On a day that featured a lot of playmaking from young guys and veterans alike, the Broncos got some bad news. During offensive versus defensive drills focusing on running plays, rookie Ryan Torain sprinted to the right and fell awkwardly with defenders on top of him. He broke a bone in the upper part of his elbow, and Head Coach Mike Shanahan said he expects him to be out 6 to 8 weeks. Torain will undergo an MRI today and Shanahan said they’ll wait to see if there’s ligament damage.
“That’s football,” Shanahan said. “You’re going to lose guys, there’s nothing you can do about it. Except get better.”
In that light, here are some quick hits from an otherwise very exciting practice.
ATTENDANCE REPORT: Hamza Abdullah sat out of practice with a groin…Champ Bailey watched from the sidelines as well with a right hamstring…Peyton Hillis was out of pads with a left hamstring…Chad Mustard didn’t participate with a right hamstring…Tom Nalen observed practice with a left knee…Dewayne Robertson was out of pads as well with a left knee.
POSTURING FOR POSITION: On several plays, Eddie Royal was lined up in the slot beside Brandon Marshall, with Darrell Jackson at the other wide out position. Occasionally, however, Nate Jackson was lined up wide in Darrell Jackson’s position.
Ebenezer Ekuban got some reps at defensive end after spending most of his time during OTAs and so far in training camp at the defensive tackle position.
During a goal-line drill, five defensive linemen stepped to the line of scrimmage with the first unit — Tim Crowder, Kenny Peterson, Marcus Thomas, Alvin McKinley and John Engelberger.
FOCAL POINTS: The team worked on drills aimed specifically at running plays, went a couple rounds of the offense versus defense on the two-yard line, had some 7-on-7, practiced driving the ball down field and worked on field goals.
TAKE AWAYS: Dre’ Bly had a solid practice, at one point leaping in the air to break up what looked like a sure Marshall reception. On another play Bly blitzed into the backfield and caused a fumble on a handoff to Andre Hall.
- Hall had to be feeling better a few drills after the botched handoff, when he caught a quick pass from Hackney, turned up field and made a move on Karl Paymah so convincing that Paymah fell down and Hall ran right past him.
- Anthony Alridge had quite the day as well. It started early on in practice when he caught a screen pass and grabbed a quick first down past the defense. Then during the goal-line drill, it was 185-pound Alridge who stuck his head in the middle of the pack and forced his way into the endzone for the first touchdown. Two series later, Alridge caught a pass from Jay Cutler and sprinted his way to the front corner of the endzone for his second touchdown of the drill.
Twice during practice Alridge caught a quick pass and bounced outside before the defense even knew what hit them. He had nothing but green ahead of him except for rookie Jack Williams both times, and twice after a few moves Williams made the great open-field tackle.
- Williams had one of his best practices today as well. Besides the two one-on-one tackles which garnered him praise from his coaches and teammates, one play stood out. Michael Pittman found a huge hole in the line and ran straight up the middle. Yes, the 6-foot, 225-pound, I-occasionally-line-up-at-fullback Michael Pittman. And Williams — who gives up three inches and 40 pounds to the running back — was waiting for him, laying a big hit that stood Pittman up and the play was blown dead. “I see you Jack!” was heard from pretty much all directions. As the next unit ran out onto the field, another gem was shouted: “Hey, give that man a medal for that!”
- During drills toward the end of practice Pittman redeemed himself, hauling in a long catch-and-run from Cutler up the middle, and he would have been gone for a touchdown if the play was live. He kept running up the field, however, and Domonique Foxworth continued to chase him. Pittman started to mess around, running zig-zags to keep Foxworth away, but Fox eventually knocked the ball out of his hands anyway. The play was long over, but Defensive Coordinator Bob Slowik told Foxworth he liked his hustle.
- Boss Bailey showed his coverage skills early in practice, when he sprinted in to get a hand on a bullet pass from Cutler to Royal, breaking up what could have been a big gain.
- Clifford Russell had easily the most impressive catch of the day, hauling in what looked to be an impossible grab with Williams and Roderick Rogers draped all over him. Falling down, Russell reached out his hands and held onto the ball as he hit the ground and his defenders watched incredulously.
QUOTABLE: “It’s a big loss. I thought he had a chance to compete to be a starting running back. One of the most gifted running backs that I’ve been around for a long time, very similar to Terrell Davis when he came in. So obviously he’s got a set-back that he’s got to deal with.”
- Head Coach Mike Shanahan, on the injury to Ryan Torain.
-Gray Caldwell, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Anthony Alridge, Gray Caldwell, Jack Williams, Rookies, Ryan Torain
Geez, that sucks about Torian. Hopefully he will be able to make a full recovery. For Shanahan to say that he’s the one of the most gifted backs he’s been around and to compare him to TD……well, that gets my attention. Hang in there, Ryan! GO BRONCOS!
If he has no ligament damage we could get him back by mid to late October, and luckily there’s a bye week in there. Is the team allowed to put him on the PUP list?
PLEASE DO NOT PUT TORAIN ON IR! I dont want his season to end prematurely. We can get him back maybe after the 5th game of the season so he can boost the Broncos to playoff contentions.
Hey Gray,
Early on in camp, there were reports that Brandon Marshall was winded after each play and had to take a knee to catch his breath b/c he was out of shape. Is that still the case or is he back in shape?
Also, I’m extremely confused.
ESPN reports say that Jarvis Moss has been struggling a lot in training camp while other reports say that he’s impressing and he’s in contention for the spot opposite Dumervil. Which one should Bronco fans believe?
Thanks Gray, and great job with the blog
Not good for Torian, let’s hope no ligament damage to the arm. To have the coach say that about him is a real good sign as well! Good luck young man. That’s the first bad injury, so let’s hope there aren’t alot more as the year goes on. Hang in there Broncos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let’s have no injuries after the Houston game!
Gary do you know if Marshall has choice to do some counciling to maybe reduce his supension to 2 games or is he just going to wait it out. cheers
hrdnokd:
The team very well could put Torain on the PUP list, but it might not be advantageous. With the PUP there’s a certain amount of time the player has to sit out, and then there’s a small window for him to come back and play if he’s healthy. In all likelihood they will probably just let him heal, though after the MRI today the coaches will probably have a little better idea of what they’re going to do.
getlynched47:
Marshall is definitely not winded after every play anymore. It’s a tiny bit of an exaggeration to say he was taking a knee after every play at the beginning of camp, but Coach Shanahan did say after missing that much of offseason conditioning, it takes a little while to get back into football shape. It appears if Marshall isn’t all the way back to football shape yet, he’s pretty close, because he’s out there making plays pretty much every practice.
As far as Jarvis Moss, Broncos fans should be looking on the bright side of that one. I’m not sure what ESPN is seeing that we’re not, but Moss has looked to be a playmaker at times during some drills, including one-on-ones, when he’s pretty consistently gotten to the quarterback. Today in a 3 OLs, QB and RB vs. 2 DLs, 2 LBs and a DB drill, Moss broke through the line and swatted away a pass from Darrell Hackney that had Defensive Line Coach Jacob Burney shouting his praises. He hasn’t been running with the first unit, but when he’s gotten in he’s looked sharp, and he’s been staying after most practices working with Burney to improve his game.
15thebeast:
Marshall spoke to the media after practice today, and we’ll have more on that after the afternoon session, including the transcript of the interview. Marshall essentially said there is a chance the suspension could be lowered to 2 games, and he’s going to do everything he’s supposed to — but as of now he’s not exactly sure what those things are. Again, we’ll have more on that a little later today.
for any fantasy football players out there…… take in consideration the running back position now. with torain out for some time, i believe selvin young is the obvious number 1 back now. andre hall and pittman wont be passing him up, at least not in the firt couple weeks
Is anyone else alarmed about the fact that a 185 pound running back was able to force it into the end zone on an up the gut run? Doesn’t that sound like exactly the same crap we had to watch all of last season? No slight to Aldridge, it sounds like the guy is a baller, but seriously, if we can’t stop our own undersized, 4th string running back in power running situations, what the the hell are we going to do against guys like LdT, Darren McFadden/Justin Fargas/Michael Bush, Larry Johnson, MoJo Drew, etc.., etc..?
Awww man that sucks! I was looking forward to having him pound the defense with his beastly skills. I hope he can recover in six weeks….If so he can still make an impact around the 3rd game of the season when Brandon Marshall gets back hopefully. If we can win the first two games against those rivals without injury we will be in good shape. Work your magic Shanny!!!
im not alarmed at all, from the sounds of it our defence is vastly improved over last year. The play could have just been a good push from the O-line, which is something to be excited about since that was lacking last year as well
Hey Grey, Can B-Marsh appeal the susspension before the regular season and then postpone it so he can Play the OAK/SD games? Also who will take his spot on the field?
Thanks for all the hardwork
JUST HOPE THAT RYAN KEEPS HIS HEAD UP IT IS A BUMMER TO GET HURT . IM JUST LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU PLAY . IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAVE A LOT OF TALENT. GO BRONCOS.
with torian hurt i would think pittman would get the majority of the goal line carries unless selvin stepps his game up down there. that’s the advantage of having and half back/full back on the team. yo gray, with royal running on the first team in the slot today does it look like to you that he could be taking b stokes spot. if thats the case this kid must be the real deal.
columbusOHbronco:
Royal certainly looks like the real deal. He’s been a playmaker early in training camp and in today’s lineups with him in the slot he performed well. It’s way too early to start predicting who will take who’s spot. Remember, Stokley is a 10-year vet who has been doing it for a long time and Royal is just coming in. Royal will definitely help the offense and especially the special teams, but the final depth chart will be up to the coaches and Coach Shanahan indicated a lot of the battles aren’t even close to being finalized.
Marcus Allen was a smaller, well thinner, lighter weight running back and he was one of the best ever goaline running backs….I could name dozens of larger backs with poor short yard performance. Seems to be a vision, feel the hole thing more than just brute strength.
JMO
Is Montrae Holland still working with Coach Tuten, or is he now participating in practice?
broncobill – very valid point. I think I’m just still scarred a bit by the front 7′s play last season, so I might be jumping at shadows a little bit. Mmmm… How awesome would it be if Aldridge could develop into a Marcus Allen-type back? I think I’m just going to curl up with that dream for a bit.
philiptr2:
I was at Training Camp this morning and Montrae was still pushing the sled around…
Go Broncos
Nate Jackson at Wide Out? This is new to me… Intriguing. I could see him running some good routes at WR, becoming a good possession reciever in the right situation (especially with two speedy slot recievers rotating into the game to occupy the secondary) and best of all throwing some monster blocks downfield on some unsuspecting San Diego LB–layed out in the lawn, looking at stars with his tounge sticking out–while Selvin gallops down the sideling for a long gain. What do you all think?
I think I’m ready for some football!
“Hamza Abdullah sat out of practice with a groin…Champ Bailey watched from the sidelines as well with a right hamstring…Peyton Hillis was out of pads with a left hamstring…Chad Mustard didn’t participate with a right hamstring…Tom Nalen observed practice with a left knee…Dewayne Robertson was out of pads as well with a left knee.”
do these guys ever not have groins, hamstrings, or knee’s. Aren’t they actually out because of pulls, strains, and/or inflammations?
pet peeve . . . injury reports that name the body part instead of the injury