The Broncos were back out on the practice field for the nightcap of their Wednesday two-a-day sessions. Several players shined, with big plays in the passing game on both sides of the ball.
Here are some quick hits from the session:
ROLL CALL: After missing the morning practice, Ben Hamilton, Champ Bailey, Brian Dawkins, Correll Buckhalter and Brandon Stokley all participated in the evening session. Not on the practice field were Casey Wiegmann, Wesley Woodyard, D.J. Williams, Daniel Graham, Jack Williams, Brandon Lloyd and Knowshon Moreno.
POSITIONING: With Williams and Woodyard sitting out, Darrell Reid received the majority of the reps at outside linebacker, while Mario Haggan slid to the inside spot. Andra Davis manned Williams’ jack position, while Elvis Dumervil kept his normal outside post on the right side.
With Stokley back in the mix, the Broncos displayed a series of five wide-receiver sets. Jabar Gaffney, Kenny McKinley, Eddie Royal, and Chad Jackson all saw time at the receiver posts, while LaMont Jordan, Peyton Hillis, and Tony Scheffler all saw time split out wide as the fifth man.
With Hamilton back and Wiegmann out, Seth Olsen got to complete his full day of work with the first team at left guard. Hamilton slid over to center.
The No. 1 punt team this evening consisted of Reid, Hillis, Mario Haggan, Vernon Fox, Darcel McBath, Jeb Putzier, Richard Quinn, David Bruton, and Josh Barrett. Alphonso Smith and Eddie Royal grabbed the majority of the returns.
DRILLS:Defensive line coach Wayne Nunnely unveiled a new “chute” drill. Lining up under a post about five feet high, each defender got in a three point stance. Once the ball next to them was snapped, they were told to “come straight out of the chute” – pushing forward toward a teammate holding a pad.
Offensive line coach Rick Dennison had his six tackles work on footwork and discipline at their position. The object was to shove their opponent out of the way, without drawing any penalties.
Tight ends coach Clancy Barone also used the chute to work with Quinn, Scheffler, Putzier and Marquez Branson on staying low when changing direction of their routes over the middle of the field.
Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer worked with a new kicker on field goals. Priefer kept close watch as rookie Britton Colquitt practiced from 30 and 35 yards out. Colquitt was 2 for 3 from each spot.
Priefer also worked with his gunners on downing punts inside the 10-yard line. Both Barrett and Bruton drew praise on several attempts, keeping their body between the ball and the end zone.
PLAYMAKERS: Rested up from taking the morning session off, Bailey and Dawkins showcased why they have each made seven trips to the Pro Bowl.
When asked Sunday if playing with a heavy wrap on his injured right hand was any issue for him, Dawkins said no. His play in this session proved it, as he snagged an interception with one hand on a pass from Kyle Orton intended for Gaffney.
Chris Simms was also victimized by a defensive gem, as Bailey made a smooth inside move to rob Nate Swift of a 15-yard completion near the far sideline.
On the last play of practice, Scheffler showed his range. Orton took a bootleg left, where he saw Scheffler wave his right hand. With two defenders closing in, Scheffler used that same hand to make a diving touchdown catch in the back left corner of the end zone, right as the horn sounded.
QUICK HITS: With his patented dance moves in hand, Reid continued to keep his teammates’ spirits up in other respects. In 1-on-1 drills between the defensive line and offensive line, he made a series of spin moves to beat his blocker. That got his teammates to call him “And 1 Mix Tape, The Professor.” Reid also worked with the offense as a wide receiver during early drills. While running in motion, he told his teammates “I’m a possession receiver.”
The first song of tonight’s jukebox was Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight.” Ronald Fields enjoyed it enough that right before the start of 11-on-11s, he warmed himself up by singing the tune again to himself and his nearby teammates. That spurred the nose tackle to clog the middle of the line and make two strong stops on handoffs to Buckhalter and Jordan.
Before all the players came out, several coaches showed off their arm strength. Coaching Assistant Ben McDaniels and Secondary Coach Ed Donatell played catch, firing tight spirals 20 yards downfield. McCoy worked exclusively with Tom Brandstater on the same skills, giving him pointers on how to position his fingers on the ball.
DAILY JUKEBOX: From the Phil Collins opener, the music just kept getting richer. Here’s this evening’s playlist:
T.I. – “My Life, Your Entertainment”
2Pac – “California Love”
Metallica – “Don’t Tread on Me”
Pearl Jam – “Rearview Mirror”
The Roots – “The Seed 2.0”
Rick Ross – “Everyday I’m Hustlin”
Young Jeezy – “Bottom of the Map” and “Put On”
Guns & Roses – “Welcome to the Jungle”
Modest Mouse – “Float On”
Here are a few more pictures from the evening session.
-Chris Gentilviso, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Training Camp
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TheRoyalBest:
In no way am I defending anyone, however these blogs were intended for discussion. People should be allowed to state how they feel about what the team should do, how they should act, who they should draft, etc. I agree with you, and at the same time I don’t.
I understand your point of view as well though, however after 3 years of giving B-Marsh a chance, it kind of shows a history. When looking at data, you look at it in a historical fashion. Marshall, unfortunately has a history of “bad luck” as he would put it. What I have learned through my years though, is you are the company you keep, and that someone’s past can tell you a lot about their future.
Do I think BMarsh and the Broncos would be better off if he learned the playbook and just finished out the contract while keeping quiet, and his agent quiet? Of course! He’s a beast!
Do I think BMarsh will do that? In no way shape or form, his history speaks for itself – but I would hope that he does!
Should everyone give him another chance? He’s had plenty of chances over the last couple seasons – he cannot seem to keep his nose clean. Someone can only scream “bad luck” for so long before it sounds more like crying wolf.
Your statement at the very end, “This whole thing is far from a big deal”, is correct. The media only makes big deals out of things and people tend to follow what the media says.
If the media puts someone down constantly and is non stop negative about someone, people will tend to agree. If the media is non stop positive or indifferent about someone, the people will tend to be positive or indifferent.
The media is who makes “big deals” out of any situation. Unfortunately, they know that people are not happy with “happy”. What gets the ratings??? Drama. People could care less if a local bakery donated 10 dozen pie’s to a homeless shelter. However, if someone robs at gunpoint a liquor store and kills someone, they are over that like stink on *&#$!
Just my 2 cents…
Anyways about the actualy blog, sorry to have offended anyone with my comments.
Is Champ’s visor tinted..if so, how come he doesn’t wear a tinted one in games?
brian:
I wouldn’t worry about it. You are entitled to your opinion as much as anyone. Thats what these blogs are for, really!
As far as Champ, I don’t know – maybe Dawkins is rubbing off on him! I think Dawkins is very liked by almost everyone that knows him, or hears of him!
In that case I hear ya..
The fact that you have to tell a persons teammates to show no happiness for their teammate is wrong. if it wasnt, the PR staff wouldnt have taken it back and placed blame and team mates wouldnt have felt the need to tell him. All they need to say is act proffesional when asked. NFL players already know how to be political for the most part. All im saying is we cant keep saying “The organizaiton can do no wrong” they can and they have. What I find interesting is when a new media circus starts, fans are quick to be like, this player is this, this player is that. I thought bmarsh was starting to enjoy denver again until this new fiasco.
All im saying, is we dont control the way thigns are handled, if he stays i personally will be happy but if he goes, I dont control that and will not sit here and start chastizing the guy. Hopefully it all goes well and he learns playbook and contributes cuz i believe we need him and he will make ortons work easier. And sorry if it seemed only targeted to u schnieder, it was a response to all the bmarsh bash comments. Put yourselves in players shoes and be objective sometimes and dont chuck them up as “Just another prima dona”. its a 12 yr avg career. He had what he called a misdiagnosed hip, prolly think his friend cutler was treated unfairly, wanted a new contract but grinned and bared it and then he hears people are coached not to feel happy for him.
Broncs55 – I like your 2 cents worth. Those that control the information are the ones with the power. The power to change or mould the way you think and feel about a person/topic anything!! The media can only be trusted to a certain extent, but due to the fact that we do not have first hand access to that information i.e. ‘I know exactly what happened because I was there’ or ‘I am his mentopr/shrink’, we rely on the media to fill in those gaps. But the information we are given is ALWAYS slighty skewed because, as Brocs55 said “What gets the ratings??? Drama.” With out drama there is no conflict and without conflict there is no interest. There is no interest in knowing we all live the same life, hence when we are ‘told’ someone else is doing something they shouldn’t all of a sudden it gives us a break from our lives. IMO
ANYWAY – The Broncos should screw BMarsh over, not give him a trade not give a pay increase and sit him on the bench for the season. For all his talent and ability, he has become a thorn rather than a rose. I’m over him as I was over the other cry baby. BMarsh on the end of McDaniels/Bowlens foot is the best deal he’s gonna get.
Brian Shneider, u def didnt offend me and i hope i didnt come across as angry or making a personal attack. Bronc55 is right this is a blog and its purely opinion based. just sometimes hate when people whine about players being whiners (aint that the pot callign the kettle black). Not saying anyone in particular. I just like to be objective and give constructive criticism. I know Bmarsh has his problems, I can list em all for you. The two times he has almost been suspended/suspended are the same case. After being put to court this year i think he will try to keep his nose clean. I dont think he is a bad guy is all im saying i guess. just my 2 cents as well, i shall also apologize and hope i didnt offend anyone as well.
Marshall isn’t even making too big of deal out of this! He just said he wanted out or a bigger contract 3 or so months ago. Sure he broke the law multiple times and should pay for it. BUT! he never made the big deal cutler did
Yeah, I guess I could see how Marshall could take it the wrong way. I really hope that he does stay. He’s got: talent, speed, and size. He is a very difficult WR to bring down, he’s like a smaller TE. Plus I got him on my fantasy team and really want him to do well.
You’re right, the media does blow things up. It just is getting old, ever since the whole Shanahan firing the media has pretty much bombarded the Broncos with negative media antics. This site is pretty much the only site that has aything positive to say about the team..obviously. I think Marshall knows what is best for him, he’ll be right along side of Royal just like he was last year, with Stokely and Gaffany in the slot.
Milehighreport.com is an awesome Broncos site too. I do admit, I read the post daily as sometimes new information will come out there rather than other sites, but I do not think of it as a ‘gospel’. This site and Milehighreport are very optimistic and have optimistic fans commenting! Two very good fan based sites IMO!
man there are some real geniuses on this message board. a. The guys who direct their posts at a player. I really would like to hear a player once say “because of a post by (insert idiot here) I changed my mind and signed with the Broncos” Really people, Marshall is a top 5 receiver in the NFL and STILL YOUNG. I am sure we can find 100 reception guys, with his size and speed anywhere. YEAH RIGHT!!! The team is doing all they can to disrespect him. I know that McD is a system guy. He is a Patriot way guy. A my way or the highway guy and that can be effective; yet to win in the NFL you have to have talent. Without Marshall we have no true, number 1 receiver. Royal is great, but he is a 2. Stokley has ALWAYS been a 3 and the rest of those guys, are you serious? There comes a time when accountability is a factor. FROM BOTH SIDES. The Front office has been screwing up since they hired Xanders and McD. One thing that could be said under Shanny and even Reeves before him, that we were NEVER laughing stocks of theh NFL like we are now. It will be an interesting season. People stop turning on players. With no players there is no team.
vabroncoguy: You have to go to Twitter for the players to read your blogs. LOL
I saw some posts about Peppers? You guys DO KNOW, right, that Peppers has been franchised and signed a big contract with Carolina for the money he wanted and isn’t going to leave? Peppers is not on the market.
xxgracegunnerxx, do you actually think that we haven’t looked at this from his side? Tell us “his side?” The side that says he is coming off a major injury? The side that says if he gets into trouble 1 more time he is looking at a long suspension? The side that says “Pay me anyways so that when/if I get in trouble, or if my injury prevents me from playing, the Broncos will still pay me the guaranteed money anyways?” The clause contract only gives Denver back $775K. Not much for taking a chance that BMarsh behaves.
What the PR guy did was wrong. I’ve said it numerous times. If players are happy for BMarsh, they should be able to say it. The PR guy was more concerned about the Broncos image, should the public be outraged at the courts decision. He took too much power to make decisions on behalf of the team without consulting the head staff, 1st. Many think that the staff knew all about it and are making the PR guy the scapegoat? Maybe, but I doubt it. But, that’s why this is a blog and it’s all opinions. No biggie.
But the name calling to each other is not needed. That’s what separates this blog from the DP and ESPN blogs. They (the other sites) tend to get personal. Relax guys. It’s football. A game. Don’t say things to others that you wouldn’t say in person. Debate, don’t argue. Discuss, don’t fight. We all have to form our opinions off of limited information. Therefore, nobody is completely right, nobody is completely wrong. We’ll never know the whole truth so we are forced to form opinions. Go with the flow.
vabroncoguy, actually, some of the players do read the DB blogs. I had even read that. Also, some even write articles. Does it bother them to read negative posts by the fans? Maybe to some and maybe not to others. People are people and have emotions. Some are affected by things more then others. Just depends on the individual, I suppose.
well said VABroncoguy. I agree with every word. and shneider is right they only pay attention to twitter lol. Im not one to “tweet” tho lol. Cant wait for saturdays game to see the week by week improvement. GO BRONCOS
Who do you guys think we should draft next year, based on our needs now? I wouldn’t say quarterback just yet, Orton may have some talent. I think we need more d-linemen, mainly a nose tackle.
vabroncoguy, you don’t think Denver was the laughing stock last year? With one of the worst defenses in the NFL? You give Shanny too much credit.
Also, yes I believe that Royal could be a #1 receiver. As a # 2, he JUST MISSED a 1000 yards. As a # 1, he could catch over a thousand easy. With Royal, you’re not giving him enough credit.
DoomervilRocks92, It’s really hard to say, this early in the game. Around mid season, we should have a better idea where our weaknesses are. I think Baker will be the NT of the future. Maybe another DE? As I said, hard to say.
Ok. Say we went with drafting a DE in the first round. Are there any good ones out there that are worth being a 1st round pick?
Well, I’m in agreement with you Doom…
I say we draft a NT in the first round, however… and this is a big however, it is very rare to have a talented NT in the draft, period.
There was only 1 NT worth taking, which Green Bay took this year. This is the other side of things…. Baker, who we got seems he might be a diamond in the rough.
We shall see. I am with McD in this one, any player drafted should be drafted to help any aspect of the game, whether on offense, defense, special teams, etc.
I think our offense is pretty solidified, maybe an extra receiver couldn’t hurt as BMarsh, if he doesnt get a contract extension will tell the Broncos to pound sand and he’ll land somewhere through FA.
I say a ILB might be necessary. You can see, McD has gotten himself an awesome secondary, and has prepared to replace that awesome secondary with younger players as Dawkins, Bailey, etc. retire. He is in it for the long haul, as we all are.
When drafting, you cannot look at it with tunnel vision. Just like a game of Chess, you have to see 2 moves ahead, or in this case 2 years ahead.
If you know you have a player that might retire in the next couple years, you will want to draft someone so they can learn and fill in those shoe’s when the time comes.
I wouldn’t draft a QB in the first round, nor the 2nd. 3rd maybe, as in this system anyone can flourish, as long as they are smart. Who knows… in a couple years it just might be Orton still leading this team to a SB! Maybe a QB isn’t even a concern.
It’s way to earlier in my opinion to really get concerned about next season’s draft until we know some of those answers. But it is always fun to speculate!
I think our ILB core is solid for a few years. The addition of Andra Davis was good. I think he along with DJ will hold the middle this year and a few more years. (I don’t know how old Andra is)
I can’t wait for saturday’s game, so we’ll have other stuff to talk about other than BM. I somehow believe that there is an ulterior motive for BM to say he is far from ready to play with the ones and he has a lot of catching up to do. Since he still believes he might be traded, he either doesn’t want to take a chance on playing all out in a game and getting re-injured, hence hurting his value when signing with a new team (as he will demand a new contract) or he doesn’t want to play in a game with the McD system because he won’t get the #s he used to, hence, again, hurting his value, or both.
I just don’t buy what he is saying about not being ready, that’s not Marshall like at all. Just my opinion.
vabroncoguy… the team is doing all they can to disrespect him???? Are you kidding me?? What the heck are you smoking? YES, already, the PR stunt was wrong, other than that, you got it all wrong. #15 has not only disrespected the team but more importantly himself.
And yes it does take talent to be good in the NFL but both Royal & Stokley have mastered things that #15 has yet to figure out. They have integrity and respect for not only themselves for their team. They don’t go around screwing up their lives to create unnecessary distractions for the rest of the team. They think about others every once in a while instead of making every situation an “ALL ABOUT ME” event. And #15 is the ONLY person in the world with Top 5 talent… we could always find someone else (we already have this person in Royal) that is calm, cool & collective on AND off the field.
I agree crush. We need more to talk about. I want BMarsh to stay, but is it worth the off-field stuff? If he gets suspended again, it could be for a whole season.
07Elway,DDave…i’ve been noticing alot of posts so fay saying we should trade Marshall for Boldin..although i dont think this will happen.Boldin is a good WR,but i think if Marshall can get past this signing crap he’s a better fit for this offense….Your thoughts?
so far..sorry typing too fast…
I personally would love to get Boldin. But, the Cards would never do that, and we would have to send at least a 3rd round pick along with Marshal.
If you guys have giving your thoughts,sorry i missed it…..
Doomer…Yea i agree with you..Boldin would be a heavy price to pay although i do like him as a WR…
It might be worth the 3rd round pick though……….
Doom…Oh yea..3rd rounder???Absolutely…..I’m just hoping they get this ironed out b4 the season starts..im kinda tired of hearing about Marshall and his or his Agents B.S…..Crap or get off the pot…
Ya, Marshal needs to either man up or get out of town. No more of this crap!
By the way, does anyone know if Ayers has a chance to start this year? Him and Doom would be awesome on the outside!
i would love to change my name tbh.
And also, this year is going to be a good year to be a broncos fan imo. Orton will suceed in denver, Marshall will get happy once again and if he plays well maybe in the middle of the year he will get his contract i hope.
so many new players that are all good i love what we did in the offseason. I trust in the team this year to do better than last year, every player will have a good year.
LBWilson56, yeah, I mentioned my thoughts many a time. If Brandon and the Staff can work through the tough times, by all means, stay a Broncos. But if it comes down to it, I would like a decent WR to replace him. I mentioned Boldin but also said he was too expensive. All of my thoughts on this are “what if’ scenarios. I would prefer Brandon to stay, but we may not have that happen, although I don’t think the Broncos will trade him. I feel they will make him play out his contract. At the most, he may get a contract at mid season, after he has showed that he is 100%.
Ayers will probably start off in a rotation. He is versatile and will play different positions. He will play a lot because of it.
Thanks dave.
cutlerwillwin, do you have more then one email account? Use a different email account and sign back up under a new handle. Pick a player who will stick (Champ, Clady, Royal, DJ, Doom, Ayers).
i would love to change my name tbh.
And also, this year is going to be a good year to be a broncos fan imo. Orton will suceed in denver, Marshall will get happy once again and if he plays well maybe in the middle of the year he will get his contract i hope.
so many new players that are all good i love what we did in the offseason. I trust in the team this year to do better than last year, every player will have a good year, heres the blog i wrote about how i believe in Denver this year.
http://sportsnation.espn.go.com/fans/dabroncos09#/fans/dabroncos09/blog/posts/91901
oops didn’t mean to send twice and naw i don’t i just ccan’t wait to watch cutler fail in chicago as we get their first round pick:P
Austin, good article (you just need to clean up some of the words that aren’t capitalized. (Green Bay, Marshall, etc..) Denver needs to enjoy being the underdog. Sneak in through the back door. Make the sceptics and naysayers eat crow.
Yea, I think that we could be the surprise team this year. We will win the AFC West, and who knows after that.
Well, once again, I’m pretty much in agreement with Dave about #15. If he can work out his off field troubles and grow up a bit, I have no problem with him staying a Bronco. But if he’s truly not happy here… it won’t do us any good. He won’t perform well on purpose. I think he’s the one that needs to have a one on one with Rod Smith and actually LISTEN to him. Smith is good for giving advice on what #15 could do on the field and off it. He could learn a thing or two from Smith, would do him some good.
And like Dave said, most likely a trade to get Boldin wouldn’t happen. As of now, I’d love to see it but I’d think the Cards aren’t that crazy, then again… this is the NFL, one crazy business, ANYTHING can happen. I hope and pray #15 decides to grow up a bit, mainly for his own sake. And I hope he finds a way to be happy in Denver, cause it would be awesome to keep him.
Better play hunter than hunted
The whole reason Boldin is unhappy is that he wants BIG $. NO way Denver would do that…
I think it’s totally ok for them to instruct the players on what/what not to say to BM. He needs to feel like a TEAMMATE more than an individual player. Pretty sure that’s what they were trying to attain….too bad it failed like the ‘cash for clunkers’.