The Broncos closed the early report portion of training camp with a workout Friday morning, while welcoming first-round pick Tim Tebow to his first professional training camp.
Youngsters and select veterans went through their fourth “opportunity practice” without pads on a sunny morning at Dove Valley in a final chance to impress coaches and learn the system before full-team workouts begin. The players are off this afternoon before veterans report to the facility tomorrow in advance of Sunday morning’s first full-team practice.
Full-squad training camp workouts, most of which are open and free to the public, kick off Sunday at 8:45 am.
In other words, the level of physicality and competition is about to go up very quickly.
TEBOW TIME:
Tebow, who officially agreed to a contract Thursday afternoon, was the first quarterback on the practice field, a few minutes before the 11 a.m. workout. He went through drills with Kyle Orton and Brady Quinn.
Drills for quarterbacks were quite similar to the first two days of training. The Florida product got a chance to work with all early reporting wide receivers, tight ends and running backs at different points in the workout, while practicing a variety of throws.
However, most of the drills were focused on footwork and fundamentals during the hour-long workout. That included a period in which quarterbacks coach Ben McDaniels and coaching assistant Brian Callahan pretended to be dropping linebackers, while the quarterbacks took short drops or feigned play action and zipped passes to other staffers. Several times during these drills Tebow stepped behind the action to consult with McDaniels.
During the brief closing team period, which focused almost exclusively on run plays, Tebow did not get any reps under center. Orton took the first few snaps before Quinn took the last two. Tebow stood with the offensive extras behind the play beside Ben McDaniels. When the period finished, the Broncos’ second of two first round picks threw an arm around offensive coordinator Mike McCoy as they shared some last second thoughts before the closing huddle.
QUICK HITS:
Jeff Stehle and Ben Garland have seen a lot of each other this week as the only two early reporting defensive lineman. They continued to get a lot of one-on-one instruction with Wayne Nunnely on Friday and spent a lot of time lined up across from one another in drills throughout the three days. One interesting drill from Friday practiced batting balls at the line of scrimmage. The players locked onto each other at the point of attack, while Nunnely fed balls into a JUGS Machine and one of the players had to swat it down. The good news is they should get some company on Sunday in the form of the rest of their peers, including new additions Justin Bannan and Jarvis Green.
Wide receivers coach Adam Gase and vice president of team administration/assistant to the head coach Mark Thewes seemed to particularly enjoy a wide receivers drill designed to test body control in traffic over the middle. With McCoy watching closely, receivers hauled in passes while Gase and Thewes slammed them with blocking pads and tried to dislodge the ball. Despite Gase and Thewes’ best efforts, the receivers won a majority of the battles.
It’s clear that defensive coordinator Wink Martindale appreciated the opportunity to work with his young defenders this week. While it’s not easy to simulate game action practicing opposite garbage cans as linemen and operations staffers playing the skill positions, he stayed on his players throughout the week about the little things, including pre-snap stance. He particularly seemed to enjoy pushing the linebackers through a drill in which they had to take their drops and then try to intercept a pass, focusing his players on proper footwork.
Today’s special teams period focused on tackling. On one field, linebackers, tight ends and running backs had to break past a player holding a blocking pad and crash into a ball carrier as if they were going to form tackle them. On the other field, wide receivers and defensive backs did a similar drill in which two of them had to get past two pad-wielding blockers to corral the returner.
Marquez Branson got an opportunity to showcase his versatility during the closing team period. On several plays, Branson lined up in the backfield as a fullback. Spencer Larsen, the lone fullback on the roster, did not report early, and McDaniels has said Branson is comfortable lining up in the backfield if necessary.
- Eric Detweiler, DenverBroncos.com
Below are some more photos from the workout:
Tags: 2010, Rookies, Tim Tebow, Training Camp
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haha, looks like Orton might have learned a thing or two from Tebow as he launched that pass. JK lol, I don’t know why I said that… the look on Orton’s face gave it away I guess.
Man, Tebow has never looked so good in orange & blue. lol I’m so glad to see Tebow finally at a practice before the whole team shows up. Wish Bay-Bay could’ve made it to that practice so I’m hoping he’s there at least by tomorrow. We need you 88!!
Keep the faith Broncos Country…
GO BRONCOS in 2010!!!!!
Everyone looks like they are having a good time while staying focused on the task at hand!
I just don’t understand how McDaniels can wear hoodies and long sleeve shirts under short sleeved shirts during the summer. I would be burning up.
well sounds like thus far everything is about how we would expect it. orton and quinn getting most of the reps. now is when tebows work ethic should come into play! if he wants to move up on the depth chart this season he is going to have to WORK HIS TAIL OFF! both of the guys ahead of him have more experience in this system and they made it to all the opportunity practices. Lets go tebow…. i wanna see that fire!!!!
Go Broncos
“THE BATTLE IS WON IN THE TRENCHES”
Just bought tix to the Lions and steelers games!!!!!!!!!!!! soooooooooo happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Deify,
Simple. The blood of the Belicheks and Belichek wannabees run cold, so they must always keep extra warm, kinda like a venomous treacherous snake lol. Im sorry yall, I just felt the need to do it, it was too easy lol. He is “warming” up to me tho….. >_> LOL
Glad to see tebow out there, and I agree Ashley, Ortons face in that pic with tebow says alot, not quite sure what it says but it says something. either that or Orton always has a “DUHHH” look on his face lol. Ok im done
. TRB out…
I just bought tickets to the Jets game for Oct 17. Exciting!!!
Excited to see Tebow play in the preseason.
THIS IS AWESOME! I LOVE SOME BRONCOS FOOTBALL…. ACTUALLY IS THERE ANOTHER TEAM IN THE NFL?????? I’ll have to check into that!
LOL @ TRB… Orton sure does have a way of making funny faces. I saw that pic of him and Tebow and immediately thought of that little caption. lol, sure looks like he’s having a “duh” moment. Too funny.
BroncosFan501 – I hear ya!! Saccomano just put out another one of his articles and it is a MUST read. Very long but its worth it. We are the Denver Broncos and have remained that way because of Floyd Little. Oh and there is no other team in the NFL if you ask me. haha The Broncos are my blood and soul.
Keep the faith Broncos Country…
GO BRONCOS in 2010!!!!!
Orton/Quinn will take us to 10-6 and the AFC West title. We are good enough to make it that far this year. In 2011 our rookies will be ready to take us to the Superbowl.
Deify_You,
I don’t know about Englewood, CO. But here in Laramie, WY It’s in the 50′s when I go to class in the morning, and warms up in the 70′s towards 12. It’s perfect weather around 10:30 when we go on break. It seems most of their practices start towards 8:45 for the morning practices and end by 10:30-11ish, and then 5-6pm for their afternoon practices. So maybe it’s comfortable enough to wear long sleeves in the morning in Dove Valley? Keep in mind, the heat in this area is very dry heat.
I know when I lived in Illinois (which wasn’t long ago), it’s in the mid 70′s at 5 am, and 90′s during the day with atleast 70% humidity.
If you live near Denver, disregard everything I just said lol.
Has anyone seen on youtube Tim Tebow- “The choosen one”? A five part mini-series from ESPN. Interesting.
Need Thomas signed, get Thomas signed and then if you can, how about signing Thomas.
Go Broncos!!!
Heck yeah weareamr,
That is a must watch. Gives you a sense of awe when you see tebow hopping into the end zone with his broken leg. The guy is a beast!!!
The Sun is shining, The smell of fresh cut grass is in the air And Broncos are on the field. Life is good.
GO BRONCOS
FTR
Everyone see the Broncos traded Arrington to phili for joe Mays 5’11 245 MLB pending physical. A Backer who packs a punch!!!
Go Broncos!!!