The second practice of the day kicked off in cooler weather as the players practiced in shells and shorts.
Robert Ayers didn’t miss a practice after getting shaken up this morning, but he did wear an elbow brace on his left arm. Champ Bailey, Brian Dawkins and Brandon Stokley all returned to practice for the evening session after taking the morning off.
Stanley Daniels made his return to the practice field as well, entering the lineup as the first-unit right guard.
D.J. Williams, Jamal Williams, Daniel Graham, Jabar Gaffney and Demaryius Thomas sat out the afternoon session. They all appeared to be headed to the weight room for a workout along with Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter.
OFFENSE’S TURN
Kyle Orton said this morning that the offense needed to work on its consistency after a “flat” practice. Suffice it to say that the offensive side of the ball bounced back.
The session was highlighted by a one-minute drill to close out practice, and the offense — led by Orton — started its drive in its own territory with the score tied. Just a couple plays into the drive, with the ball at the 46-yard line, Orton dropped back and fired a pass deep to Brandon Lloyd. The receiver, who had streaked past Perrish Cox toward the end zone, found the ball in the air and came down with it to raucous applause from the fans in attendance before being brought down at the 6-yard line. The offense hurried to the ball and spiked it to stop the clock with just two seconds remaining, setting up what would’ve been a Matt Prater field goal.
Stokley got involved in the highlights earlier in practice, when Orton dropped back and launched a deep ball that looked like it might be overthrown. The veteran kept running, however, sprinting under the ball to haul it in with his fingertips just past Nate Jones. After the play, Jones spent time talking with secondary coach Ed Donatell.
It didn’t take long for Justin Fargas to get into the action. The newcomer broke through the line on a handful of runs, much to the delight of the crowd.
Alric Arnett made back-to-back athletic catches midway through practice. First, he adjusted to a pass thrown by Orton to his back shoulder, diving toward the ground to haul it in. He followed that up with a leaping catch of a ball delivered by Tim Tebow.
Orton dropped passes into the middle of the defense on two consecutive throws at the end of 7-on-7s — first to Britt Davis, then to Stokley.
DEFENSIVE PLAYMAKERS
That wasn’t to say that the defense didn’t have its fair share of highlights as well.
Topping them all might have been Bailey in coverage. The veteran quickly closed on a pass toward Stokley, tipped it in the air and corralled it for an interception.
Cassius Vaughn had a highlight, as well. When Orton fired a quick screen pass to Matthew Willis, the receiver dropped the ball — and since the pass was technically a lateral behind the line of scrimmage, Vaughn scooped up the ball and sprinted into the end zone for a defensive score. On the very next play, Orton went right back to Willis, who caught a pass in front of Vaughn.
Alphonso Smith got into the action, breaking up a deep pass intended for Arnett during 11-on-11s. Dawkins had a notable pass breakup as well. During 7-on-7s, the safety leaped into the air to swat away a pass intended for Richard Quinn.
Andre’ Goodman snagged the second interception of the afternoon session when he outjumped Willis for the pick.
QUICK HITS
Friday morning’s practice has been closed to the public. For an updated practice schedule, click here or call the training camp hotline — (720) 258-3709.
The first two players on the field Wednesday afternoon? Orton and J.D. Walton. The two practiced their quarterback-center exchanges in between sprints.
Toward the end of practice, Head Coach Josh McDaniels sounded an air horn before announcing “Water up!” Trainers and training camp interns sprinted onto the field with bottles full of water and Gatorade, and the players took a quick break.
Speaking of which, the NFL and Gatorade encourage you to “Beat the Heat” this summer with proper hydration and nutrition before, during and after practices and games. For more, click here.
Before practice began, The Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” was pumping through the speakers. Ryan McBean had just made his way onto the field when the song kicked in, and the defensive linemen clearly enjoyed what he was hearing. He danced his way toward the rest of the defensive line, even spinning a few times with his arms outstretched.
President and CEO Pat Bowlen made his way out to the practice field to watch Wednesday’s afternoon session.
The linebackers had a competition going to see who could catch the most interceptions while running through a drill. Defensive assistant Craig Aukerman fired passes as hard as he could toward the ‘backers, who celebrated if they made the catch and taunted others who let it fly off their hands.
During defensive line drills, position coach Wayne Nunnely reminded his players to not just go through the motions. “I don’t do drills just to do drills,” he shouted.
TRAINING CAMP JUKEBOX
The afternoon session featured an eclectic mix. It kicked off with Bell Biv DeVoe’s “Poison,” then jumped straight into Poison’s “I Want Action.” Next up was Blur’s “Song 2,” and finally Matisyahu’s “One Day” closed out the warmups.
Below are pictures from the session.
-Gray Caldwell, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: 2010, Kyle Orton, Training Camp
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Goody isn`t going anywhere. No way! Just because a player goes down on another team and they start fishing around for a paticular player from another team does`nt mean it`s automatic. It` s just speculation. With Champ, Goody, Cox, Jones, and phonzy ect…. were gonna have the best corners in the NFL hands down. McD has traded away proplem childs not men of character. Andre is going nowhere, and I will take it to the bank. We will shut down the best of offences this year. Let the games begin.
BiggestBronco, DJ and Jamal are just limited practices and are fine. I saw Daniel Graham practicing at the Scrimmaging at Mile High on Sat. Thomas and gaffney are expected to return Monday. They should be good to go by the second preseason game.
Man , what a man has to do to see post.
Personally I think if we could get a second round pick for Goody it could pay off, I too don’t want us to get rid of him but I think we are deep in talent at DB and for the right price it could be a smart move for us!
Thats the blogging truth.