After a record-setting streak of days with the temperature above 90 degrees, Tuesday morning brought a much welcomed cool front. When I heard over the radio on the way to Dove Valley that the high was predicted to be 82 degrees, I laughed.
Thankfully, they were right. The players (and I) enjoyed temperatures in the low 70s throughout the morning camp session. And now for quick hits from practice.
ATTENDANCE REPORT: Hamza Abdullah remained on the sideline, nursing his strained groin. Peyton Hillis, after making it back onto the field yesterday morning, sat out again. Chad Mustard and Tom Nalen remain out with a right hamstring and left knee, respectively. Montrae Holland continues to work on his own, though he later came out and watched from the sidelines. He looks slimmer to me.
Champ Bailey also missed practice with a sore right hamstring. Bailey spent his time watching from the sidelines with teammates or on the field talking with Head Coach Mike Shanahan. But don’t worry Broncos Country, Shanahan quickly pointed out that No. 24 is a quick healer.
POSTURING FOR POSITION: Yesterday, Niko Koutouvides ran with the first team at middle linebacker, despite the depth chart naming Nate Webster as the starter. Today, Webster was back in the starting lineup. Shanahan clearly meant it when he told reporters yesterday that “we are going to switch off in the middle linebacker position. By no means anyone has that job locked up.”
Nate Jackson got back into the starting rotation at tight end today, working with Daniel Graham in two tight end sets, but Tony Scheffler stole the show later in practice with several big plays down the field.
Michael Pittman continued to take a lot of reps at fullback, but Cecil Sapp took the majority. Pittman also got in the mix at running back in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills.
FOCAL POINTS: After the usual individual position group drills, the team got together for 7-on-7s, 11-on-11s and the two-minute drill. They also worked on last-second-field goal drills, like we all saw during Week 1 last year when the Broncos took down the Bills 15-14 in the final seconds.
The defense worked on the nickel formation much of the day, allowing Karl Paymah to get more reps than usual.
All-around communication was also emphasized, with the team huddling up as an entire group several times before breaking with a “Broncos” chant. The offense and defense each huddled up on their own several times as well. Players on the sidelines were particularly vocal, especially Dre’ Bly, constantly yelling onto the field to point things out to their teammates or offer a few congratulatory words.
TAKE AWAYS: Coaches brought out the clock for practice to work on that field goal drill. With never more than 20 seconds on the clock, the field goal unit would rush from the sideline onto the field, set up and get the kick away. Matt Prater performed all the kicks, with Sam Paulescu holding.
-They ran four drills to get things going. To throw an extra kink in there, the Special Teams Coordinator Scott O’Brien would call a timeout at the last second, making them back off the line and re-huddle before lining up for the kick again. This didn’t bother Prater, as he nailed all four from 35 yards.
-Then they backed it up. From 58 yards out, Prater missed his first wide left. He made up for it on his second attempt from 58 however, splitting the uprights.
-They also performed the standard field goal drills, and Prater knocked eight straight through the uprights from 30, 34, 39, 39, 39, 41, 41 and 42 yards away. He finished 13 of 14 on the day, and with kicks coming in such quick succession, he iced his leg after finishing the drills.
-It seems we have gotten a good number of questions recently about the offensive line, so I made sure to pay attention the the big men down in the trenches a little more. Ryan Clady has constantly impressed, showing good mobility. He held off Ebenezer Ekuban on one play and followed it up by adjusting quickly and stopping the speed rush of Jarvis Moss.
-Today, it was Ryan Harris that caught my eye. He really seemed to have his head on a swivel, and he shifted both left and right to ward off the rush. On one particular play, he completely held John Engelberger in check. He worked as a tandem with Chris Kuper to take down both Tim Crowder and Nic Clemons one one play.
-Kuper continues to wear a giant club cast on his right hand, and Dewayne Robertson had a close encounter with it. Kuper kept his hands high as he blocked Robertson. In the process, the club-casted hand slid up and popped Robertson’s helmet off accidentally.
-Pittman had some highlight worthy plays at fullback during 11-on-11 drills. Marquand Manuel came on a blitz and came head-to-head with Pittman. Pads and helmets popped, and it ended with Manuel on the ground. He hopped right back up, but Pittman’s big block led to some teammates issuing a few groans from the sidelines. He also went up against a full-on rush from Louis Green and stopped him cold.
-After Pittman switched to RB, he took a run up the middle and was taken down quickly by Josh Mallard, with a “Good job 9-8″ coming from defensive coordinator Bob Slowik.
-11-on-11 drills began with the offense backed up into the endzone, starting at their own 2 yard line. The first play was a reverse that Brandon Marshall took for a big first down. The second play was a laser from Cutler to Marshall on an out-route in front of Bly. “Good job boy,” Bly shouted to Marshall.
-Jarvis Moss made some big plays, penetrating the line on back-to-back plays for a tackle in the backfield and a would-be sack.
-Cutler connected with a wide open Scheffler for a 70-yard touchdown, drawing cheers and applause from the fans.
-Lamont Reid snared an interception when Patrick Ramsey tried to hit Scheffler down the middle, but Jamie Winborn tipped the ball.
-Elvis Dumervil would have notched a sack on Cutler had it been in a game, bull-rushing around the left side and getting past Clady.
-With Ramsey in the shotgun, Pittman and Ryan Torain both lined up at running back, with the handoff going to the rookie, spinning out of tackles up the middle.
-Eddie Royal caught a deep long pass on a crossing route in the final drill of practice, tip-toeing and falling out of bounds as he made the grab. It set up a Samie Parker touchdown in the back of the endzone from Darrell Hackney.
QUOTABLE: “Come on boy! You’re gonna drop that?” - Dre’ Bly to Nate Webster after the linebacker dropped an easy pick that practically landed in his lap.
Pictures to come…
– Adam Zinser, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Adam Zinser, Brandon Marshall, Chad Mustard, Champ Bailey, Chris Kuper, Depth Chart, Dewayne Robertson, Dre Bly, Eddie Royal, Elvis Dumervil, Hamza Abdullah, Jarvis Moss, Jay Cutler, John Engelberger, Matt Prater, Michael Pittman, Mike Shanahan, Montrae Holland, Nate Jackson, Nate Webster, Niko Koutouvides, Patrick Ramsey, Peyton Hillis, Rookies, Ryan Clady, Ryan Harris, Sam Paulescu, Tim Crowder, Tom Nalen, Tony Scheffler, Training Camp, Uncategorized
Adam, The Broncos usually carry 5 WR’s on the 53 man roster right? So does that mean Sammie Parker is on the bubble? I haven’t heard Parker’s name mentioned besides on this blog.
nice update. looks like things are coming together. i was wondering if the broncos will be on hbo’s hard nocks this year since we are practicing and playing the cowboys this preseason. the series starts tomorrow night and it would be great to see what goes down when we practice agianst the cowgirls.
It will be hard for Sammie, the deep threat, Parker to make the team with the development of Royal. It might be fun to have two speedsters on the field at the same time, run them deep, and throw it in the middle over the linebackers to Tony. NFL coaches must have so much fun game planning.
I wonder why nate is starting over tony. Has Sheffler improved on his blocking?
Do we happen to know if the Broncos will be wearing any throwbacks or the orange alternate jerseys this year?
Is there a posibilty for Rodrick Rodgers to get the start, he has had alot of tipped passes go for INTS for him?
getlynched47: I can’t say that Parker is necessarily on the bubble. Remember, the team brought him in as a free agent, so they have invested some in him. He has as good a shot as any of the other receivers.
columbusOHbronco: The HBO film crew covering the Cowboys for Hard Knocks will be here to cover the joint practices.
morningplastic: One of the reasons Nate saw more time was Tony’s injury earlier on in the offseason. Scheffler had to catch up from a conditioning standpoint. Both are having solid camps however, improving all facets of their game. It seems like each day, both of them end up making some big catches.
mediocreguy: No word on the throwbacks or orange alternates as of yet.
Adam/Staff, can you fill us in on Anthony Alridge? How did he look in practice today, and are you getting a sense at all about whether or not he’ll make the team? He sounds like an awesome weapon; I’m really pulling for him to make the squad.
And what’s the story on Tim Crowder, it was sounding like he was really raising his game in camp a lot, and then recently he’s not 2nd but 3rd string??
thanks for your time and responses!
stranger305: Alridge has a knack for the big play, and today was no exception. On one play he bounced outside and made it around the end for a big gain until Roderick Rogers shoved him out of bounds. He may be 4th on the depth chart at RB, but that is preliminary and things could change. There is no way to know. He is a versatile weapon, though.
Crowder is still making a splash at camp, making strides. He and Shanahan have talked about how he has improved. Thankfully, there is some good depth on the d-line, and he will get in the rotation. Ekuban has made strides as well though.
Adam,
You taked about the O-Line but didn’t mention Mitch Erickson. Being a South Dakota State grad myself I have taken personal interested in him but haven’t heard anything about how he is doing. Can you fill me in?
I hope we crush those cow girls since they bruised us up last year. They even got some of our players injured for some time.
You know one more thing….I hope we use royal in the slot to roast those 3rd string corners and slow safteys. I can see it now Marshall runs a streak on the right, Jackson does a 10 yard out and Sheffler does a 5yd in. That would leave ROYAL in a streak one-one with a saftey or a 3rd corner. His speed would surely exploit that weekness and we all know Cutler can air it out 70yds downfield with ease. Even if they doubled him there would be one-on-one with Marshall or Sheffler would be wide open. I love our chances. I’m sure Shanny’s gotta be lickin’ his chops like a hungry canine!!!
Did anyone catch the tidbit in the DP about Demtrin Veal practicing @ Dove Valley on a field adjacent to the main practice fields?
Seems he was discovered by the media, and he’s working on his own, had gained about 15lbs, is up to 300, and looks to be hungry to play again?
He had good seasons in 05/06, but was cut because he didnt fit the bates system due to his lack of size. Anyone see that as well?
I’m glad to hear Clady is doing well in camp and hope it translates to game day .With some of the negatives I read bout him before the draft about his lack of focus I was concerned but he is seeming such a nice kid with strong character you can hope he becomes someone all o-lineman will look up to.
Thought Shanny hasn’t said so directly, he has to be excited about the depth of this team in most every position. He keeps talking about close competitions in camp for the starting positions. That can mean nothing but good stuff for the Broncos this season. If you look at the top teams over the last few years few had much drop off when the second teamers took the field. Not too many second teamers on this years Bronco squad and I’m stoked!
After last years wupin’ the Cowboys put on us, I imagine this won’t be just your ordinary preseason game. Saddle up boys , time for a little payback!
Go Broncos!
it is interesting, i saw that too. But I think he would have a hard time making the 53 man roster, even if they did let him into camp. That is awesome though, I love the determination, guys got heart. Does anyone know when the first big cut will be?
jazzyfrizzle,
August 26 (after preseason wk 3) — Roster to 75 players.
August 30 (after preseason wk 4) — Roster to 53 players.
Thanks for the reporting, guys! This blog is GGGGRRREAT!!!
thanks