NOTE: Thursday’s practice time has been changed from the morning to 4:50-7:30pm. It is still free and open to the public. Thank you.
After a 43-hour break, the longest since training camp started last week, the Denver Broncos hit the practice field this afternoon for an intense padded practice that focused a lot on two-minute drill.
There was plenty going on to keep the fans entertained as camp is really cranking up.
ROLL CALL
Newly acquired defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley jumped right into the mix. In his first practice, No. 77 joined the starting defensive line alongside Kevin Vickerson and ends Elvis Dumervil and Robert Ayers.
Linebacker D.J. Williams, running back Lendale White and wide receiver Demaryius Thomas did not participate.
FIRE DRILL
During the later of two team sessions during practice, the Broncos worked exclusively on the two minute drill with quarterbacks Kyle Orton, Tim Tebow and Brady Quinn all getting a shot at running the offense. Each time the ball started on their own 40-yard line with 1:10 left on the scoreboard clock mounted on the side of the team office building. The offense was down 20-14 to the defense.
Orton was up first and started with a 15-yard pass to running back Knowshon Moreno out of the backfield, who ran it out of bounds to stop the clock. After an incomplete pass to receiver Eric Decker, Orton found receiver Brandon Lloyd over the middle for a 12-yard gain, and then tight end Julius Thomas over the middle for a 22-yard gain. With the clock still running, Orton threw another incomplete pass Decker’s way after avoiding a sack by linebacker Von Miller, who made his way into the backfield. However, on the next play, second-and-10 from the 11-yard line with 12 seconds left, Orton found Thomas a yard deep into the end zone for a diving catch. Orton finished the drive 4-for-6 for 60 yards and the score.
Next up was Tebow, who got some help after his first completion, a 5-yard pass to running back Lance Ball, who ran out of bounds. On the next play, Tebow found receiver Matt Willis over the middle, who did a spin move that left two defensive backs running into each other and raced all the way down to the 32-yard line before going out of bounds. The sideline was jacked up as Moreno and Lloyd chased Willis back down the sideline with Lloyd giving the American Ninja Warrior a flying Ninja kick to the back. Tebow proceeded to throw an incomplete pass to receiver Britt Davis in the end zone but on the very next play, they redeemed themselves and Tebow hooked up with Davis on a 10-yard pass over the middle. Davis ran it the rest of the way for the touchdown. Tebow finished 3-for-4 for 60 yards and the score with 40 seconds left on the clock.
Last up was Quinn. The signal caller started out quick, connecting with receiver Eron Riley over the middle for a 9-yard gain, then hitting receiver D’Andre Goodwin over the middle for a 11-yard pickup. These didn’t stop the clock, so with 32 seconds left, Quinn found tight end Dan Gronkowski on a short route, but the play was broken up on a huge hit by linebacker Braxton Kelley, who has layed out several people already during camp. Quinn made up for it by hitting Riley with a diving 11-yard catch on the sideline and then running back Mario Fannin over the middle for a 7-yard gain. This left only 14 seconds on the clock so Quinn became the only quarterback to use a timeout. On the next play, Quinn came out of the timeout and threw to the end zone, but rookie linebacker Nate Irving was there for the interception on the goal line. Irving ran to the 13-yard line before sliding down. Quinn finished 4-for-6 for 38 yards and an interception.
DEFENSE DOMINATION
While the offense controlled the defense for most of the two-minute scrimmages, the defense, notably linebacker Joe Mays, dominated 9-on-7s (granted, they were up two players). Mays stoned Moreno in the backfield and on the next play, recovered a fumble from Lance Ball. Ball got redemption by running through linebacker Jason Hunter a few plays later but it was the defense’s time to shine as linebacker Lee Robinson wrapped up running back Brandon Minor for a solo stop in the backfield shortly after.
PLAYMAKERS
QUOTABLES
QUICK HITS
For more photos of today’s action, see below.
-Kenny Legan
Tags: Training Camp
Tebow’s mentality has always been “fight or flight” mode. That’s when he shines. Last season when the play would break down he would improvise or take off and run. Now the Orton supporters would say “well that’s because he couldn’t make his reads.” Maybe true, but when Orton can’t make his reads he either, takes a sack, throws a pick or throws the ball away.
No one knows what will happen that’s what makes football and life so much fun!
Surprising turn of events. What the?
It now seems very possible that Tim Tebow — and not Kyle Orton — is the odd man out in Denver.
After a bizarre series of twists and turns in which the Broncos were reported to be close to trading Orton to the Dolphins — which many presumed would have put Tebow in line to start — the deal fell through and put Orton right back where he had been, taking reps as the team’s No. 1 quarterback. It was reported throughout the offseason that the Broncos would keep Orton if their price tag wasn’t met. NFL Network insider Michael Lombardi says that the decision by John Elway and John Fox — neither was involved in drafting Tebow — not to pull the trigger has made the 2010 first-round pick expendable.
“He’s in limbo right now,” Lombardi said about Tebow’s future. ”I said all offseason that I thought Tebow wasn’t in their plans. Many in Denver said that wasn’t true. I think, ultimately, he isn’t in their plans.”
Lombardi adds that Tebow was given every indication before the NFL lockout that he would be the starter. For now, that isn’t the case, and it might be Tebow who finds himself on the trading block.
Merril Hodge is an idiot!!! Always channel surf whenever his ugly head rears up on espn.
And people thought I was nuts when I said we should trade Tebow. LOL!
Glad to see Thompson is making plays still. I hope he gets significant PT this year. He’s a playmaker!
Bay, I think Tebow would happily re-negotiate his contract to get out of Denver given the current circumstances. That would be the best solution at this point for everyone concerned with what is going on. This whole situation looks like the Tribunal is trying to steal second while keeping one foot on first. Not gonna happen! The rest of the NFL is not going to play along. Somebody make a decision. If you are right, you are the hero. If you are wrong, you are the goat. Sometimes it sucks being you but that is why you get payed the big bucks.
This goes back to a discussion you and I had a couple of months ago. I think Elway came into the job looking for the next Elway. Good luck with that! Elways come along once or twice in a generation and finding one is a lot more luck than skill. Maybe Luck is the answer but it is just as likely that he is not given the number of 1st round busts at QB. 3 of the 1st round QB’s from his draft were never overly successful. Sometimes, you just have to make do with what you have.
Is it just me or did tebow do better on the 2 minute drill?! must be the pressure of the situation…. kyle chokes OMG! wat a surprise…. and to everyone who seriously thought quinn was getting reps with tebow because he was doin as good…. ROFL do any of you remember preseason last year? as a rookie tebow could beat quinn.
Open your eyes EFX,Orton is a choke artist when the game is on the line,Tebow is at his best when the game is on the line!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Lombardi thing was the heavy subject of the previous blog, can’t believe you guys missed it.
I believe you are right henryac, Tebow will not be as conceited as Orton about his contract and may be willing to renegociate with potential trade suitors, and that would suit me fine, just like Hillis let the man go so he can have a chance to do his stuff somewhere, anywhere. Then we go with Orton and Quinn and my whole outlook on having fun watching QB play this season takes a serious hit, LOL.
Syn’Quad Thompson is a playermaker and could make a push for the other starting CB position this season. Goody, if healthy is the incumbent but will need to be at his best. Thompson having a great camp so far.
He could also play nickel back, as I believe he did last season, where he came up with some clutch interceptions.. (Jest & Texans).
Nate Jones has to go!
With the emergence of a running game (hopefully) and all the great TEs we signed,and a better Defense,this would be the best time to start Tebow,a lot of pressure will be taken off the QB this year!
You don’t have to worry about job security,so start the kid!!!!
sorry – Jets and Texans!
Just playing catch up here guys… is Lombardi building speculation that Tebow could be on his way out????
bay,I just can’t bear to watch another season with Orton at QB,wondering what Tebow would be able to do if he were in there,and I am against trading Tebow,at least until he gets a fair shake,jomho!
rbf1…IDK..but it seems like it!
Yeah rbf1, check out this link TRB posted yesterday:
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-total-access/09000d5d82136d17/Mile-high-limbo-for-Tebow?module=HP11_content_stream
After which I said:
I wouldn’t be too quick to dismiss this report, it went into way too many details to be all hogwash, where there is smoke there is fire.
This makes me crack up about the Raiders, LMAO:
As of this morning, there are five teams over the salary cap: OAK $15.25 mil; PITT $8.5m; DET $7.8m; DALLAS $6.7m: HOUSTON $3.25m.
And Oakland isn’t much better than us, way to go Al Davis, haha.
Dallas still over the cap,after releasing all the players they released,lol.
Poor Cowgirls!
Yeah, the only one that makes sense in there is Pittsburgh, because they are real good.
BFE, the problem may be that he is not going to get a fair shake. He doesn’t fit what they want so there is no reason to look at him. Let him go somewhere else and see if he can fit there. No point in dragging things out any further. If the decision has been made, man up and admit it, move on and hope for the best. The problem they are fighting with is if they let him go and he turns out to be extremely successful somewhere, how do you explain your decision to the fans? Your credibility goes right out the window. That is the dilemma they now find themselves in and they are trying to figure out how to get out of it without loosing their butts one way or the other.
If Tebow went somewhere else and succeeded it would be the equivalent of McD trading Hillis. We basically would be making ourselves look like a player farm. “C’mon down to Denver where you can start you’re career and then you can go an unlock your true potential somewhere esle.”
Feel bad for the triumviate as none of the incumbent QB’s were drafted or signed by them. Bottom line is they will need to what’s best for the Team for this season.
Thousands & Thousands of fans will be very disappointed if Tebow is not provided an opportunity, but we don’t make the decisions. Not saying anything that hasn’t already been said.
McDufus sabotaged us.
If we part ways with Tebow,What about next year,we gonna depend on drafting a QB? or sign Orton long term?
You can’t go into next season banking on getting Luck or any other QB,and God help us if we sign Orton long term,Tebow needs to get a shot,even if it’s next year,imo.
I have like Thompson ever sense we drafted him. I hope he gets his shot at Corner and even gets his fair share of touches in the return game as well.
henryac, as pointed out by TRB yesterday it’s basically the same exact situation we found ourselves in with Hillis, I was adamant that after the way he had been overlooked by McD that we had to trade him to give the kid a chance, that’s the right thing to do, and look at what happened, and the very same thing might happen with Tebow, but he deserves a chance at finding out, and it doesn’t seem like he’ll ever get a fair shake here, so let’s move on and let him go and free up 8 plus mil in the process, that’s pretty much down to where I’m at now, rather fast turn of event.
Like Lombardi said there are more twists and turns in Denver now than there are in the best of soap operas, and ever since Shanny left that’s unfortunately been the case and has helped out our demise, very concerning that we are still at this point, the organization needs to clear this mess up to get us out of this dubious limelight, like RIGHT NOW!
Time has come for the Triumvirate to make the tough call, navigating around the QQ the way they have has had nothing but negative effects on the players and the fans, we all need to know exactly where we’re at, including Tebow.
I honestly wish that as people we could be told something straight up. Everyone thinks the common folk like most of us must be stupid. When you’re words say one thing and your’re actions speak another its confusting, misleading and basically insulting. Actions speak louder than words. If their plan was to not include Tebow just say that. Sure you’d have your fans that would be mad but toying with us and then just doing nothing with Tebow would be more disturbing.
Lombardi is a guy that I have a lot of respect for,but he is speculating,I still want facts before I believe the Broncos think Tebow is expendable!
Bay, I agree, bro, it’s time to fish or cut bait. There is an old saying in management that chaos at the top begats chaos at the bottom. They may have inherited this situation but they haven’t done anything to clear it up. If anything, they have made it worse. Make a clean break and move on before it gets any further out of control. As I mentioned before, this is not going to end well no matter how it works out.
EFX was supposed to be wide open to the fans,but it seems we are in the closet as much as we were when McDufus was here….sigh!
I am just sick of all this talk. Guys in the locker room want Orton as there starter because they see he is much better. But when Orton is down 3 points in the fourth quarter and throws an INT he might want to get the hell out of town.
Funny how Brian and I are basically saying the same things at the same time the last couple of posts, first the Hillis thing, then the be up front with us, where has the transparency gone, the promise that was the major platform of Elway’s campaign, gone with the Rocky Mountains wind I guess….
Yeah, they’re like nurturing a cancer, I rather go for eradication.
Obviously running a NFL team from the front office is nothing like running it on the field, John is getting an education for sure and he always said he knew he would.
Much noise been made about Lloyd having a breakout year with Orton. In reality, in Tebow’s 3 starts, Lloyd had 14 catches for
263 Yds and 2 TDs. WTF is he complaining about
Like BFE said, it`s just speculation. The Broncos never said that Tebow is expendable. Some of you guys are assuming that Tebows toast based on a report by the NFL Network. Your jumpimg to conclusions. The media thrives on this hoopla conjured up by all off the naysayers. I`m not going to go there, not until the Broncos show there cards.
The Denver fans are going to turn on Kyle Orton in week 1.
If Tebowws gone then the Broncos will only win a game or two and we`ll be in the running for the Luck sweepstakes. Thats if Tebow is finished here.
You guys are crazy if you really believe they are going to trade tebow. Do you honestly think Lombardi has the inside scoop about whats going on in Denver? He is a complete moron. Assuming Tebow is on the block when he’s only started 3 games and only in his second year? Please, not happening.
I don’t want to be in the Luck sweepstakes. I’d really like to know what we have in him. If last year’s 3 games is any indication it could be somthing really great. 3 games, sitting on the bench, and weekly practices isn’t quite the change I’d hoped Tebow would get.
It’s kind of funny because over the last two years everyone was kind of liking Lombardi because he was always the one who stuck his neck out to say we were better than what many other analysts were saying and now he says something about the organization not having any plans for Tebow and all of a sudden he is the biggest joke on earth, talk about having it both ways…
The Broncos will have to end the season in very last place to be eligable to draft Luck next year.
Even as bad as we were last year we still didn’t get a shot at the #1 pick. The Broncos being in position to draft Luck is not a for sure thing at all, as a matter of fact it is a real long shot.
I don’t know how anyone can bank on getting luck? there will be half of the leauge fighting to get that pick..
I really don’t like the way EFX have handled this QB situation at all. If nothing else, it makes them look like they have no idea what they are doing with the QBs… One day they announce Orton is on the trading block and the next day they say he is the starter…. What kind of signal does that send to everyone? A signal of confusion is what I get.
so how long do we think until the Tebow chants start at Invesco?
Unfortunately the best way to get rid of that potential problem for the organization, the fans chanting Tebow, would be to trade him now…
I think that for as long as we have been kept in the dark about the real QB situation in Denver ever since McD traded Cutler it would only be fair to everyone to let us know what the long term plans are, unless they have no clue of course, so maybe that’s what it is, ther are no plans as far as the QB situation will be long term, they are just gonna go with it one game at the time, the old cliche, because like OC says hoping to draft Luck is only slightly better odds than winning the lottery, like everyone should know Orton is not the long term solution specially at the box office and Tebow is seemingly not ready for the NFL, so I don’t really see what the plan could be, if there is a clear one in place it is extremely well hidden. Maybe they are hoping that miraculously Tebow will become a good practice player next year and earn the job?
Lombardi doesn`t have all the answers, he human too, just saying.
Bay your over- reacting.
new blog