More action from Dove Valley on Monday. The team may have been feeling the heat early, but as practice wore on the intensity heated up as well, and several big plays were made by both the offense and defense. It seemed to be the defense that shined the brightest on day four, however. Now for some quick hits.
ATTENDANCE REPORT: Montrae Holland did not take part in practice after participating in the jog-through yesterday afternoon…Peyton Hillis and Chad Mustard were on the out of pads list with a left hamstring and right hamstring, respectively…Boss Bailey, D.J. Williams and Selvin Young each came to practice about an hour after it started. Head Coach Mike Shanahan said he knew about the situation and said the players were excused. Williams explained that it was because of the NFL drug policy. “They didn’t allow us to come out until we gave them a sample … I weigh 7 pounds heavier than I usually do, I drank 10 to 12 waters.”
POSTURING FOR POSITION: With Bailey and Williams inside for the first half of practice, Louis Green and Jamie Winborn took their spots, running with the first unit linebackers along with Nate Webster at the Mike position.
On the inside of the defensive line, Alvin McKinley rotated in for Dewayne Robertson and Ebenezer Ekuban subbed for Kenny Peterson on the first unit.
FOCAL POINTS: The team worked on field goals, the typical 11-on-11s and some one-on-ones between DBs and receivers in the endzone. New to today’s practice was a drill involving three OLs, a QB and two RBs against two DLs and two LBs. Another drill involved two receivers and a quarterback against two corners and a safety. In that drill, rookie Josh Barrett played as the safety on every snap — he had a near-interception early on.
TAKE AWAYS: On three consecutive snaps during 11-on-11 drills, Marcus Thomas blew up the play — twice causing errant throws and once making a run-stopping tackle.
- Early in practice, Ryan Clady (No. 78) was blocking well on a running play and Jamie Winborn ended up on the ground after a big shove. Winborn clapped as he got up — “Good work, 7-8,” he said.
- Domonique Foxworth picked off a pass during a drill in the endzone, then proceeded to sprint all the way down the field to the other endzone while the entire offense left the sideline and chased him.
- During 11-on-11s when the offense was attempting to drive down the field, Brandon Marshall caught a bomb and streaked past defenders into the endzone. On the way back to the huddle, Louis Green joked to reporters, “Don’t none of y’all write that down.”
- Foxworth continued his solid play during camp, almost gathering in another interception in front of Glenn Martinez. Martinez broke up the play, however, and almost caught the ball with one hand on the way to the ground.
- Rookie Ryan Torain busted through a big hole in the line to a lot of crowd applause after Tom Nalen and Nate Webster ran into each other.
- The defense was on top of things Monday. During the two receivers vs. three DBs drill, Brandon Stokley dashed past rookie Jack Williams and called for the ball. Cutler let loose a spiral, but Jack Williams burst up to Stokley to break up the play.
- Champ Bailey continued to be Champ Bailey on Monday, leaping for a big interception during 11-on-11s that drew ooohs from the crowd.
- Kicker Matt Prater made 7-of-8 from 40-45 yards out. A camera tower was positioned directly between the goalposts, and Prater made a habit of hitting the platform on almost every kick. That reminds me of a story from the first day camp — Prater was lined up, practicing FGs on the field closest to the building. On a short kick, Prater lined up and booted the ball directly through the uprights — and over the protective net. The ball landed on top of a car in the player parking lot. No word on whether someone was a little unhappy with a dented roof.
QUOTABLE: “Nope. I stink. ‘Cause Champ’s here, and as long as Champ’s here I stink.”
-Domonique Foxworth, on whether he’s impressed with how he’s played so far in camp.
-Gray Caldwell, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Domonique Foxworth, Gray Caldwell, Marcus Thomas, Matt Prater, Training Camp
It sounds like things are proceeding pretty well. Glad to hear of the defense stepping up, in particular. Especially Marcus Thomas. I’ve said it before, but I think he’s probably the key to making this defense back into an elite unit.
Also excited that Clady seems to be working out well. Honestly, there’s not much to be unhappy about in this post. Everything sounds good to me. We’ll see how it translates to games.
Any updates on the UDFA’s nad how they are progressing or seeing any snaps?
There was a DP article about Marshall being sluggish and out-of-shape…any comments on that?
grazamataz –
Coach Shanahan said yesterday that anytime a player misses that many days of OTAs and some of the offseason conditioning programs that it takes a little while to get back into football shape. But Marshall has been making a lot of plays already, and it’s not hard to tell that he looks like a No. 1 guy. You can read the transcript of his interview on our main site.
-Gray
So who looks like the starting MLB right now, since Webster and Koutouvides are switching? Is any one of them seperating themself from the other? I hope Koutouvides wins it…
comments??
Koutouvides needs to step it up. He wasn’t paid all of that good money to be a backup.
this sounds alot like last year when all we heard about was the big plays that were being made in camp.
Foxworth sounds a little bitter.
Gray-
any news on Paymah, Crowder, Boss, Kuper?
Nothing being said about Kupers hand?
also, seems like Super J has tossed a few picks, unless hes thrown 200 balls. something worth keeping an eye on.
Foxworth is the man. I’ve thought that since we drafted him. Champ does tend to outshine him a little bit, but who wouldn’t he outdo? Keep it up man, the fans (and more importantly, the coaches) are watching you in your contract year.
Hey are you guys going to post the video of the highlights from camp? Andrew Mason always did! I think a lot of people would like to see the Champ interception and the big touchdown from Cutler.
It seems we were hearing alot worse things about the deffense at this time last year.Especially the run D, but it sounds like things are comming together.I think the one thing we’ll notice most is the change in scheme.Fix that and the red zone woes and were instant contenders.
Kaylore-
Yep, Broncos TV posts the highlights every day an hour or so after the afternoon practice. I just saw Kasey Byers starting to piece it together and both plays are in there. The highlights come right after the main piece which today is on Foxworth. All can be accessed at the Training Camp page. — http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=1230
Kyle
I don’t think we need to be worried about Jay throwing pics in camp. You know he is letting lose a little more now than he would in games. Now that he is healthy again he is probably just testing his arm strenghth and taking chances with tighter throws to see if he can make them. I am more worried about Marshall. When do we find out if he is getting suspended? Thats really bad news if that happens, especially with San Diego in week two.
prater was killing the kickoffs today. I was impressed
Javalon-
This is just my guess, but I believe he participated yesterday because it was the jog through session and he only was on the scout team. He spoke with our guys this afternoon so we should have something on the main site later tonight.
Thanks, Kyle.
Any word on Hillis’s hamstring and how long he’s likely to be out? I know he’s a rookie but I’m liking what I’m hearing about him as our fullback. We haven’t had a special FB since Howard Griffith and I’m optimistic that Hillis might be the next one.
I think he is day-to-day, but I don’t know for sure. He worked out and then watched the rest of practice this morning. We should have a better idea tomorrow morning.
Nice, Domonique! I miss his blog posts, but in the interim he’s making lots of nice plays so I’ll take those. Good job, defense! Perhaps in a couple of games this season, the defense will have to step up and win the game. If so, the morning’s proceedings were a good portent.
I feel good about our offense. What I really want to know is, Dwayne Robertson going to help stop the run this year?