A belated bon giourno from what is now a drenched Dove Valley, after a cold front dragged a line of thunderstorms that doused the Denver area throughout the afternoon with rain, wind and hail. None of the grape-sized hailstones fell at Broncos headquarters, and the foul weather didn’t arrive until the middle of the afternoon, well after the Broncos completed their first day of team camp and their eighth organized team activity of the offseason.
A few notes from the day’s work …
… This was my first full-practice glimpse at the Broncos, as reporters were permitted to watch practice, although the cameras were only allowed to shoot and roll through the first 10 minutes of the session …
… The man they call “Barbaro,” safety Nick Ferguson, probably turned in the play of the day with a leaping, contorting-in-midair interception during team work …
… Even without a helmet and shoulder pads, cornerback Champ Bailey looked like his usual self, intercepting a midway through the practice …
…Matt Lepsis’ return will fortify the offensive line. But the left tackle admitted that the change in quarterback from Jake Plummer to Jay Cutler has an impact on the offensive line’s task.
“It’s definitely going to make it harder for us,” Lepsis said. “We’ve been kind of spoiled with Jake in the past, because he can get out of anything. Cutler’s a good, mobile quarterback too, but (mobility) is why they call Jake ‘The Snake.’ He was good at what he did, and he made our jobs really easy.’
… Sam Brandon continues to progress in his recovery from a torn anterior cruciate ligament; he was in uniform and warmed up with the safeties. When the Broncos went into team work, Brandon watched, often taking a position deep behind the secondary where he commisserated with defensive coordinator Bob Slowik …
… As we’ve mentioned, OTAs are not just about installation, but experimentation, so you can’t read too much into who’s playing alongside whom. Nevertheless, it was worth noting that Eddie Moore, who spent last year out of football but was a part of Jim Bates’ defense for three years in Miami, saw some time alongside D.J. Williams and Ian Gold on the first team …
… Glenn Martinez, Brandon Stokley and Rod Smith remained out of uniform. Brandon Marshall and Kenard Lang dressed but did not take part in everything; Lang was bothered by shoulder pain during the first week of camp …
… Paul Ernster donned Jason Elam’s No. 1 for the session. Fielding Ernster’s punts were Domenik Hixon, David Kircus and rookie Marquay McDaniel …
… And, now, some more photos:
Sorry about today’s delay … Back with more tomorrow, hopefully sooner than 9 p.m. MDT.
Tags: Eddie Moore, Ian Gold, Organized Team Activities, OTAs, Sam Brandon
As always, nicely done, Andrew…
Only 3 days until my trip out to Denver….It can’t come fast enough….
TSG
http://www.milehighreport.com
Cecil Sapp probably looks bigger without pads haha, great pictures again Mr Mason.
Peace…
Andrew, do you know why Brandon Marshall didn’t fully participate?
[...] ** Always the first with pictures and team info: Day 1 [...]
He looked like he was getting a little treatment on his calf muscle. Didn’t seem too serious since he did the individual and instructional work, but I didn’t have the chance to catch him when he came off the field because Mike Shanahan was answering questions at the time.
Andrew, why did Ernster wear Elams jersey?
Andrew, being a uni-nut as much as I, do we know when the teams disclose when alternate jerseys will be worn for the coming year? If so, can you let us know about our Broncos?
Cool pics andrew keep ‘em coming like mediocreguy said can u find out when the broncos will wear the alternet jerseys this season those are so cool I have a shannon sharpe one i love wearing it so every one sees the bright orange and blue GO BRONCOS !!
Elwayfan6584:
No real reason, just for giggles, I suppose. He was back to his old No. 3 on Wednesday.
Mediocreguy and bronco manuel:
Typically, teams have made the alternate-jersey announcement in the summer months before training camp. Back in 2004 — the last time the Broncos wore the alternate orange tops — the team made public the news on on June 21.
However, I wouldn’t hold your breath on the Broncos wearing them this year, not with two particularly bitter defeats accompanying the Broncos’ last two games with the alternate orange. It’s too bad, because I personally love them for two reasons: 1) The color orange is ingrained in the Broncos’ identity — Orange Crush, Orange Sunday, Orange Monday and, to this day, orange pompoms at home games. And even on our site our e-mail newsletter isn’t called the “Blue and Orange News” … but the “Orange and Blue News.” (Then again, “orange and blue” sounds rhythmically stronger than “blue and orange.”) 2) Visually, the orange tops just pop. I loved using photos of the players in those jerseys on the site in the months after the games in which they were worn because they stand out so well.
The obvious solution is to not use the Alts in snow! If I remember correctly, we lost to the Colts and Raiders, both snow games.
I’d like to see throwbacks myself. Hmmm.. maybe in 2010?
Sports Illustrated…
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…