Perrish Cox can thank the man sitting next to him in the meeting room for his early season production.
Champ Bailey has served as the rookie cornerback’s sounding board as he acclimates himself to the NFL, but the nine-time Pro Bowler’s field presence could be the biggest reason why he and Cox are tied for the team lead with 7 passes defensed.
When a quarterback scans the field and sees a receiver covered by a veteran with 47 career interceptions, he’s more likely to avoid Cox’s neighbor in the film room and test the rookie’s mettle.
“Coach tells me every day, ‘Look beside you. That’s the reason you’re going to get every pass every game,’” Cox said.
In Week 2 against Seattle, Matt Hasselbeck trusted his receiver to outplay Cox in coverage, but the quarterback watched his pass fly into the rookie’s hands for his first career interception. A week later against the Colts, Cox entered the game for Andre’ Goodman, and Peyton Manning immediately completed a pass in front of him.
The Oklahoma State product welcomes the extra attention he gets because of his youth, but he hopes his play will eventually teach opposing quarterbacks that throwing to his side of the field isn’t their best option.
“It’s big-time motivation,” he said. “It also gives me more chances to make plays and to change the mindframe of those quarterbacks. Soon that will change, but right now I’ve just got to keep playing ball.”
Every pass thrown in his direction gives Cox an opportunity to make a play and analyze his successes or shortcomings on the sideline and in the film room. He said the more action he sees, the faster he can progress.
“You learn quicker,” Cox said. “Getting game experience is really all you can ask for in order to get better.”
The cornerback gives up years of knowledge to the veteran pass catchers he lines up against, so he picks up tidbits from teammates Brandon Lloyd and Jabar Gaffney on how they would play him. Cox doesn’t surrender his confidence to older opponents.
“I just have to play ball like I know I can play,” Cox said. “That’s how I go into games.”
HOMETOWN HEROES
At some point, both Cox and LaDainian Tomlinson have donned football jerseys for University High School in Waco, Texas.
“I knew him from there — never played against him,” Cox said. “I always watched him play and I just talked to my head coach from back in high school — we went to the same high school. I talked to my head coach yesterday and he just thinks it’ll be a great game. This is my first time playing him, so I’ve just got to say poised, just like I do on the outside.”
Cox said he’s talked with Tomlinson when the running back would return to Waco to run football camps. The rookie looks up to Tomlinson, but he won’t take it easy on the running back once the whistle blows.
“This is all competition,” Cox said. “Whatever happens on the field stays on the field, but off the field he’s one of the greatest backs that I’ve ever known.”
Robert Ayers (foot), Andre Brown (illness), Brian Dawkins (knee), Andre’ Goodman (quadricep), Darcel McBath (ankle), Knowshon Moreno (hamstring), Demaryius Thomas (concussion) and Wesley Woodyard (hamstring) did not practice on Wednesday. Mario Haggan (neck) and Spencer Larsen (ankle) were limited in practice.
For the Jets, LB Calvin Pace (foot) and CB Darelle Revis (hamstring) did not practice, while S Jim Leonhard (biceps), C Nick Mangold (shoulder), G Brandon Moore (hamstring) and LB Jamaal Westerman (ankle) fully particpated in practice.
-Gabe Hiatt, DenverBroncos.com
Below are photos from today’s practice:
Tags: 2010, Champ Bailey, Denver Broncos, LaDainian Tomlinson, Perrish Cox
I agree with TRB…..I think Moreno,Buck,and Maroney all could excell in a mostly zone blocking scheme.
BFE92… thanks!
The only problem is that after October 19th… no more trades. So once we start playing our sucky division rivals we are in it to win it. There no other options. Poop or no poop hitting Baylin.
danso…when things look gloomy,and the team looks like it’s in disaray,fans will say what they think we need to do,it’s just opinions,it’s mainly frustration,and we all know coaches have been fired with not even a full season under their belts,just saying.
hometeam007…I don’t know if trading is the answer either,we all know what happens when McD trades players and draft picks,we get screwed everytime,just saying.
I love these discussions when I already addressed the subject, it save me some typing, like about what’s wrong with the running game, this is what I said yesterday, sorry for the ones who already read it, but it’s worth a re-post in my opinion:
And the Saints just signed Julius Jones, thought he was worth a look, same with Larry Johnson, but obviously McD thinks our running problems lie elsewhere and I tend to agree, but to me it’s not just about the execution like he says, but also about that ever since McD got rid of our RB coach and O line coach and hired his own coaches to switch to his scheme is when things went kaput.
The system and the O line/running game coaching are flawed or both, how else can we explain such inability to even have the semblance of a running game for so long. The O line can only be so bad, but we have three proven vets on it in Clady, Harris and Kuper, who even if not all 100% should be able to get some yards with a proper run design, same can be said with the running backs, they are not so bad that whenever either one of them carries the ball, they run into a wall one or two yards past the line of scrimmage about every time.
Law of averages would suggest that both the play of the O line and the variety of RB’s we have put in there would be successful enough to get 4 or 5 yards here and there, but we don’t, hence it tells me it goes deeper than that, to the root of the problem, to the guys who design this whole running scheme, to McD who tells Studeville and Barone what he wants and either those two are not capable of getting it done or McD’s running method does not work which I believe is the culprit. Either way there is a problem at the top, not just execution, that’s too easy a way to explain the severity of this mess.
And BTW, the only valid argument with the power scheme over the zone one is that no zone blocking scheme team has won the superbowl since the Broncos did it in 1998, the argument is a team will tire out quicker late in the season with the zone scheme due to the more running around for the O line. Not me making the argument, just heard it before from others and maybe even some from McD, not sure.
Baylin…agree with you 100% bro,now if we could get McD to buy into it,we might get some changes made,but I can’t hold my breath for very long,so I would probably pass out.
I know what I’ll get McD for Christmas:
A MIRROR.
Let’s all of us “McD, please take a look in the mirror” fans chip in and buy him one of those big magnifying mirror for Christmas, so there is no way he can get around not taking a good look at himself, LOL.
LOL
Please read the whole article,if you are interested in the zone blocking scheme and what it did for us with a lot of different RBs.
And I’m not posting this because it has nothing to do with the Redkins or where Shanny is now just about zone blocking:
http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/story/Fantasy-Football-Impact-Washington-Redskins-Clinton-Portis-Ryan-Torain-100610
Well, who doesn’t need to work on something? Stupid mirrors.
As far as McD’s understanding of how the Offense can move the ball on the ground, he probably has a better grasp than most of us fans. If not than we have real troubles.
I am definitely an advocate for rolling up the sleeves, getting input from others and solving the problem. It seems that McDaniels and Elway spent some time together this off-season with good results. So I really don’t think he has some impenetrable ego issue.
I guess we shall see over the next few weeks if adjustments can be made. Its kinda exhausting to discuss.
Go Broncos…..Dominate the Jets!
And there are still a LOT of teams using the zone blocking scheme,I think a dozen or so,including the Jets,KC,Houston,and Titans.Pretty good running teams huh????
i think our running scheme would work , if we had bigger, stronger OL. We have a rookie in JD and i just dont see harris as a Power blocker. Just saying. The battle is won in the trenches, and were losing it badly. Our RBS obviously arent the problem, considering they have nothing to run into. We all knew our O line was going to suck BA**S this year…so yea
Not saying the power scheme don’t work,because it does,but I don’t think we have the coaches or players to run that scheme,just my personal opinion.
i agree.
Bronco-blace, three of our O lineman were ranked the top 5 in the NFL at their respective positions (Clady, Harris, Kuper). Soooo, I don’t think all the blame resides in the O line.
Im with baylin, Ive said it many times. Its the coaching, u can keep switching out OL and RBs and the result will be the same because its the run scheme mcd brought and the coaches coaching it. It barely works for the patriots why would it work for us? most of the times the defense is in the back field before the ball is in the RBs hands. And once again that is because ALL the run plays look the same and scream run. ALL of them. No immagination. Just a bunch of big sets….
I think were all on the same page about this issue.
Sorry if this was already talked about but what happened to Ayers? Someone said he is out for six weeks? What happened? Did he break something?
Ayers broke his foot, out six weeks, Dawkins strained his knee out two to three weeks, most likely three since the week after that is our bye week.
The entire football world knows we can not run the ball, and I have not seen any attempt to rectify the problem. We brought in a broken down NE RB! That was the attempt to correct the problem. How many yards have we gained on the ground, not counting QB scrambles and sneeks. I bet its less than 200. I want to see some attempt to fix this issue.
At least make an attempt even if it doesn’t work. I feel like McD is just expecting it to all the sudden kick in.
And BFE yeah we’re all on the same page since 12:51 pm. LOL.
EXECUTION my friend, elementary, it’s all about execution, when everyone executes we will run like the wind (McD talking, not I).
Thank you baylinocrush. Even though its pretty bad news. I’m at a lost for words. Wow.
Baloney Maroney
Unlucky Bucky
No first down Brown
Noshow Moreno
Yeah, when is the trading deadline, LOL, I know Tuesday.
This broncos debacle is giving me a brain strain. Ok, I guess I’m not totally at a loss for words. lol
I would like to see a formation with Tebow as the tailback. Hand it to him and let him run or pass it. That would be fun to watch. What happened to the wild horses/wildcat? Where is the creativity? If I see another 2 tight end set (goalline formation) in an attempt to run the ball this weekend I might vomit all over my t.v.!!!
LMAO at baylin.
I’m with you on that one mandiego. lol At least some of us can find humor in how miserable our team is playing right now.
Some folks throw their shoes at their TV, others vomit on it? Gross.
It’s good therapy for me, McD is not, LOL.
Ya it sucks to keep having to buy new t.v’s. They are spendy!
I just stop watching if things get too bad. If they aren’t competitive I can’t stand it. I would rather do yard work.
Maybe McD has a bunch of stocks in the TV business, haha.
Others go to the lake and not watch.LOL
And like an idiot I always watch it and to the very end, but I don’t take it hard like I used to, plus I still have beers to drink at the sports bar anyway.
I don’t have any sports bars close,about 50 miles away,that sucks!!!
Yeah I swore when we won the 2 Superbowls I wouldn’t let losing get me down again,it hurts,but not as bad as it used to,I guess age might have something to do with it too.
You know what freaks me out about Bronco bloggers is how many admittedly miss watching games entirely weeks after weeks and yet they are still here telling us all about what we are doing right or wrong and what we should do about it, it always totally freaks me out, I never miss a game and if I did I would certainly not be arguing here about it, the blind fans I guess is what I should refer to them as, they think that by reading the game breakdown and the stats they got it all figured out, freaks me out!
But my wife hates it when the Broncos lose(even tho they are not her team)cause I still tend to cuss and scream a lot at the damn tv.
I couldn’t get the Ravens game in my area anyway,just using the lake as an excuse,if it’s on tv I watch them everytime and never missed one in 28 years,that I can remember.
My wife kind of hates it if I happen to watch a game at home (rarely) and we win, because that’s when I get real loud, screaming my lungs out for all TD’s and other great plays. When we stink up the joint I just go real quiet and my wife would have to check out on me to see if I’m still ticking. Funny how we can all be so different.
And I watch till the scoreboard hits 00:00 too,even if were getting killed.
She can tell if were winning or losing,even if shes not watching,by the way I cuss,I scream when we get a big play or a TD,but if it’s a bad play,she says do you have to use that word?? and I say it again.LOL
CurtOU….LMAO…that would suck.
It’s 5:00 guys I’m outta here.
I was watching playbook last night and they highlighted some problems with our running game. There was one example of a badly drawn play where the TE was in motion was supposed to slam into Haloti Ngata and ran right by him instead. The 3 other plays they showed were all examples of us just getting our butts kicked. One D-lineman breezing through two blockers, the three key blockers all getting knocked on their butts etc. The biggest problem is execution. I know I’m not supposed to cite analysts who know what they’re talking about because it somehow takes the fun out of blogging, but I can’t help my self in this instance. The funny thing is Sterling and the gang never once said, “It’s because of their scheme, everyone knows that zone blocking is the only way.” Our guys are getting beat up. I agree with those who say that our young line is part of the reason. The average amount of experience our O-line is roughly 2 years. Compare that two the O-lines of teams like the Jets who have roughly 5 years and the Ravens who have almost 6 years experience on average.
And I don’t care what team you are, most of your pass plays are going to look like pass, and most of your run plays are going to look like run. I do agree that you have to add some deception in your formations, but to employ it successfully it has to be done a minority of the time. No one does all deception all the time in any sport. Any game for that matter. In poker we say the guys who are ALWAYS trying to be deceptive have, “trick play syndrome” and they are never winning players in the long run. That being said we’ve seen the Broncos staff do some creative things in the run game. Most of them haven’t worked thus far. Yet I’m not ready to pronounce our run game dead. Not in the first 5 weeks anyway. I actually saw some good things come out of last week and I’m confident we will continue to improve. And no matter what our record is by the end of this season, I think you negative nancies will be unpleasantly surprised to find out that Bowlen will keep McDaniels around for another season. That’s just my opinion. We’ll see how it turns out.
GO BRONCOS!
I actually do always watch the game. But there does come a point towards the end of the game where I will leave to do something else if the Broncos are not being competitive. So I definitely do watch enough to know what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong. I would rather dig trenches then watch the Broncos play like a pee wee team.
Big D, since you are so loving digging trenches, what about giving a hand shoring up ours? LOL.
Good one Baylin
Hahaha, thanks but no thanks. On a postive note, my yard will look like a full fledged arboretum if the Broncos keep stinkn’ it up.
In all honesty, I don’t want to seem like a “fair weather fan” because I am not. I just get too pissed off. Even when I do walk away I’m usually checking back in to see if a miracle occured. And I never stop watching until the 4th quarter is winding down.