Day Two has started, and there’s a special teams practice later this afternoon. We’re trying to put this thing up quick for you guys. By the way, let us know if there is any particular player you’d like to see pictures of, and we’ll try to accomodate that. Here are some quick hits:
ATTENDANCE REPORT: Chad Mustard was out of pads for the second day with a right hamstring injury…Edell Shepherd was out of pads after injuring his left knee in practice yesterday…rookie Spencer Larsen, who missed his second straight practice, is attending to a family emergency according to Head Coach Mike Shanahan…Montrae Holland is still practicing with Strength and Conditioning Coach Rich Tuten until he gets to his reporting weight.
POSTURING FOR POSITION: On the first play of 11-on-11, full team scrimmaging, the starting backfield was composed of Jay Cutler, Selvin Young and Cecil Sapp. The starting receivers were Brandon Marshall and Darrell Jackson, and Daniel Graham started at tight end. Ryan Clady, Ben Hamilton, Tom Nalen, Chris Kuper and Ryan Harris made up the offensive line.
The defense marched out Champ Bailey, Dre’ Bly, John Lynch and Hamza Abdullah in the secondary, Boss Bailey, Niko Koutouvides and D.J. Williams at the linebacker positions and John Engelberger, Dewayne Robertson, Kenny Peterson and Elvis Dumervil on the line.
FOCAL POINTS: The field goal units practiced while the rest of the team watched. Kicker Matt Prater nailed 5 of 6 from 35-42 yards. The special teams also practiced the “Rabbit Drill,” where a returner would field a punt while the pursuit team dropped down to a push-up position at the whistle before jumping up and running to the ball.
There were one-on-ones between the offensive linemen and defensive linemen and cornerbacks and wide receivers. In the OL vs. DL matchup, Jarvis Moss shined on the defensive side, bulling past his man several times, even pushing down Ryan Harris one time in the process. Clady and P.J. Alexander played well on the offensive side, rarely letting anyone by them.
In addition, today the entire offense and defense lined up against each other and tried to move the ball down field rather than repeating set plays from a single yard line. The first team offense failed to score, but we’ll get into that in a second…
KEY PLAYS: On that long drive the first team put together, Young burst through the line and seemed to avoid arm tackles and dash his way into the endzone, but coaches blew the play dead because they believed one of the defenders would have tackled him had it been a real game. “No! Touchdown!” Young kept repeating.
- A few plays later, it was a 4th-and-1 for the offense, and they decided to go for it. Cutler threw a pass to Marshall over the middle, which was batted away by Marlon McCree. As the defense celebrated, the offense argued for a flag — Patrick Ramsey threw his towel in the air to signify pass interference a few times to get the point across. The flag never came.
- During one-on-ones, Marshall lined up against Bly on the left side and ran toward the back corner of the endzone. Bly was in perfect position and seemed to intercept Cutler’s pass, but Marshall reached over him and grabbed the ball away for a touchdown.
“He dunked on me,” Bly said. “That’s typical Brandon. He’s 6′2″, I think listed, but he plays like he’s 6′8″.” (For the record, Marshall’s listed at 6-foot-4.)
- Robertson made his presence known on the defensive line. On a quick screen play, he burst through the line and managed to get his hand on the ball to force an incompletion.
- Peyton Hillis flashed some of his speed when he took a pass in the backfield, turned the corner and ran up the sideline for a touchdown.
- Eddie Royal leaped in the air to catch a pass in traffic during team drills that drew cheers from the crowd.
RANDOM THOUGHTS: A little question for everybody who came to practice today or yesterday — well, mainly yesterday. Anybody else really sunburned? Or is everyone else smarter than me and put on sun screen? Oh well, I’ll get used to that whole mile-closer-to-the-sun thing sooner or later.
-Gray Caldwell, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Ben Hamilton, Boss Bailey, Brandon Marshall, Cecil Sapp, Chad Mustard, Champ Bailey, Chris Kuper, D.J. Williams, Daniel Graham, Darrell Jackson, Dewayne Robertson, Dre Bly, Eddie Royal, Edell Shepherd, Elvis Dumervil, Gray Caldwell, Hamza Abdullah, Jarvis Moss, Jay Cutler, John Engelberger, John Lynch, Kenny Peterson, Matt Prater, Mike Shanahan, Montrae Holland, Niko Koutouvides, Patrick Ramsey, Peyton Hillis, Ryan Clady, Ryan Harris, Selvin Young, Spencer Larsen, Tom Nalen, Training Camp
Well for one thing, as a fan that lives in houston texas I really appreciate all of your coverage on training camp. But im also happy with how swiftly you all are getting this info to us. Thank you very much!!!! i would like to see pictures of the new guys. Eddie royal, spencer larsen, niko, boss, colbert, alridge, maybe some of young. Thanks a heap guys!
Thanks guys for the quick posts on the blog. I, too, live in Texas and appreciate the info on my beloved Broncs. I was really happy to hear that Clady didn’t let anyone by him in morning drills. Hopefully, that bodes well for a better line this season. How about some pics of him in action. And, I am excited to see the Bailey brothers playing together this season…. so, how about a pic of them together! Thanks! Keep up the great work.
yes, thanks for the quick updates for the blog. i live in montana and love to catch up on the broncos training camp. I would like to see pictures of players making a big play or something. Thanks Again
matt.
Thanks for the prompt and somewhat comprehensive report. Wonderful to hear our 1st rounders dominating. Funny about BMarsh and Bly. would love a picture of that interception turned touchdown. Like the above posters, I would also like pictures of all new guys in action!
Now that’s what i’m talking about, welcome to a denver bronco blog long time. By the way is any suprise that kenny peterson is runnung with 1st team and no thomas?
Yeah I love to hear about Moss doing well, Robertson, Marshall, Clady and Royal. I think we all feel better when we hear the draft picks and big names we get from other teams are doing well. I hope Robertson and Thomas make a great duo at DT some day, if not this year. And if Moss and Dumervil can be the great DE’s that we hope for, our defense will be fun. On the offensive side, I really hope Royal can be a stud, like another Steve Smith from Carolina, and Marshall on the other side. But anyway, thanks for the detailed updates.
Hey I’m from NY. Thanks for all the coverage…i just want to make sure there are no injuries..Go Broncos
How is Niko looking at the Mike position? It would be great to get some actual details about that.
ryan torain??????????
jhildebrand –
From what I’ve seen, he’s looked pretty good running with the first team. He’s been around the ball on most plays and he seems to be taking to his role well. I’m certainly not a coach to be able to give you any true evaluation, but Niko said yesterday that he’s enjoying his leadership role being the Mike, and he and fellow middle ‘backer Nate Webster have hit it off and help each other out a lot.
Keep checking in,
Gray
qgriffin- I was thinking the same thing. I’m really hoping for this to be a real breakout year for Marcus Thomas.
How’s Crowder doing so far??
I would like some info on domonique foxworth, and selvin young’s adaptation to being the number one back
Thanks for the update Gray! I think that, along with run defense, is one of the positions most people will want to hear about for all of camp.
Keep up the good work!
-joe
GO BRONCOS!
mstarnes9999:
As far as Crowder, I think he is looking pretty good. The first couple of days has been mostly individual work with some 7-on-7 and team work mixed in. He has fared well in one-on-ones and looks active in the team periods. Hope this helps.
b4life:
Foxworth — in my eyes — has been playing very well. As the picture above shows, he was able to grab a pick in 7-on-7 and he knocked away consecutive passes in one-on-ones. We will try and grab Selvin for you on Sunday to answer those questions.
Kyle
Hope these help.