Dove Valley was packed with the most fans to attend a practice this offseason Sunday afternoon. It was also the first training camp practice for newly-signed No. 1 pick Knowshon Moreno, so there was plenty of excitement surrounding the day. There were some plays made on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, and a few new players cracked the first unit on both sides.
Here are some quick hits from the session.
ROLL CALL: Rulon Davis was back at practice this afternoon after missing Friday’s practice session. Brandon Marshall, Brian Dawkins and Wesley Woodyard did not participate.
POSITIONING: Depending on the package, plenty of defensive players saw some time with what seemed to be the “first unit.” The basic unit looked pretty similar, with Champ Bailey, Andre’ Goodman, David Bruton and Renaldo Hill in the secondary, Ryan McBean, Ronald Fields and Kenny Peterson on the line and Elvis Dumervil, D.J. Williams, Andra Davis and Mario Haggan at linebacker. Haggan joined the list of several new faces who saw some time with the first unit, including Marcus Thomas, Nic Clemons and Robert Ayers. Jack Williams and Josh Barrett ran with the first teamers for parts of practice as well.
As far as the offense goes, the team occasionally worked in two tight end sets, with Daniel Graham and Tony Scheffler. Jabar Gaffney and Eddie Royal were the receivers, Kyle Orton was at quarterback and the running backs rotated, including Peyton Hillis, Correll Buckhalter and Moreno. Hillis also spent time at fullback in two-back sets.
DRILLS: Tight ends worked again linebackers on blocking, and the one-on-one battles were fairly physical. After Reid pushed Richard Quinn down on the way to the quarterback, linebackers coach Don Martindale shouted to tight ends coach Clancy Barone, “I brought the bullies today, Clarence!” On the next play, Quinn stepped up again and this time held off Tim Crowder, drawing loud clapping and congratulations from Barone on the effort.
In the same drill, no one got past Daniel Graham. Graham also spent some time to the side showing Quinn how to use his hands to help with his technique. Dumervil was active in the drill as well, pushing back Jeb Putzier then using a swim move to get past him. He gave Robert Ayers a fist pound after the rookie made some good moves in the drill a couple plays later.
Reid and Dumervil worked against Spencer Larsen and LaMont Jordan in a special teams drill with coordinator Mike Priefer. The two outside linebackers/defensive ends practiced their blocking technique.
PLAYMAKERS: Bailey had quite the practice. In one-on-one drills between defensive backs and wide receivers, he matched up against Royal on two occasions. Both times he made sure the ball fell to the ground for an incompletion. Then in 11-on-11s later in the session, the eight-time Pro Bowler grabbed two interceptions. One came as he ran down an overthrown ball and caught it over his shoulder in the end zone. The other game on a tipped pass, which he pulled out of the air as he reached behind him.
Royal had a solid session as well, leaping up to catch a pass in the middle of the defense with Vernon Fox closing quickly. Later in the session, Gaffney leaped to pull in a pass before being brought down by Goodman near the goal line. The defense shouted “He wasn’t in the end zone!” but Head Coach Josh McDaniels blew his whistle and signaled touchdown, calling for a two-point conversion. In what was a familiar sight for Broncos fans, Royal was the man who hauled in the catch in the end zone on the next play for the successful conversion.
Moreno made an impact in his first practice, seeing a couple reps behind the first unit offensive line. In one-on-one tackling drills between running backs and linebackers, the rookie lowered his shoulder and ran right into D.J. Williams. The veteran still made the tackle, but it drew some “ooohs” from the crowd.
Tony Carter thought he had an interception in his grasp during 7-on-7s, but the ball tipped off his outstretched hands and into the arms of intended receiver Brandon Lloyd, who turned around and sprinted toward the end zone, much to the delight of the crowd.
Stokley also scored a touchdown during 7-on-7s, streaking upfield and catching a long bomb from Orton with Jack Williams in tight coverage.
Alphonso Smith jumped a route and picked off a pass from Tom Brandstater during 11-on-11s.
The first unit offense and defense went at it during a two-minute drill to close out practice. The offense drove to the 11-yard line and clocked the ball with two seconds to go. On the final play of the drive, Orton dropped back, scanned the field and fired a pass to Scheffler in the front of the end zone, but Goodman continued his playmaking ways of late, jumping in to knock the ball away before shaking his head in celebration.
QUICK HITS: 2,309 fans showed up to watch practice today — the most at Dove Valley yet this offseason.
Kenny McKinley went one-on-one with Smith in a drill early in practice, and Smith broke up the pass. Wide receivers coach Adam Gase pulled McKinley aside and talked to him after the play. The pep talk must have worked, because during 11-on-11s later in practice McKinley leaped and pulled in a Chris Simms pass at its highest point for a catch that drew cheers from the crowd.
DAILY JUKEBOX: Ben Hamilton’s playlist kicked off practice today, and he put together a list based on suggestions from fellow offensive linemen. Last week, Wiegmann said, “I just told Ben to make it respectable.” You be the judge.
Bob Marley – “Jammin’”
Metallica – “Don’t Tread on Me”
Daft Punk – “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” (This brought some dancing from the former Minnesota teammates, Hamilton and Reid)
Jay-Z – “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)”
Jason Michael Carroll – “Waitin’ in the Country”
Michael Jackson – “Rock With You”
Later in the session, Mark Thewes, assistant to the head coach, took control of the iPod and put on some music to simulate crowd noise. Some of his selections included “Everlong” by the Foo Fighters, “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses, “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor and “You Give Love a Bad Name” by Bon Jovi.
QUOTABLE:
“Yeah I needed some. I thought I needed some contact getting out here for the first day. I got that.”
-Knowshon Moreno, on his contact with D.J. Williams in one-on-one drills
More pictures from practice are below.
The team will practice at INVESCO Field at Mile High tomorrow morning but that practice is closed to the public. The afternoon practice for tomorrow has been canceled, so the next time they’ll be on the field at Dove Valley is on Tuesday for two sessions — 8:45 a.m. MDT and 5:30 p.m. MDT. Both are open to the public.
-Gray Caldwell, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Training Camp
This entry was posted
on Sunday, August 9th, 2009 at 6:01 pm and is filed under DenverBroncos.com.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
What?
well with are own version of smash(Hillis)and dash(moreno) are run game is going to be sick
In fact, our Smash has better agility and speed then the other one so we are in real good shape at RB
I cant wait to see Hillis in action again that stunk last year when he was knocked out for the year right when he was hitting his stride. Hillis is a monster got to love it.
i think moreno is gonna be the whole package so we can bring hillis in on the fourth and 1 situation and he will pick it up like he did against the browns last year in a win or lose situation
I hear you zekethe1. However, I did give my Cutler jersey to my older brother. I went and bought me an orange, Moreno jersey. Going to also get me a blue, Royal jersey, just before the season starts.
Hey LB56, I’m always there for the games, so if you will be there, I will save some openings at the table. Just let me know how many spots to save. I’ll save them with their very lives, ha, ha.
I am also planning on getting myself a blue Royal Jersey….Great to see Moreno have a good opening day
hey dynamic..hope your not ignoring my posts to you..lol..
Ok sorry..posts are running slow tonite!
No, Ashley emailed me (she’s in Colorado on vacation) and I was emailing her back. Sorry, bro.
Pretty much a done deal. who cares about QB, Orton will do fine handing the ball off.. run the smash-mouth ball like we used to… hush-ler is gone. now with the Marsh, half azzin” crap, bout time we realise what the real heart of the BRONCS are about. And i gaurentee that we will show some fools a thing or two
Hey Dave ashley was telingl us about her day and the what she is up to tomorrow, go karts and all. Her and Florios’s_mom are going to the Wednesday training camp so they might see each other wouldn’t that be cool.
Yeah, with all the talent that Denver has at it’s disposal, they have the option to run soooo many different, unusual plays. Smash mouth, wild cat, finesse. Denver can do it all.
Um… IDK if we can say Hillis is Smash and Moreno is Dash… Because they both have nice moves and can run over ya… haha… I love our RB situation now… I assume Buckhalter will be our 2nd (after the season has rolled on) so we need to find that 3rd SOLID back… I think it’ll be Torain…
I just hope our D can as well.
She told me about her day. Not florio, though. It’s always fun to meet up with fellow Bronco bloggers. I’ve met a few out here in Vegas. One lives here and 2 live in CA. I also know one in AZ who will be popping in and anorther in CA who also will be stopping in.
Akeem you crack me up man. I hear ya on Rey M. being a great talent but really I am glad we did not draft him! With what you were saying, I’m sorry but after he slipped to the second round, he really was not worthy of being drafted 18th, and I agree I would rather have Phonze of the three you mentioned. But Rey wasn’t a ball hawk, he forced fumbles yes but not a ball hawk, Phonze was what 7th all time in his conference for int’s?
Anyway Rey wasn’t worthy of being drafted at 18 and I choose Phonze with the high second rounder we used on him over Rey. Our linebacking core will be just fine.
And the reason McDenver has Doom listed as DE/OLB is not because he can play on the line in a 3-4 SORRY! It is because we are not going to be a complete 3-4. We are going to be a hybrid 3-4, meaning we will have some packages where we will line up as a 4-3 and in those instances Doom will be DE! Just a FYI!
DD Ashley never goes on vacation to Colorado!!! She goes back home to Colorado, KC is just where she is stuck currently! LOL She won’t call KC her home is what I’m saying….. And I remember totally when you ripped that bear fan saying Futler only had 2 WR’s no TE’s no LINE and no RB’s in Denver so he’d be better in the 2nd city! It was great!!!! Dumb bear fans think that hester and the vandy WR will be adequate! I bet majority of the passes go to Forte out of the backfield and their TE, he’s good but no Sheff or Graham!
Here’s to hoping for a high draft pick from Chicago after DOOM injures Futler in the preseason!
Stay thirsty my friends!
I hope our D can provide a smash (hitting the opponents hard) and dash (picking off the QB and running it in for a score)
Yeah it is always nice to meet fellow broncos fans, there ain’t many here.
I agree on that one.. BRONCOBAILEY99 but i depends on the identity that they want to show this year.. i think. going back to the roots of smash mouth football may be the way to go. And if so i think we are good on the O side of the ball .. so far. A- badass O line .. hand the ball off, put pressure in the middle and then when it opens up.. Throw the BALL. weee hee cant wait!!
Bucky has been doing good but Torain has been tearing it up. I think he will be behind Moreno and Bucky will be 3rd. This is worse then playing a game of Stratego, ha, ha.
Yea but isnt this great! Having all this talent in the backfield and not knowing who to put where and what..lol
2champ4pickSIX, Yeah, I should have worded that better, ha, ha. Even though I lived in Colorado for over 25 years and my heart is always there and with all of the Colorado teams, my home is now Vegas. I don’t see myself leaving here. I love it here. It suits me nicely. Yeah, I recall you mentioning that you saw that post on the Chicago blog. Another Chicago fan tried to tell me once that I’m trolling and had no business on their blog. I told him as long as Cutler is there and the article brings up our Broncos and their W/L record determines our 1st round draft pick next year, I have all the right in the world. Losers….
YES . its wonderful. LBWilson56. That is the greatness of it all. So many options in the backfield. It will keep the defense guessing and the offense moving. And then when the dummies are thinking… “they can’t run it again” we run it up their TAILPIPES.. lol back to the basics is what will make this team a “playoff team” again.. watch you will see
For the Love of Shannie… (god rest his soul).
LBW56, yep, we’re stacked with depth at RB. Raiders don’t have squat over us. They argue that Moreno is a rookie and unproven, so we can’t include him. I told them that not only will we include him, but that he will make sure that the Raiders never forget him, ha, ha.
azbronc4life, where in AZ do you live?
gilbert.. an you?
Las Vegas. I’ve lived in Glendale, Phx, Tempe.
in the big CO. lived in Durango, Grand Junction, and many of the lil mining crappers there. lol but as long as broncs were playing… good times..
Well, if ever in Vegas, let me know in advance.
I’m out of here guys. Need to get up early and go work out. Peace.
Come on guys, bandwagon jumpers? Who r we even talking about here I think most of the people that post on here are real fans weather I agree with them or not. I am more of a realist, I am not a soft serve Wade Phillips!
When lost the 3 game lead last year it broke my heart, then fired Shannahan, hired McD a first time coach who hasn’t proved anything yet, tried to bring in Cassel. I mean I was really down before the draft, but u know what before every season I believe my Broncos r going to be the best. I am not sayin Orton is bad just to say I told u so, its my opinion. This is a blog for the fans after all. I will still watch all the games wearing my Broncos hat, shirt, pants, socks, and shoes. If you were to talk to my friends I watch the games with they would tell u iam a die hard fan who bleeds orange and blue.
“Give Us Some Respect Right Now!”
I’m back for a moment. I just went to Cox for the schedule again for Fridays game (they always change stuff). Denver/49ers is not being shown on basic network channels. So, I was right with my very 1st post about it and it is only being shown by NFL Network. Also, ESPN will be airing the Cards/Steelers. I’ll be watching the Broncos, thank you very much.
Also, can you believe they took the listing for Denver/49er’s on ABC (channel 13) off and put another game on, in it’s place, on channel 12 (KVMY)? The Phallus Cowgirls/Chokeland Traiters. YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME?
Q: Who will win the game between Phallus and Chokeland?
A: Who cares?
Mercy! I went back to the Cox Communications guide and now they list the Steelers/Cards and the Cowgirls/Traiters game as a Thursday night game (which is correct) and once again, put Denver/49ers on Friday night on ABC (channel 13)????? I don’t know what the heck Cox is doing? Yet NFL Network says they are airing the Denver game? Grrrrr. It makes me wonder? If it’s shown in Colorado on CBS, why would it be on ABC, here in Vegas?
Most preseason games are broadcast on local affiliates and a select few are shown on national networks (e.g. Chicago @ Denver on Aug. 30 will be a national broadcast by NBC), Dynamicdave. That is why KCNC-TV (4), the CBS affiliate in Denver will be showing the 49ers game in Denver and a local ABC affiliate in Las Vegas (KTNV-TV (13)) will have the broadcast rights to the same game in a different market. NFL Network will be showing a replay of each preseason game in 2009. I think that is why some of you may be confused about which network or channel is showing which game and at what time.
I just found out what my wife is getting me for my B-Day this month. A Dawkins (Blue) jersey and a Bailey (white) jersey. I’m so excited!
She had to tell me as we share the same bank account and I pay bills and reconcile the check book. lol
i think it is going to be a blow out den 35 and sf 14
Thanks RSH. What got me though, was it listed the Denver game a couple of days ago on channel 13, then changed it by removing the game and adding two more games which are actually Thursday games, then removed those and put Denver back. I had the correct days selected but they had the programming wrong.
B55, cool, if the Dawkins jersey is too big, send it to me, ha, ha.
If I remember correctly the game is going to be on NFL Network Sat 10:00 PM EST. Just FYI-
Why would we want to watch a Friday night game, on a Saturday? I would have already found out the score and it takes away the excitement of the game, knowing how it will end.
Has anyone other than me noticed everytime the broncos and 49ers play someone dies….I’m nervous but I pray nothing happens
I know it sux! I would like to watch it live as well. I still may have to check it out just to get a little fix. DTV Sunday Ticket ought to air all of the pre-season games, too.
camharland,
The game will be live on NFL network. See this link.
http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/games
As I mentioned, if it’s on National (regular) TV in Vegas (ABC, channel 13) then it should be on regular TV in most areas. Do as I did. If you have cable, go online to your local cable company, look up the TV guide section and look for the game.
broncofanlvnm,
Thanks for the info- Looks like the TV stations can’t make up their minds. I guess I know what I’m doing Friday night now.