Aside from Jarvis Moss — no news yet, still waiting on the MRI — the morning at Dove Valley was nevertheless a fairly eventful one, capped by the release of the first official depth chart, which was distributed towards the end of practice. Here’s some items worth noting:

… Chris Kuper is listed as the first-team right guard, but found himself running with the second team after allowing three sacks during the morning session. “That’s why he was changed,” Head Coach Mike Shanahan said. “When a guy gives up three sacks in one day, sometimes you make a move to see how the other guy responds.” That “other guy” was Montrae Holland, listed on the depth chart as the second-stringer at right guard.

… Although Nate Webster, D.D. Lewis and Warrick Holdman have shared time at first-team strongside linebacker throughout training camp, the Broncos placed Louis Green as the first-team strongside ‘backer, backed up by Nate Webster and T.J. Hollowell. Lewis is listed as the second-team middle linebacker with Cameron Vaughn behind him, while Wesley Mallard is shown as the second-string weakside linebacker, one spot ahead of Warrick Holdman.

All that, however, is subject to alteration.

“It could change any day,” Shanahan said. “Lou has had an excellent camp so far; that’s why we put him as the No. 1 ‘Sam’ linebacker. But in a day or two, he could be two or three (on the depth chart).”

… Brandon Stokley is listed as a first-team wide receiver along with Javon Walker. Domenik Hixon and Brian Clark are the second-teamers; David Kircus and David Terrell are on the third team; Quincy Morgan and Glenn Martinez are fourth-string and rookie Marquay McDaniel rounds out the wideouts on the fifth team …

… Darrell Hackney is now the third-team quarterback. Preston Parsons is listed with the fourth string …

… Cecil Sapp is officially the No. 2 running back behind Travis Henry. Mike Bell, Andre Hall and Selvin Young follow Sapp. “We’ve got five players that can play in the National Football League, which is a good sign,” Shanahan said.”

Click here for the first depth chart.

FIRST GAME WEEK, BUT: “To be honest with you, we don’t really pay much attention to the first preseason game,” Shanahan said. “I hate to say that, but that’s the truth. What we do right now is review different things that we haven’t done with our installation package — different personnel groups, different blitzes that we haven’t attacked. Then on Friday and Saturday, we’ll get our game plan (for the game) versus San Francisco. We’ll try to run our base offense and defense. We don’t get too complicated.”

NOTES FROM THE MORNING:

ATTENDANCE REPORT: Marcus Thomas returned to practice after missing Saturday’s session with a calf injury … Adam Meadows and Brandon Stokley, both of whom are on a one-practice-a-day schedule, missed Monday morning’s work. Stokley, however, has not practiced since Thursday … Green missed the morning session with a bruised knee … Wide receivers Glenn Martinez and Marquay McDaniel remained sidelined.

POINTS OF EMPHASIS: Red-zone work, in seven-on-seven and team drills … End-game management, particularly in running out the clock for the offense and forcing a stop to get the football back for the defense … Turnover drills, in which the coaches tossed loose a football for wide receivers and tight ends to jump upon as quickly as possible.

WHO’S WHERE? Nate Webster ran with the first team at strongside linebacker … The base first-team defensive line remained unchanged, consisting of ends John Engelberger and Ebenezer Ekuban and tackles Sam Adams and Gerard Warren … Moss’ injury meant that Elvis Dumervil saw time in the second-team base defense; he remains in the first-team long-yardage package … The first-team defensive-line package in the dime included ends Dumervil and Kenny Peterson and Ekuban and Tim Crowder at the tackles … Domenik Hixon, David Kircus, Jeff Shoate and Brian Clark all fielded punts at the end of practice.

STANDOUT PLAYS: Brian Clark went to the house on a slant across the middle, getting one step ahead of Champ Bailey and then stretching out and low to get the pass from Jay Cutler. Clark kept his balance as he made the grab, allowing himself to stay ahead of Bailey and run untouched for the goal line … John Lynch intercepted a Patrick Ramsey pass in seven-on-seven work … Mike Bell absorbed a pair of thunderous hits — including one from Hamza Abdullah — but popped back up each time … Roderick Rogers nearly had the play of the day on a tip drill, getting his fingertips on the football less than an inch from the ground, but he could not quite reel in the football … Hackney also looked good, particularly in the “move-the-ball” drills towards the end of practice.

Photos from the morning:









Next report coming in the evening, following the afternoon session. Until then, vaya con Dios.

Tags: Chris Kuper, Mike Bell, Mike Shanahan, Training Camp

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