The Broncos concluded their final minicamp on Sunday, and the team will now have over a month off before training camp begins at Dove Valley in late July.
Before departing, the club got in some serious work on Sunday. For the majority of practice, the players worked on game-simulating situations. Nearly every scenario was covered during 11-on-11s, as the team marched up and down the field working on different packages. On one play, the offense was backed up to its own goal line. A few plays later, they were working in the red zone.
McDaniels believes the players now understand what the coaching staff expects from them on a daily basis and what the systems are all about. Accordingly, he was pleased with what the team accomplished on the final day of camp.
“I think they finished today the way that we would want them to finish,” McDaniels said. “There were some mistakes out there, but it certainly wasn’t because it was a lack of energy or a lack of enthusiasm or a lack of effort, because (energy, enthusiasm and effort) is exactly what we’ve seen all spring, and it’s a tribute to them and the group that we’ve put together, and I think they’ve really meshed together well as a team.”
Highlighting the final day of minicamp was an appearance by former wide receiver Rod Smith. Although no longer suiting up, Smith said he was happy to be at practice and is very much looking forward to the upcoming season. Smith said he believes this group of Broncos can “take off” if they successfully buy into McDaniels’ philosophy.
“I get excited to come out and watch them,” he said. “With guys like Champ (Bailey) and D.J. (Williams), guys that I actually played with, Daniel Graham, I look for those guys to lead this team. Brian Dawkins, my son is his biggest fan — he doesn’t know that, though — so he’s going to be looking forward to go and watch Brian Dawkins. That’s huge. Brian’s one of those guys that has been around a long time and he can lead this football team.”
As you’d expect, Smith — who owns virtually every Broncos receiving record — is still a popular figure at team headquarters. Throughout today’s session he could be seen greeting familiar faces within the organization. After practice, Smith spent time talking with a number of Broncos, including Eddie Royal.
Royal said he and Smith talked about how doing the little things right on a daily basis pays dividends in the long run.
“Any chance you get to learn from a legend like him, you take every opportunity,” Royal said. “He’s got great knowledge; he’s played for a long time.”
While speaking with the press, McDaniels glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Smith speaking with two young players on the team — a sight he was pleased to see.
“Any time guys like Rod Smith come around, I think it’s a great influence for a lot of our younger players … Anything they can learn from Rod Smith will help us out as a football team.”
QUICK HITS:
- In between series, different special teams situations were emphasized. Matt Prater worked on onside kicks and angle kickoffs. Meanwhile, Britton Colquitt and Brett Kern alternated punt attempts. Colquitt had arguably the punt of the day — situated at the back of the end zone, Colquitt boomed a punt nearly 60 yards, forcing returner Alphonso Smith to backpedal.
- Working with the first unit, Kyle Orton showed some nice movement in the pocket — scrambling out of trouble on a few plays to make completions downfield.
- Richard Quinn showed that he was drafted for more than his blocking ability. The second round pick made a diving catch in the middle of the field during 11-on-11s.
– Zach Eisendrath, DenverBroncos.com
Here are some pictures:
I agree with a lot of you, get rid of the cancer known as B. Marsh. Let’s not forget how many balls he dropped last year and he’s never had break away speed. Remember in the Pro Bowl he dropped a TD. We should also not forget the amount of off the field issues he’s had and his behavior last year in the Miami game when Joey Porter got in his head. He is a selfish player that almost cost us the game against the Browns last year if it wasn’t for Stokely. We need more players like Hillis and Royal and less players like B. Marsh. Get rid of the cancer and get excited for a great season of football. I think our team is going to surprise a lot of people.
GO BRONCOS!!!!
I’m sorry but I wish people would stop referring to Brandon Marshall as BM, at least until we know for sure he is not going to be a Bronco anymore. BM stands for bowel movement (sh**).
At this point and time Marsahll is acting like a bowel movement.
Sorry.. Marshall
wtf we cant LOSE MARSHALL!!!!!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH MCDANIELS HE IS LEADING THE BRONCOS IN THE WRONG DIRECTION!!!! SHANNAHAN NEEDS TO COME BACK.
Call him a cancer, call him w/e you want, but what he is is a playmaker, a man that has on many ocassions turned 5 yards into 50 yards, sure he has messed up on the field but what good player hasn’t. I have been so disconnected from the Broncos this offseason but when I heard this I had to come back. Hopefully it isnt another cutler situation where everyone is in denial and says is just a rumor until it happens. Brandon, eddie and stokely at the WR position made our air offense easy last year. Even Orton will look like peyton manning IF HE HAS ALL 3 OF THEM. Eddie did what he did last year because after that first SD game, Brandon was double teamed the rest of the season.
I personally don’t believe the rumors, even when Bmarsh heard that cutler was gone, even tho he was hurt, he didn’t spaz and revolt when interviewed. sur ehe has some off the ield issues but they are never anythign serious, like taking guns to clubs and etc.
ok i just heard he might go to the ravens???? for who mason?? nooooooo!!!! that would be horrible….trade him to the Patriots and convince bellicheat to trade Older Randy moss and a future pick for a younger verson of moss Bmarsh!!! not going to happen but……
I would really love that we trade him to MINN because we can get one of those huge d-tackles they have!!! im sure they would give one of them up for a big WR to throw to…..give us Pat Williams and Sidney Rice!!
I can’t believe some of you are blaming Cutler, come on, Marsh is a grown man and is making his own decisions! Now I watch NFL network quite bit and they made soem good comments, the Broncos organization has always been viewed as a Class A org..But here lately, we dump a hall of fame coach, a great QB and now about to lose our best WR in years!! Since Rod, Ed and Shannon left, we haven’t had anything as good as BM..Walker, yeah right! None of us were in that meeting that Marshall and McD had last week, when after it was over, he was seening packing his car??? So before we all blame Marshall for this mess, look at what McD is doing to our team!! He didn’t upgrade our D-line at all!!! Brought in a bunch of practice squad players..Let guys like Haynesworth, Bernard and Canty get away..When he could have traded Cutler to Minnesota for one of the Williams’??? Or even for Peppers in Carolina?? If you think Orton and Simms will cut it, I remind you that neither has ever palyed a full season!! Injuries!!! We could have gotten Mcgee from Tx A&M, who is doing quite well in Dallas and will push Homo to play better or I see him taking over before the season is over! I like Brandstater, a strong arm and good decision making QB, who if given a chance, will unseat Simms/Orton, both will always be backup QBs! I’m not a big McD fan yet, as what I see he’s done, but I will give him 3 years to change this team around, will you?????? So if we can win more than 5 games I will be happy, Superbowl, come on, it’ll take a lot of teams to fall apart with injuries for that to happen! Everybody on this site was saying we needed Brace DT and Malegua LB and we passed them both up and they were both taken with the very next pick by NE and Cincy!! Andra Davis didn’t do jack in Cleveland, Boss Bailey is a subpar LB always hurt, which has caused us to move, Doom, Crowder and Moss to LB as well as Ayers! So who’s manning the line?? We need to get Robertson, he did good for his first year along with Thomas who is still improving. Someone is going to be traded soon in our TE scheme, we can’t afford all that we have, and since McD drafted Quinn, I see Shef out, as he knows Graham from NE…And why did he waste drafts on O-linemen, we have great one and 3 backups who are going to be great when given the chance, Polombus, Litch and Erickson…Should have drafted extra D-linemen, like Miller out of Tx who went to Tampa and Gilbert from SJ State???
Its just a money issue i dont think denver will trade him but i thought that about cutler and that ended up the other way. I wont mind if denver can get one defensive starter for Brandon someone who is less troublesome. Eddie Royal can be the starter the man has speed quickness and can run routs and the only reason why he didnt have more yards was because brandon always wants the ball thats why cutler threw so many interceptions. Trade him to Baltimore for Haloti Nata and a pick do not think the ravens will do that but hey its worth a shot and i think Haloti would do great in this defense.
It’s official http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d810d77e1&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true
here is an interisting stat from Bill Williamson on ESPN.
Top WR targets, 2008
Player Passed to Rec. Pct. Yards. TD
Brandon Marshall, Denver 174 104 59.8 1265 6
Andre Johnson, Houston 160 115 71.9 1575 8
Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona 152 96 63.2 1431 12
Dwayne Bowe, Kansas 151 86 57.0 1022 7
Wes Welker, New England 146 111 76.0 1165 3
However, here’s another chart that shows Marshall was at his most productive against weaker competition:
Top WR targets, 2008
vs. winning teams (6) vs. losing teams (7)
Rec./game 4.5 8.6
Yds/game 53.5 104.9
TD 0 6
evel14u. I like your store but the meeting with marsh and mac, was with marsh and PAT BOWLEN. And as you put it we ‘dumped a HOF coach’, well, it was time to move on. And as far as a great QB, that depends on how you define GREAT. however you are correct about one thing BM is the best WR we have had in years. last year only playing 11 games and still with 100 catches… 6 TDs. (thats 6% of the time he gets the ball he scores) i wonder what the other 2 WR % is.
now to everyone, have you ever had a job? what was your first days at work like? were you given a chance to complete the first day or were you sent home?
mac picked the best players (FA or DRAFT) that is all. why put in the time and effort to train someone you know is not going to work out. If someone “could work out” he let them go on by. he wants only the right ones to fit into his system. when you got married did you pick the one that could work or did you wait until the right one came around.
listen folks the Brandon situation is all about money Not MCD. the ressesion is effecting alot of teams. not saying that brandon doesn’t deserve more money but teams are not going to shovel out lots of money to players that have a habit of getting in to trouble. Just to weeks ago we did not even know if Marsh was going to play. so giving him lots of money right now is a gamble. If he wants more money get your but on the field and show the team your ready to play
Are you kidding me the key elements here are !money2.the hip 3BM intelligence? 1 does he deserve more money well that’s open for debate he has been nothing but trouble legal and injuries.And with the uncapped year and a franchise tag we could have him for three years without a new contract especially considering one more violation will probably end up In a 1 year or an indefinite suspension ! 2.The hip yet again coming into training camp with another injury and better yet refusal to let team Dr.s look at him which raises too many questions if you want more money would it not be prudent to let the team see that the hip is OK if it truly is? and with all the drops due to nerve damage last year nerve damage does not heal folks but degenerates over time! so with the combo of possibly loosing more speed while already low end speed for a starter in the NFL combined with nerve damage in one hand that’s a lot of if room to deal with many experts say he may never be the same player again!(can he even pass a physical to be traded right now?3 and almost most important His intelligence in my mind has always been a source of concern once is a mistake twice bad judgment 3 times is a serious flaw in character and intelligence and McDs offence needs intelligent players one of many reasons jays not here and BM has shown a extremely slow learning curve and productivity most likely drop off with a Q.B. who wont force him the ball with other open receivers on the field and a shorter more controlled passing game! With all three of these elements on the table it would be a poor business decision to just hand him a long term deal no matter the things he has done on the field in the past ! How many clutch catches did he either step out or just flat out drop the ball i can think of 2 games last season that if he made the catch would have sealed the deal and took us to the playoffs! Lastly as fore the cuttle/b.mars and the Sims/Orton debate how many playoff wins did cutler/b marsh have vs. Orton/Sims??Enough said with or without B marsh our receiving core as a whole is still very good and with Lloyd and his relationship to Orton may still be one of the better in the league we will have to see on that point!
me and evel14u were having a ‘talk’ and the blogs got removed. This is the 2nd time one of my blogs has been taken off, thats ok b/c they (blogs) should have. just goes to show me that i am not as polite as i could be.
When someone doesn’t want to be here, working hard. It takes away a roster spot from someone who does. I’ve stuck up for B Marsh far too long. If you want to leave this great organization, please do it!
Ya, my stance has changed also. Screw him. Hit the road Jack!
Casey Wiegmann and the Broncos have officially agreed on a contract extension through the 2010 season.
AWESOME!!!! The o-line from last year will remain intact. Great news. Let’s get some value for B. Marsh and start getting excited about the upcoming season and the players that want to be Broncos.
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!
I say we trade B. Marsh for Anquan Boldin and re-structure his contract! I mean the reason(s) we won’t re-negotiate Marshall’s are:
1. He is coming of surgeory for an injury the medical staff here “couldn’t/didn’t find”
2. He proved valuable to Cutler, but still dropped 18 ON TARGET PASSES! “what was that 2nd to Braylon Edwards’ 22?”
3. McDaniels is of the mentality that it should be…… Like Rod Smith said “you sign a contract you don’t get a new one until they say so, or that one is fulfilled, regardless!”
I mean how would it be guys if teams could hold out on players, Mr. Bowlen…. “sorry Niko you did not fulfill the whole 5 Mill contract you signed, we’re only giving you 1.2 Mill which is generous considering you played special teams to a lower standard than a rookie starting both ways by the name of Spencer Larsen!”
Anyway Boldin would be a stellar pick up, only issue he has IMO is wanting a new contract, WHICH HE DESERVES! He isn’t a Fitz. but he took his role and ran with it, unlike Marshall will if he isn’t getting the ball 12+ times a game!
Anyone think the same? Sorry didn’t wanna read all 118 comments to see if I’m duplicating something!
But just remember guys, we have a lot of Wide Outs that can get the job done, if McDaniels offense has proven anything over the years it’s that WR is not a huge deal as long as the route gets run. Until Moss and Welker the best they had was Brown “lot like Rod Smith” and Deion Branch, look what happened when he wanted a new contract and how they did without him!
Plus being as we got draft picks this year and some for next year, I don’t see us trading for just draft picks, we’ll pick of a good player at some position when/if we part ways!
Keep the faith Bronco Fans!
brian_schneider for 2.2 Million a year FOR ONE YEAR! I would play catch with the swine-flu!
excuse me….. H1N1 Virus! lol
2champ, this started out like cutler. some ppl put the blame on mac but marsh only talked to bowlen. so they blamed bowlen. they are starting to come around to remember the important passes dropped and that his % was less than 60 so on , so on,. now they are looking at ‘what can we get for him’, he is not a team player, and are really starting to grasp the idea of TEAM as a unit. and for the most part are not bashing mac any more.
2champ 2.2 million would not be enough………first you have to buy 2 houses in denver, then one in another state, pay your agent (thats now me) and then there are the parties, clothes, cars, ………profit= 10,000.00 lol
see ya B Marsh.
he’s an all pro receiver & i loved watching him play, but his off field shenanigans degrade the team – whether he’s smashing up a tv, or beating up his lady, he’s not worth it. Broncos are no good if their # 1 receiver is suspended.
texark-fan I hear a ton of sarcasim in that comment. For that I’ll give you (my agent) a raise for making me laugh.
Glad you get my point, can’t live in 2 houses at the same time so if I have to have 2 then together they will only be around 500K if I was to buy them outright. House in another state would be my parents house which as part of getting them out of debt would be covered.
Parties and Clothes you will help my cover by getting me a deal with dixie plastic ware, and who gives a f? the gap or something!
That leaves cars to buying a new sti and dropping maybe 5K into it so it spanks every other primadona on the team’s Ferrari from a dig and a roll. Plus AWD so no need for a truck in the winter seats 5 with cargo room for my football gear + sound system.
Now what am I missing? Oh ya, the rest I throw in the bank and live off the interest for the year! With my good play on the field and stellar behavior in commercials and in public off the field, YOU (my agent) get me more sponsorship deals! And I get the big pay check I was looking for, then after a year or two of great pay and play, I restructure my contract to free up cap space on the team so that we can bring in more help and make more super bowl runs!
I see the 6 in Pittsburgh and I raise you 2! HAHAHA
a mile above the rest you need to take a look at the depth chart and maybe watch the game film of the 1st game of last year! Ya it was the Raiders but Royal still torched D Hall, who Shanny was afraid to throw against in Atlanta, not to mention Darrell Jackson got in the mix that game, and we let him go and upgraded to Chad Jackson, Jabar Gaffney, still have stokes, just picked up Brandon Lloyd, and a crop of young WR’s with speed that only need to beat the man across from them for 5 feet and catch a 3 yard pass, or sit in the hole in front or behind a line backer!
We will be fine with or without Marshall, now I would love to see him stay here, but if we can get a good deal for him I say we do it so we keep clear under the cap to sign a top 10 talent with Chicago’s first pick next year!
LMAO
As great as he is, he isnt even close to Rod Smith in Stats for best season..he is around what Eddy Mac put up one year…i mean he is great. i love waiting to see what he will do with every catch!!!
Please if we trade him…trade him for somebody worth it!!! DT from MInnasota
DT from ravens
We can pick up a WR next year in FA we coulda had a few if we new we had a need!!
Go broncos….lets get a TOp Ten DEfense and Running game and work around that in the draft!!!
Broncos are the future!!
Some of you have probably already seen this article on “Food for Thought” but if you haven’t, you need to read it. Here’s the link. Great read!
http://www.milehighreport.com/2009/6/17/912124/the-brandon-marshall-debate-some
first cutler then boss now marshal! mcdanels is a idot. with his holyer than tho attitude and now one is bigger then him is nonsence. we lost the best qb the broncos had in ten years and now the best wr since rod smith. he has toren appart this team and will do so until every one bows to him. he does not know how to treat aman like a man. Shannahan did thoe, he didnot have these problems.HERE IS A LITTEL STATS FOR ALL THE CUTLER HATERS!!!!!!!!! CUTLER- 37 games 9024 yds,62.5 comp, 54 tds and 37 int. ELWAY- in 42 games only 8152 yds,52.9 comp, only 47 td, and 57 int. now who was a better qb this early in their career.