The third day of Pro Bowl practice got off to an eventful start for the DenverBroncos.com contingent here in town. With thoughts of showing up to practice a little early today, we hopped in the car only to get stuck behind an open drawbridge immediately after pulling out of the hotel.
It’s a neat sight, watching a large bridge open up to let boats sail through, but it cut into our timing a bit. Then, wouldn’t you know it, we ran into another open drawbridge right before arriving at St. Thomas Aquinas High School. By the time the bridge closed again, we were stopped by a parade of police officers on motorcycles — the escort for the AFC team buses headed to practice. We made it to the session in time, but running into two drawbridges and a police escort is an interesting way to start your day.
After the morning chaos, the actual practice was the most relaxed session of the week. Players didn’t wear helmets today — instead, hats and visors peppered the line of scrimmage. While the positions groups were going through drills, the offensive linemen stood in a circle in the end zone and essentially played hackey sack with a football, trying to keep the ball off the ground without using their hands.
In 11-on-11 drills, the offense and defense typically jog through the plays, which of course means there is no contact. But defensive players tend to raise their arms and bring them down quickly to signify that they made the tackle. Even among the most talented defenders in the AFC, it seemed that Brian Dawkins was the one who constantly found his way to the ball to make the hypothetical tackle.
Some of the funniest sights and sounds once again came on special teams, as Chad Ochocinco continued making his way into the kicking game. At one point, Oakland punter Shane Lechler actually served as the long snapper, delivering the ball back to Ochocinco for a punt. When it came time for field goal drills, Ochocinco got one attempt in, and he drove it through the uprights. The receiver even tried his hand at kickoffs, and Champ Bailey and Dawkins sprinted down the field on the coverage team. Elvis Dumervil was one of the blockers for the receiving team, and made a point to find Bailey and block him to the sideline as both Broncos laughed.
It’s obvious the players are getting to know each other better and better, as Bailey had Darrelle Revis cracking up for much of the day, and Brandon Marshall spent part of the day joking around with Andre Johnson, Ray Lewis and Deion Sanders, who is in South Florida with NFL Network.
For more from the third day of Pro Bowl practice, check out a photo gallery, a Broncos TV report and a top story with reaction from Dawkins and Dumervil on the hiring of Don Martindale as defensive coordinator. More photos from today’s session are below.
-Gray Caldwell, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Brandon Marshall, Brian Dawkins, Champ Bailey, Elvis Dumervil, Pro Bowl, Ryan Clady
Nice to see all the Broncos having some fun.
Crazy how Chris Johnson looks taller than Dumervil in the last picture. Maybe the way the picture was taken?
hey has anybody else heard something like doom going to miami with nolan, I got a message from espn insider on my phone saying something to that effect and it was reported by adam schefter ?? Just wondering if anybody else has heard anything to that effect
Jde_07: Just a rumor as much as I can find. They think Nolan will try to lure Dumervil over there, but we have to remember he is a RFA.
thanks yeah I know he is a rfa, my roommate and I were discussing that last night, I figure denver will bring him back and try to trade marshal, isnt orton a rfa too?
Yeah Orton is too. I’m going to say we’ll probably give Orton a 2 year extention.
Chris Johnson and the Doominator are both 5’11″.
Don’t know about Nolan, but Doom has invited three assistant coaches as guests in Miami, Don “Wink” Martindale, Roman Phifer and Rich Tuten.
Thats why i love the pro bowl…so much great talent in one place. All about fun….I think its one of the things that remind players why they love the game and about the fun of the game…so that they never forget the fun. Because once playing becomes ALL work and NO fun…Might as well pack it in.
The Pro Bowl is just good ol backyard football. Pure fun. Friends tryign to one up each other. All about who can be the most exciting. Big plays, trick plays, Laterals, etc. Sometimes its just good to let your hair down….
I really like it when they play without helmets , it’s so much more personal and since they don’t hit in this game anyway I still think that’s how they should play it, a non contact, no pads, no helmets type of game, that would be so much more fun to watch than a fake game, just my opinion.
I think Johnson has Doom by about 3 inches (counting his hair).LOL
I listened to the Broncos video that had Doom and dawkins talking about our new DC. I was a little concerned that Martindale was a second choice becuse no top names were interested in coming here. While it may be true, after listening to Doom and Dawkins, I feel Martindale was the perfect choice; players know and respect him, no change in terminology, Martindale wants Broncos D to be an aggrssive, attacking defense.
Yeah, I agree that continuity is a positive with Martindale, but the fact that Pees took a job with the Ravens when it was heavily reported that he was the front runner for our job, and how long it took to give Martindale the promotion doesn’t bode well to me at all. McD wanted someone else but couldn’t land them, that’s troublesome. As far as what the players are saying about the promotion, I am not putting an ounce of worth to that considering a player who is currently employed with the team would always give their unconditional support to whatever changes are made, that’s a no brainer.
This is definitely one of the cases where looking at it through my orange colored glasses doesn’t help at all. I understand the rational going on with the fans to somehow justify this promotion, I just haven’t be able do so, no big deal, I hope it works out great.
Listen to the video again. Listen to what Dawkins says about Martindale helping him learn him position better! LB coach teaching Safety how to play his position better says volumes. This wasn’t party line, this was from the heart. Sometimes getting a big name isn’t the best thing even if it’s what everybody including myself expected. Only time will tell. One thing for cetrtain, the Broncos defense played totally different the first six games than the did the last 10 with a few exceptions. If that doesn’t fall on Nolan’s shoulders, whose does it?
Agreed Nolan did not fit in, as a reference I made earlier, a three piece suit type along the same sideline as a hooded sweatshirt type does not bode well for establishing coaching chemistry between the two.
thanks for the post Gray,
I’m excited to see what our new DC can bring. Oddly looks just like Rex Ryan in the pics…hope he brings it!
I listened to the video, continuity is what really stands out to me in all that, and in that respect we will come out of the gates ahead of where we would of been at had we gone with an outside guy, no doubt about that, the transition will be much smoother than with Pees by example, but what is the long term outlook, time will tell us, like I said I’ll be rooting for it to work out great, I am not the kind who’ll be waiting for failure to prove my point, no big deal, just opinions, that’s all I’ll say about that.
Minus 100 lbs, Martindale is big, but Rex is huge, the Cody of coaches, LOL, did you see him trot (he was trying to run) over to the ref to call the time out last week? Hilarious.
I saw that! He seemed pretty pissed that he ha d to huff it the full 20 yards!
The defence carried the offence all year.The defence just got tiered at the end off each game becuase they play allmost the whole game every game all year long.You cant blame Mike Nolen for what the offence didn’t do.except for the last game the defence played like champions.Except for Jervis Moss.He has ben a bust for 3 years already.Wish the Broncos can get a first round pick for him.lol maybe we could get a first round pick for Kyle Orten and Jervis Moss.
cody, where are you? LOL.
Milelow
Defense didnt play like champions. Maybe in the first 6 weeks. But later on sometimes they were hot, sometimes they were cold. I get the point of D tired of being on the field but that wasnt the only factor to the defensive decline. Wasn’t the play call on D either….Just missed tackles, blown assignments, and trying to do TOO MUCH. PLay as one unit not 11 individuals…that sorta thing. This is just my opinion tho…
Also a friendly request, can u stop putting the wrong vowels in peoples names like OrtOn and JArvis. Much appreciated….cuz while some may think u don’t know how to spell i think u just do it on purpose
PS: I like Jarvis Moss…only cuz i kick butt with him in Madden as a DE lol
Rex the Cody of coaches..lol..
I thought Moss would excell in 3-4, long arms and tremendous speed…he needs to outplay people ASAP!
Ok, what other coaching positions are we missing?
Just LB coach now i beleive
Feel so bad for moss…people calling him a bust really got to him…to the point that he wanted to retire…for all i know maybe he is talented in our 3-4…maybe the only reason he isnt getting a shot is cuz he fell so far on the depth chart….who knows…needs to ask doom for help or something…for all u know he could go somewhere and be a beast..u never know
Martindale was the best pick over Pees or someone else coming in and changing everything again! Sounds like the players from young and old agreed and even were hoping that he would get promoted! Time will tell. Baylin you having any fun yet with the Pro Bowl? Brian and TheRoyalBeast are all in on the fun and games. LOL
GO BRONCOS!! GO PRO BOWL!!
FTR
TheRoyalBeast
I’am with you on Moss. Sometimes it could be the wrong team or coaches but I think he has the talent to be great in the right place.
FTR
Broncos20:
Let’s see I can think of two coaching positions we need. Running Backs and Offensive Line.
FTR
FTR, you are feeding some pretty wild information here, LOL. Running back coach position has been filled with Eric Studesville from the Bills, and offensive line coach position has also been filled with Clancy Barone from the Chargers as TE/offensive line coach and Bob Wylie from the Canadian Football league as the assistant offensive line coach. The only spot to fill is the one vacated by Martindale, the LB coaching position.
And if you had any doubts, I’ll be way more interested by the Senior bowl this week-end than the pro bowl, LOL.
Actually, Barone was already here last year as the TE coach, he is now the offensive line coach, and Bob Ligashesky is the new TE coach.
Current Coaching Staff:
Josh McDaniels- Head Coach
Mark Thewes- Assistant to Head Coach
Don Martindale – Defensive Coordinator
Mike McCoy – Offensive Coordinator
Mike Priefer – Special Team Coordinator
Clancy Barone – Offensive Line
Keith Burns – Special Teams Assistant
Ed Donatell – Secondary
Adam Gase – Wide Receivers
Bob Ligashesky – Tight Ends
Ben McDaniels – Quarterbacks
Wayne Nunnely – Defensive Line
Roman Phifer – Assistant Linebackers
Jay Rodgers – Defensive Assistant
Greg Saporta – Assistant Strength and Conditioning
Eric Studesville – Running Backs
Rich Tuten – Strength and Conditioning
Bob Wylie – Assistant Offensive Line
Note to Broncos Brass……
Please Re-Sign Marshall!!!!!!!!!!
Senior bowl players I’ll be watching with great interest:
South team,
62 Terrence Cody NT
24 Anthony Dixon Power Back
55 Dan Williams NT
33 Lamarr Houston DT
77 John Jerry OT/OG
66 Mitch Petrus OG
78 Mike Johnson OG
55 J.D. Walton C
15 Tim Tebow QB (included here just to keep bloggers happy, LOL)
North team,
77 Mike Iupati OL
13 Dan LeFevour QB
91 Jared Odrick DT
92 Mike Neal DE
95 Cam Thomas DT
This could mean a lot more to us than the pro bowl…
Today, 2pm Mtn time.
NFL network.
Sorry bay,
I have been enjoying my leave. Down in somewhat sunny Phoenix. Better than always freezing Minot.
Bay,
Here’s two more to keep an eye on in todays game.
North,
72 Vladimir Ducasse 6’5″ 326 LT/OG
76 Ed Wang 6’5″ 315 LT/ possible OG
We’ll get to see if Tebow can 3-5-7 from under center today. it will be interesting to watch.
What would you estimate that the Broncos “shotgun vs under center” snaps were last year.
cody, I was trying to be funny, I asked where you were right after the milelow post, LOL, you are the one who always take exception to his writing, right?
OC, I’d say 65% shotgun, am I close?
And thanks for your additions as who to look for, but both guys you mentioned were primarly tackles and as we have great tackles, I’ll be looking more at guards and Center.
From looking at the shotgun % in the league, it seems as the Patriots do it the most with about 55%, so we were probably more like around 50-55% is my guess.
McDaniels is a joke! He took a 7 and 9 team with a much improved defense thanks to Nolan to 8 and 8. Wow really impressive. No one wants to work with him not Cutler, Marshall, or Nolan. Bowlen needs to get rid of him before he destroys the franchise.
We were 8-8 in 2008 then McD took over, not 7-9.
2006 was our last winning season with 9-7, then 7-9 in 2007 and 8-8 in 2008 and 2009, 32-32 in the last 4 season, a perfect average record, LOL.
Shanahan was responsible for 3 of those average years, McD in his first year has one, let’s see where McD takes our record next year, he doesn’t qualify as a joke yet.
The only reason we weren’t even more in shotgun formation this year was because of the propensity to find ourselves in 3rd and one and 4th and one way too often, LOL. Remember the play? Behind the center hand off to KNOWAYKNOWSHONONSHORTANDONE. LOL.
Baylin
I applaud you for that cool and calm response to someone calling for McDs head with inccorect facts. Durprised u didnt rip him a new one…
Ive been saying fire McD since he came. Also thought he was pompous and an a$$ until he proves me wrong (was my message sign off for a while. Since Brandon Marshall thing, hate him even more. But since i never liked him from the start, my opinion on him getting fired and his worth and etc hold minimal weight cuz I was skeptical about his arrival. And since he has gotten here, lets just say he has rubbed a couple of people the wrong way or vice versa. At the end of the day, he is our coach. He is not going anywhere not unless he fails for 2 more seasons.You dont fire a superbowl coach (and close friend) for a guy u will only give a 1 year shot
Knowshon on short yardage run….biggest mystery of 09. McD was trying to force Knoshon to be what he wanted him to be, instead of working with his skillset and using someone else better suited….Didnt help that it was basically the same play 90 PERCENT OF THE TIME lol
SENIOR BOWL BABY… HOPE EVERYBODY WILL BE WATCHING
What would you guys think of us trading Brandon Marshall to SEA to get our #14 pick back, then when NE places the Franchise Tag on Vince Wilfork we can offer that pick to them in exchange for the disgruntled NT, and use OUR #10/11 pick on Dez Bryant? Marshall gets his wish, gets outta’ Denver, goes to a different conference so he is less likely to come back & haunt us in the future, and we get a bonafied beast @ the NT position along with a sure shot star @ WR??
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