Thursday marked one of the most energized practices of OTAs so far. In 80-degree weather, the offense and defense squared off for much of the session, and in the end the offense seemed to claim victory.
PASSING ORDER
In drills today, Orton was the first quarterback to take reps, followed by Quinn, Tim Tebow and Tom Brandstater.
It was the first time — during an open practice — that Tebow has taken reps before Brandstater.
Then again, McDaniels has said the order means little in the grand scheme of things.
“We told everyone, ‘Everyone is going to get reps and everybody is going to get rolling in there,’” the head coach said on the first day of OTAs. “The order, I don’t think matters. It doesn’t matter to me and right now I don’t think it should matter to anyone.”
FIELD CHATTER
The session was not only one of the most active in terms of plays pitting the offense against the defense, but also in terms of the activity on the field.
Players seemed to be fired up on Thursday, and the talk between one another and from the coaches backed up the point.
The linebacker snared the interception and sprinted into the end zone, quickly followed by every single defensive player. The defense formed a huddle to celebrate before the drill continued.
“It’s tough to throw play-action passes when you don’t run the ball very much in passing camp,” Orton smiled.
“Keep kicking their butt, DG!” Jabar Gaffney shouted as Dawkins dropped for 10 pushups.
“You gotta have that!” defensive coordinator Wink Martindale yelled.
The throw missed, however, and fell incomplete. Orton ripped off his chin strap in disgust, and motioned toward Royal. “Good route, Eddie,” he said. “My fault, man.”
The defense argued that he was out, but you can take a look at the photographic evidence yourself.
‘HE’S HAVING A DAY!’
Thursday’s practice at times turned into the Brandon Lloyd show.
In the first batch of 7-on-7 plays, Quinn found a wide-open Lloyd deep down the sideline, and the receiver sprinted into the end zone before throwing the ball in the air.
Shortly thereafter, Orton found the receiver just past Nate Jones and floated the ball into his arms for another score.
Lloyd kept the fireworks going, hauling in a few one-handed passes, including another from Orton that drew instructions for Perrish Cox from coaches, reminding him to stay outside and use Mario Haggan’s help to cut off routes to the inside. Quick side note: Cox redeemed himself later in the practice when he leaped to intercept Tebow in the end zone.
When Quinn found Lloyd for yet another touchdown later in 7-on-7s, Branson shouted, “He’s having a day!” as Lloyd spiked the ball.
The defense noticed the receiver’s hot streak, as well, so when Andre’ Goodman broke up a pass intended for Lloyd in the end zone — which the receiver nearly caught after the tip — Renaldo Hill gave a few “Oh yeeeeeeah”s and Dawkins ran up to the play, clapping.
“Brandon has had a great camp,” said Orton, who also played alongside Lloyd in Chicago. “This is my third year with Brandon, so we’ve got some good timing and a good rapport built up. He’s a guy who didn’t get a big chance last year, but when he did, those three games that he came in he played really well for us. Hopefully he’ll just continue to improve on that.”
DRILLS
The team broke into several interesting drills on Thursday.
The same drill was run with linebackers matching up against running backs and tight ends.
One group was comprised of linemen, who practiced leaping at the line of scrimmage to block a field goal. The other group had smaller players, who practiced sprinting around the side of the line and diving to block a kick before landing on a giant blue pad.
It looked to be part of what McDaniels said the team is doing to change the way special teams practices.
“We’re kind of splitting it up and working in segments,” McDaniels said. “We’re trying to do that as much as we can. We’ll see if it benefits us, we think that it has already but we’re going to continue doing it throughout the spring.”
ENDING ON A HIGH NOTE
At the end of every practice, the offense and defense run sprints under the instruction of strength and conditioning coach Rich Tuten.
But on Thursday, McDaniels gave them an out. Pick a player to field one punt — “No second chances!” the head coach reminded them — for the right to skip the sprints.
Branson stepped up first for the offense and easily fielded the punt, drawing cheers from his teammates. Mario Haggan was the chosen defender, and he safely hauled in the kick, as well, much to the delight of the defense.
So the team gathered around McDaniels for a quick huddle before breaking for the weekend.
More photos from practice below.
-Gray Caldwell, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Brandon Lloyd, Passing Camp
First!
Hey sounds like some great workouts,players coming together as a team.Brandon Lloyd looks like McD said”one of the fastest player we have”.Great to see everybody working together,Damn I can’t wait for the season to start,is it September yet???
First to post.LOL
BFE
Thanks Mr. Caldwell for keeping us up to date,all the info you give us is greatly apreciated,keep it coming.
Mr. Caldwell -
Hats off to the photog who got the pic of Gaffney getting his feet down in the endzone. Great coverage. . . I appreciate it.
Mr. Caldwell, thanks for keeping us up to date..
Ah can’t wait for the season to start already!!!
DENVER BRONCOS!!!
O-Line makes me nervous… Lindsay Jones of the Denver Post indicated Seth Olsen received a tongue lashing and was replaced by late round pick Eric Olsen in the line-up… Going from bad to worse. I hope Clady doesn’t miss too many games and we get together on the line…
I saw it on her twitter feed for Broncos news
http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8185aca3&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true
damn another WideOut hurt.
Nice pics, the team is looking good.
That sucks Stokley’s injured, were running short on wr’s as it is anyway. Sounds like Orton and Quinn arent doing so hot at camp . . . maybe Tebow can steal their jobs and move up the depth chart by opening day. GO BRONCOS!!!
We got 12 WRs on the roster,and 3 months to go,we’ll be aw-ite guys.LOL
rev79…Eric Olsen was a steal in the 5th or 6th round,and will probably be a starter over Seth Olsen anyway,don’t worry man,with Beadles,Walton,and Olsen being drafted,and Hoschstein,Kuper,Harris,and Clady(hope he comes back soon) we should have an awesome Oline this year,maybe we can get the running game going strong.GO BRONCS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the updates Gary!! Feel like I’m reading coverage about training camp… psh, don’t I wish! lol The photographer took great pics too. I love the one of Dawkins going after Moreno… #20 sure looks hungry for some young meat in that picture! haha
Man that really bites that Stokley is injured but now is a great opportunity for the younger WRs to show their stuff. Hope he’s not out for too long.
Really glad to hear both sides had a good practice today. Keep it up boys!!
Keep the faith Bronco Country…
GO BRONCOS in 2010!!!!!
Hopefully Cox fairs better than the last 32……
It seems to me that Lloyd is winning his spot. Gaffney, Lloyd and Royal… who’d thought about that tandem, huh? Willis got his “knowing Willis” article posted… but I remember when Greisen got his, and a couple of weeks later he was gone. Would it be a nice way of say “thank you”?
SIGN DOOM!
“PAY DOOM”
Want Doom back with a new healthy contract and I want the new weapons back from their foot injuries. I want to hear UPDATES on the INJURED, CONTRACT TALKS, ROOKIE SIGHNINGS or CLOSE TO BE SIGHNED, excited though. LOvE the sight of Bronco Football.
Go Broncos!!!
cox is like 10 ft. in the air to snag that int.
I really enjoy you’re posts
Yeah looks like that Cox kid has one Helluva vertical jump.He might end up starting over Phonzy and Nate Jones,either way we are a lot better at the Nickel Corner spot than we were last year.Plus that Thompson kid has great potential too.Be glad to see our Defense kickin’ some serious butt this year.
We’ve bettered ourselves on:
Dline (all 3 new starters)Great size.
LB (Ayers starting)Haggan moving inside(he has the size),Kirlew.
Secondary(Cox,Thompson,Jones)
Can’t wait to see them lay some wood!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yea parish looks like a good corner! I’m pleasantly suprised! in the 20 pics I’ve seen of mini-camp there are 2 of him snagging balls thats sweet but who is tossing them up? haha
GO BRONCOS!!
I am stoked 4 the season 2 start!!! Can’t wait! This is going 2 b an awesome year!!!!! Broncos 4 life!
Gray, great coverage of an OTA, it couldn’t of been done any better, I felt as if I was there.
Guys, what about Lloyd the guy most of you forgot when we made our pick order for the WR’s, I was about the only one having him make the team and I went as far as to praise his abilities, 6’2″ frame and how well he performed at the end of last year. Nice to see some of you like BFE are paying attention now.
If I could hand pick someone to get hurt at WR at this point, it probably would be Stockley. Either way he should have only a limited role this year due to him slowing down and Royal most likely taking his spot in the slot. Plus it’s not like he needs a lot of off season work to be playing 100%, in fact it’s probably better if he lays low in off season to keep whatever he’s got left for the regular season, just my opinion.
Bay, I think you and I weere the only ones that had Lloyd on our list of receivers. What can I say great, old, and wise Bronco fans think alike LOL! I agrre 100% about Stokes, he just need to relax and be ready for the season when we call upon him. Royal will be the starting slot receiver regardless. Really the only people we need to worry about with injury to come back stong and healthy are Clady, and Harris.
I knew I wasn’t the only one, I should of known it was the rebel. You are right about the injuries to our O line are way more important to heal quickly than the ones to our two rookie WR’s.
I just would like to see Bay Bay and Decker in the pre-season, and hope they can contribute right away in the regular season. That would be huge for our offence if they can come in with an impact as rookie receivers. IMO receiver is one of the hardest position to adapt to at the next level.
Thats a good topic! How about everyone list their top four positions they feel are the hardest to come in and be effective at as a rookie.
Here are mine
1. Quarterback (dugh)
2. Receiver
3. Left Tackle (Clady is just a freak of nature to come in the way he did as a rookie)
4. Middle Linebacker
cox is the steal of the draft!!!!!
The WR position is prob one of the easiest positions to transition into outta college.IMO
1.QB
2.LT
3.NT
4.Corner
Baylin what was that you was telling me about patting myself on the back the other day??You said I liked doing it,what are you doing???
BFE. this was to good to pass up, LOL.
1. QB
2. CB
3. LB
4. WR
Thats how I see it! ive seen receivers come in and do great from day one, I dont recall ever seeing a corner lol
Robert Ayers should be an excellent left defensive end in his career the only thing they need to work on is his awareness get him sfrong and get his weight at 280 he should play defensive end this year.
Robert Ayers should be an excellent left defensive end in his career they need to work on his weight his awareness and get him strong and should make him 280 he should play defensive end this year
Robert Ayers should be an excellent left defensive end in his career they need to work on his strength his awareness his stamina and get his weight at 280 he should play defensive end this year
guron…Ayers is a true DE,that’s what he played in college at Tennessee,and his final year and in the senior Bowl he dominated,but you’re right he is undersized to be a legitimate DE in the NFL,but I know the kid and think he has what it takes to evolve into the hybrid OLB that McD drafted him to be,I look for him to have a breakout year and terrorize the opposing QB on one side while Doom does his thang on the other side,like I said before,if our Dline plays up to par,our LB core will wreak havoc this year.Ayers does have the speed to come off the edge and dominate.
BFE
Man if B-Llody can get 205 nd we get Bay-Bay back with Toney Baker we could that same type of offense wit da oline bein da ryan brothers holdin da the tackle spots zane beadles and J.d. walton kick one spot 2 da right frm dey college positions and chris kuper @ center we wud jzt need a tightend nd it mite sound crazy but to me Tom Brandstater wud fit da bill if we get him up to 260 i only say diz bcuz last preseason he was takin hits nd playin with da same swag as j-witt nd him bein n ex-q he can jzt feel holes in da coverage
I’m just happy to see a picture of Woodyard! Customizing my sweater to #59 this year!!
GO BRONCOS!!!!!
Man, sounds like the D is getting a ton of picks!!! I guess there were alot of TD’s let up too. it’s just training camp.
I’m soooooooooooo excited for the season to start.
Tebow is a Bronco !!!!!!
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hardest positions to transition into from college (IMO)
1. QB
2. ILB
3. OT
4. NT.
5. gotta go with DB.
DB is by far the easiest transition to from college to pros. WR probably a close 2nd, with linebackers 3rd or so. Do you guys really think QB is an easy position to transition into? Mistaken.