This morning’s practice was once again highlighted by the defense. A day after the offense made some solid plays, the defense tightened up and made sure most of the action was on their side of the ball. There were still some offensive highlights, however. Here are some quick hits.
ATTENDANCE REPORT: John Lynch was excused from practice for personal reasons…Peyton Hillis remained out of pads with a left hamstring…Michael Pittman was out of pads with a left hamstring…Dewayne Robertson was out of pads with a left knee…Tom Nalen came out to practice with a jersey on but took it off before warmups, watching practice from the sidlines…Chad Mustard, on the PUP list, was out of pads with a right hamstring…Montrae Holland continued working with Strength and Conditioning Coach Rich Tuten to get to his playing weight.
POSTURING FOR POSITION: With Lynch out of practice, Marlon McCree took his place with the first unit defense. Alvin McKinley and Ebenezer Ekuban rotated taking Robertson’s spot in the first unit.
Ekuban has been playing almost entirely as a defensive tackle during training camp — in the past he has played primarily as an end.
FOCAL POINTS: The team worked on field goals — Prater was 7-of-8 from 36-44 yards — the rabbit drill and the usual 7-on-7s, 11-on-11s and one on ones between the offensive and defensive lines.
The team also worked on third-down and pass-rushing defense. In one package, Jarvis Moss and Elvis Dumervil manned the end positions with Josh Mallard and Ebenezer Ekuban clogging the middle. Boss Bailey and D.J. Williams stood at the linebacker positions, and the secondary was composed of Champ Bailey, Dre’ Bly, Hamza Abdullah, Marlon McCree and Domonique Foxworth.
TAKE AWAYS: Ekuban has been taking advantage of his defensive tackle position. He jumped and knocked away a pass that looked to be a completion from Jay Cutler to Eddie Royal. A few plays later, Moss swatted another pass at the line.
- Speaking of Royal, Wednesday seemed to be his coming-out party. He has made great plays before, but this morning he made several grabs including one where he layed out to catch a laser from Cutler in between Jack Williams and Roderick Rogers. During 7 on 7 drills, he also got away from Bly and made a long over-the-shoulder catch for a nice gain, and later caught another bomb for a touchdown.
- Later in practice, Bly had a great jump on the ball and stepped right in front of Daniel Graham for an interception.
- In addition to his tipped pass, Moss followed Marcus Thomas’ lead from a few days ago and blew up two plays in a row. First he tackled Anthony Alridge at the line, then followed that up with a big hit on Ryan Torain in the backfield.
- During 7-on-7, Keary Colbert caught a long, perfectly-placed pass from Darrell Hackney on his fingertips between Karl Paymah and Rogers at about the five-yard line.
- Boss Bailey had some nice coverage on Andre Hall out of the backfield, stalking him to the sideline and knocking the pass away before it could get to him.
- Rookie Josh Barrett made a big play during 7-on-7 drills. Tony Scheffler made a great grab in traffic and starting running up the sidelines, but Barrett ran at him and stripped away the ball. Not only did he cause the fumble but he recovered it as well and ran to the opposite sideline before the entire offense chased him out of bounds.
- During 11-on-11 drills, Niko Koutouvides had a big stop lined up when a run came up the middle of the line. Then he realized it was Cutler on a keeper, and he quickly slowed up and let his quarterback go with a light tap.
- Speaking of tackles, Abdullah got a light rebuke from Head Coach Mike Shanahan when he wrapped up Selvin Young and actually tackled him on a run play. Abdullah fell back into good graces later in practice when he lept to snag the second interception of the day.
- In celebrations-gone-wrong news, Larry Birdine made a big stop during 11-on-11s, then jumped up and ran toward the secondary celebrating. Jack Williams was unfortunate enough to get in the way and got leveled by a clothesline. He caught his breath while the defense had a laugh.
QUOTABLE: “Oh, you mean Hulk Hogan? I ran over there to give him a five and I was on the ground two second later, that’s all I remember.”
- Jack Williams, laughing about Birdine’s celebration knock-out swing.
Oh, and if you haven’t checked out the first edition of The Mailbag, answering many of the comments you all have written, go back a couple posts and skim through it. It also introduces us bloggers you have been reading.
-Gray Caldwell, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Eddie Royal, Gray Caldwell, Hamza Abdullah, Jack Williams, Jarvis Moss, Josh Barrett, Training Camp
Excellent report again. Thanks for the info. It’s good to hear Ekuban is thriving on the interior of that defensive line. That may prove to be a good move for him. I’m excited about the defensive front, an area where the Broncos will need to improve over last year.
Thanks again for the update. Has Barrett been impressive so far in camp? I know he has the tools to play, he just needs some time to learn the game. I assume his best chance to make the team right now is special teams but I think it’d be a huge mistake to try and hide him on the practice squad.
I can’t tell you how impressed I’ve been (in Mason’s absence) with the way you guys have stepped up and really gotten your “A” game together. Your updates are timely, informative, and broad based.
Thanks again….
So all I read is Torian has been impressive. That leaves me to believe that Selvin is being out played by him is that true. And could you give us some inside thoughts on Torian, I guess I was wrong about him being slow. But what are coaches and other teammates saying about him so far.
m.c. –
I definitely wouldn’t say Torain is outplaying Young. Young has still been getting the reps with the ones, and has probably made the most big plays this training camp of the running backs with the exception of undrafted free agent Anthony Alridge, who continues to look pretty impressive — in my opinion.
All of the backs have looked good so far in camp, which is why it is probably the most intriguing battle so far. Torain has broken some big runs and hit the holes, and Coach Shanahan said he has been impressed so far, but Michael Pittman and Andre Hall have made some plays as well. Cecil Sapp and rookie Peyton Hillis have looked impressive at the fullback position, too.
I wouldn’t say that any back has outplayed or showed up any other, but Young is running with the first unit offense — something he certainly earned after last season and he hasn’t been disappointing the coaches thus far in camp.
And thanks to all of you who keep complementing the blog. We’re trying to make it informative but also pretty fun to read. Sounds like we’re doing a decent job of it, and we appreciate all your input.
-Gray
You can also read a little about what Coach Shanahan and teammates have said about Torain in yesterday’s camp recap on the main DenverBroncos.com page, titled “Day Five: A Running Trend.”
Hope that fills your Torain fix,
Gray
Awesome updates guys!!!
What do you think of Holland eventualyl joining the OL with Harris playing poorly.
Great job. You guys are doing good stuff.
how has Wesley Woodyard been doing? He was a beast at Kentucky. I think him and Alridge were steals as undrafted free agent market. Also how has Josh Barrett looked. This kid was projected the 3rd best safety in the draft and we got him in the 7th. Could this kid take over for Lych when he retires? In all this was a really good draft year. I think we have a lot of rookies that will contribute and some be starters for us in the futrue.
thanks for the update
love the blogs! keep up the great work!
good posts……thanks again Gary…
i share the same questions as GnarlyBroncos on Woodyards play.
what’s up with all those hamstring injuries! Don’t you football players know how to stretch before practice lol.
GREAT BLOGS….KEEP EM’ COMING!!!
You guys are awesome!!! I can’t get enough.
Im loving the reports you guys are giving, i fell almost there watching, these are much better than the mason era! hope you keep this up! GO BRONCOS!
Hillis is starting to worry me. Any updates on him?
Seems like everyone is getting hurt on the left side.Do you think offense will be throwing the ball deep more this year based on the way training camp is going?
This blog is good. The last few months, the site wasn’t worth reading. It is now. It’s about the same quality-wise as the other guy. Looks like it takes three or four guys to do the same work as Mason though. Just means the site is like the entire team. Going younger. Saving money with layoffs and attrition. Sundquist out, Xanders and Jeff Goodman in. Bates and Heimerdinger out, neither replaced. Lynch out, and who will replace him? Abdullah? McCree? Manuel?
Embrace the new young Broncos. Focus on what’s here. Mason’s fine. Lynch will be fine. Sundquist is probably doing fine. Move on.