even though the league has expired, the after-effects of it have not, as evidenced by the injuries to Reid and Nienhuis forcing their placement on said list. Even though they were under the Broncos’ jurisdiction as allocations to the league, since their injuries happened there, it places them in a different category. NFL Europa, the gift that keeps on giving? For Reid and Nienhuis, it’s probably a gift they wanted to return, given the fact that they were unable to practice in minicamp or training camp.
Of course, I would imagine that the shelf life on the reserve/NFL Europa injured list is this season, and that everything gets wiped clean when the “league year” begins in early March.
Paul out @ the first cut…Simply crazy Todds gonna have a hard time fielding those snaps with his belly in the way! Of course Todds a better tackler because he is HUGE, Besides if you are depending on kickers making tackles you have a much bigger problem on special teams, the returner should’nt reach the kicker. Oh by the way if Todd could reach the endzone on his kickoffs somewhere other than Denver. Roids is a whole nother deal!!!! Paul should be in and Todd should have ever been aloud back plain and simple.
Pauls return:10/21 against Pitt because Todd cant hack it,That is if pauls available!
I am so disappointed about Paul Ernster… TOdd is a loser that we don’t need. That is why Ernster beat him out last year…
Broncos made a bad move there… Todd s—ed last week in Dallas….
RIP OFF
mhanson12, todd wasn’t necessarily beat out by ernster last yr since he was out due to a banned substance. if u have seen ernster play last yr, u know that he was terrible…especially when u consider kicking half the time in denver’s altitude.
Todd being a good tackler is as relevant to special teams as Jay Cutler being a good tackler if he throws an INT. Ernster never needed to demonstrate his tackling ability because the special teams was better with him in the lineup. For all we know he hits like DJ Williams, he was afterall a linebacker in high school.
Trust me we can tell
I am surprised by Ernster myself. I mean he was punting the you know what out of the ball in preseason compared to Sauerbrun. Todd made some bad short punts in that Dallas game. I hope now that he will be getting more punts that he will pick up his game.
Todd and Paul are about the same in kicking % but Paul is younger and has no Pryor’s!!!!!! so i say until someone comes along that can kick like we need this could hurt
Wow. What short memories some of you have. I mean, it was only last season when Ernster was punting well when in competition for his job, then as soon as he got it, he dropped to 28th in the league. This is just a repeat performance. He kicked well in competition with Todd, but would still drop off after he won the job. I’m sure there were a number of times when the coaching staff felt burned by keeping Ernster and letting Saurbrun go. This is just a case of the coaching staff not making the same mistake twice.
They made the right choice. Sauerbrun may be kind of a jerk, but he’s proven his worth over the years. Ernster had one year in the league and he did a relatively poor job for the Broncos last year.
Mason, your transparent attempt to root for Ernster based on pre-season comparisons was weak. Why use just one preseason, when you have full prior seasons as a much better barometer of what one should expect from a player?
Sancarloskid…
You are right and wrong. Right in the fact that the Broncos made the right choice. Wrong that you are calling out Mason. He runs this blog and he has the right to his opinion especially when he has the luxury to sit and watch the team practice EVERY DAY. Ernster young and he did have some shaky games last year. We gave up some good position on field and the kicker has to take some of that blame. If he produced more touchbacks, we would have been much more productive on special teams. It is sad when we come down to tackling ability when we are pulling for a kicker. They aren’t supposed to have to make the tackle. W have 10 other players on the team trained specifically to hit the wedges and the ball carrier. Sauerbrun can flat kick the ball. Consistantly. He has had issues, but asside from that kid in New England/Indy, which kicker hasn’t. They are loose cannons and have odd-ball personalities. You see them a handfull of times in a game, let em have some color. If they are effecting the game, they pay the price. He doped last year and paid for it. The guy is human. I think that it is great that Sauerbrun has a buddy-buddy relationship with the special teams’ coach. He is unstable from the look of things and the extra guidance can’t hurt. Good call, Coach!
Ernster/Suaerbrun/lang-new defence aside – Why did they cut Cobbs? I thought he was the FB/TB/HB that was performing well? Can anyone explain this? I mean i realize we have some talent in that position, but didnt he play well, and doesn’t he already know our system?
nevermind…. i was thinking of cecil sapp not Cobbs. What and idiot. this is why i dont post.
sancarloskid:
I was not rooting for Ernster, as you claim. Do I like him? Sure; he’s a good fellow and a good interview. But that doesn’t mean I’m rooting for him — you can’t really get into that. It’s tough to see some guys go, though, and Ernster is among them.
And if you’re talking about regular-season numbers, then you have to factor in his numbers upon returning last year, Sauerbrun’s gross average (40.8) and net average (30.7) were his lowest since his rookie season. He did only punt 10 times since New England signed him so late, but both were lower than Ernster’s numbers. Sauerbrun’s gross average has also dropped each year since his career high in 2001. Also on kickoffs, Ernster’s touchback percentage and average kickoff distance were the best of any Broncos kicker since the kickoffs were moved back to the 30-yard-line.
Sauerbrun has the leg, no question, and his punts in practice this summer generally had better hang time. But he acknowledged Monday that he has to do better than he has in the games this month to justify the decision in his favor. It’s a question of whether he can turn back the clock to recapture the kind of numbers he notched in Carolina.