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Knighton Looking to Lose ‘Pot Roast’ Moniker

June 19th, 2013 - 7:23am by Stuart ZaasOther posts by

When defensive tackle Terrance Knighton met the press after signing his free agent contact with the Broncos, he mentioned that he was hoping for a new nickname now that he’s entered the next chapter of his career in Denver.

He even appealed to Broncos Country fans to help him out.

And No. 94 is still looking for help.

“No, haven’t got one yet,” Knighton said. “I’m going to keep putting it on Twitter until someone comes up with a good one, and once they come up with a good one, I’ll definitely make it known, and tell the guys what to call me from now on.”

Without a good one bestowed on him from the fans, it has been up to his fellow players to give their best suggestions.

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Walton Planning to be 100 Percent for Training Camp

June 18th, 2013 - 7:36am by Stuart ZaasOther posts by

After suffering a season-ending ankle injury suffered during Week 4 of the 2012 season, J.D. Walton has been rehabbing with his eye on being ready to reclaim his starting center position for the 2013 campaign.

That has meant that every day has been dedicated towards rehabilitation and the path back to health has not been an easy one.

“The injury is getting better every day,” Walton said at a KOA sponsor Q&A event held in the Broncos’ locker room at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in early June. “I’m at rehab every day. No vacations. Vacations are hanging out on the weekend, I guess. It’s getting better. Running on it, planting on it, starting to do drills with the O-line.”

Walton, who rated his injury at “eight-and-a-half or nine” with 10 being full health, was asked who is faster between him and his fellow fourth-year offensive lineman Zane Beadles.

“We have it on film that I’m faster, so that’s all that matters,” he replied.

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Broncos Golf Outing Results

June 17th, 2013 - 7:18am by Stuart ZaasOther posts by

Before the Broncos kicked off their final set of OTA practices in May, they took to the golf course for some team bonding.

The team split into foursomes, which included football staff such as coaches, equipment, video, training and operations departments for the nine-hole tournament.

There were separate winners named for the front and back nine to go with two different closest to the hole contests and one longest-drive competition on each of the nine-hole courses. The closest to the hole contests produced a wide variety of winners that represented the operations, coaching and scouting departments as well as the Broncos’ Owner and CEO, Mr. Bowlen.

Below are the results:

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Ball, Webster Officially Sign

June 13th, 2013 - 12:52pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

As the club wrapped up its final minicamp of the offseason, running back Montee Ball and cornerback Kayvon Webster were wrapping up their contracts with the Broncos.

The rookies became the fifth and sixth of the club’s seven draft picks to officially sign with the team. Only first-round pick Sylvester Williams remains unsigned.

At the University of Wisconsin, Ball racked up 5,140 rushing yards and 77 rushing touchdowns — along with six receiving scores — in his career. Fifty-five of those rushing scores came in the last two seasons.

Webster, a University of South Florida product, accumulated 190 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, three interceptions, 15 pass breakups, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in his collegiate career.


Gradishar, Thompson Take in Practice

June 12th, 2013 - 2:28pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

Two Broncos legends stood on the sideline during Wednesday’s minicamp practice.

Ring of Fame linebacker Randy Gradishar and Ring of Fame safety Billy Thompson took in the session before leaving the team with some closing thoughts during the huddle to close practice.

“It was just kind of encouragement, I guess,” Gradishar said of his speech to the team. “A theme would be saying, ‘Just picture yourself of being the hero of the game, whether it’s at practice or during an actual game.’ Sometimes we just look at the actual game, but the practice part, the fight, the fundamentals of playing football and remembering what you’re supposed to go — those things never, never go away, no matter how old or young you are. Keeping those at the forefront of your mind mentally and physically gives them a great opportunity to go back and win a Super Bowl.”

The fact that so many talented Broncos alumni continue to come back to visit Dove Valley stood out to linebacker Von Miller, who appreciated what Gradishar had to say.

“It just shows you the type of organization that we have,” Miler said. “These guys could have been doing anything in the world. To get B.T. and Mr. Gradishar and all of those guys out here to just take a moment out of their day—to come here and speak with guys that are generations after them—[and that they] still have a connection to the Broncos organization, that just shows you the type of organization that we have. The type of stuff that they’ve been doing over the years.

“A good indicator of the future is the past. Those guys have been doing a lot of good stuff for us, and hopefully we can continue that on for our guys.”

‘That Rah-Rah Screaming Stuff’

June 9th, 2013 - 5:03pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

Derek Wolfe hasn’t even begun his second NFL season, but he’s already a leader on the defense.

“We needed guys to step up in that role. He has accepted it,” said 12-time Pro Bowler Champ Bailey, a leader in his own right. “I like it. He works hard, he’s here every day. He thinks he is going to be the best at his position and I love that confidence about him.”

Wolfe said he leads best through his effort on the field and doing things “the right way.”

Von Miller agreed, saying that leadership “comes with experience and making plays.”

At the same time, Bailey has long said his style has never been that of a vocal leader, and both Wolfe and Miller said Monday that they’re not “big vocal guy(s).”

So that raises the question — are the Broncos lacking the fiery defender that can deliver a pump-up speech at the right time? Is that a weakness of this year’s group?

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Moreno’s Recovery Moving Along

June 3rd, 2013 - 2:48pm by Stuart ZaasOther posts by

Knowshon Moreno’s return from a knee injury that forced him out of Denver’s Divisional Round playoff game against Baltimore last year took another step on Monday as the running back participated in team drills for the first time this offseason.

“Each week, you just want to progress and do more and more each week,” said Moreno, who had been participating in individual and seven-on-seven drills. “I knew coming into this week that I’d be doing more. I didn’t know what I’d be doing more, but I just knew I’d be going in there more and getting a couple more reps. It felt good.”

After playing in Denver’s first two games of the season, Moreno was inactive for the next eight games before returning to the starting lineup following Willis McGahee’s season-ending injury. He finished the year as the team’s starter, opening the final six games of the season and totaling 138 carries for 525 yards and four touchdowns.

Recovering from a season-ending injury is something that Moreno has unfortunately grown accustomed to, as a knee injury also ended his 2011 campaign prematurely.

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Spytek Hired as Southwest Area Scout

June 3rd, 2013 - 2:47pm by Denver_BroncosOther posts by

The Denver Broncos have hired John Spytek as a Southwest area college scout, Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway announced on Monday.

Spytek, who owns eight seasons of personnel experience in the NFL, spent five years with the Philadelphia Eagles (2005-09) before being hired by the Cleveland Browns to oversee their college scouting efforts from 2010-12.

During his three seasons as Cleveland’s director of college scouting, the Browns produced six PFW/PFWA All-Rookie Team selections.

He served as a college/pro scout for the Eagles from 2007-09 after starting his personnel career as an intern with Philadelphia in 2005 and a full-time college scouting assistant in 2006. In his five seasons with the club, the Eagles earned three postseason berths and advanced to the NFC Championship game in 2008.

Spytek got his start in the NFL as an operations intern with Detroit in 2004 after playing linebacker for the University of Michigan from 2000-02. He graduated from Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in general studies and a master’s degree in sports management.

Mental Edge Important to Beadles

June 3rd, 2013 - 6:20am by Stuart ZaasOther posts by

The work that players put in with the strength and conditioning staff in the team’s weight room is fairly obvious, with tangible results.

But guard Zane Beadles goes beyond physical workouts during his offseason training regimen.

He enlists the help of sports psychologists to help round out his game and increase his leadership abilities.

“I try to stick to the things that have helped me be successful in the past and keep building on that stuff,” Beadles said. “I’m still working with the sports psychologist, trying to take on more of a leadership role maybe in my room. But not a lot has changed. I feel like I’m really settling in to what it means to be a pro and really how to approach an offseason and getting ready for training camp and all that stuff. It’s just being more and more comfortable every single day with that side of things.”

In addition to his work in the weight room, Beadles visits Elite Sports Services in Parker, Colo., where he works on visualization training.

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From Emulating Bailey to Learning From Bailey

June 1st, 2013 - 8:39am by Stuart ZaasOther posts by

When rookie cornerback Kayvon Webster took the practice field at the University of South Florida, he proclaimed to everybody around that Champ Bailey had arrived.

That is a habit he has dropped in Denver because, well, Champ Bailey has been here since 2004 – longer than anyone else on the club.

Bailey understands where Webster is coming from because he was in a similar position when he began his NFL career with the Washington Redskins.

“I know how it is,” Bailey said. “Because when I got to Washington, I had Darrell Green. I imitated him and then in my second year, I had Deion Sanders and I imitated him. So, we all imitate guys we look up to. He’s just in a fortunate situation where he has a chance to work with me like I did with those guys. You don’t get those opportunities a lot as a young player.”

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