6:00 p.m. MDT: So here we are, back at INVESCO Field at Mile High. The players are in their uniforms — defense in blue and offense in white, except, of course, the quarterbacks, who are in orange — and three refs are on the field. It’s the second practice session of Day 7 of training camp, and we thought we’d try out our new live blog to keep you all up-to-date on the goings on at INVESCO.
6:01 p.m. MDT: Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer is running the team through some punting drills, with Brett Kern and Britton Colquitt splitting the punting duties and Eddie Royal and Alphonso Smith taking turns on the returns. It seems to be focused mainly on blocking for the punt.
6:02 p.m. MDT: An interesting tidbit from before practice began — Miles the mascot is here, and apparently challenged Chris Baker to an impromptu danceoff, much to the delight of the crowd. The 329-pound rookie held his own — that is until Miles broke out “the worm,” earning a handshake of defeat and congratulations from Baker.
6:06 p.m. MDT: The team is jogging from the end zone to the 25-yard line and back again several times, and the crowd is standing to cheer. Head Coach Josh McDaniels has said there will be plenty of “live” drills and hitting to see, so we should be in for a fun practice experience this evening.
6:12 p.m. MDT: The team is spread across the field for stretches. Looks like there will be a little warm-up before the live sessions begin.
6:29 p.m. MDT: Defensive assistant Jay Rodgers has been throwing deep passes to the cornerbacks to help them work on catching deep interceptions. Defensive backs coach Ed Donatell acts as a receiver trying to leap at the last minute. They’re some pretty tight spirals by Rodgers, by the way — a quarterback for three seasons at the University of Indiana and one year at Missouri State.
6:32 p.m. MDT: Offenses working on packages with three receivers, a tight end and a running back. Kyle Orton just connected with Tony Scheffler as every player runs their precise routes as if they were in a game. Pretty deep pass to Jabar Gaffney on the next play. Now it’s Chris Simms with a bullet to Eddie Royal.
6:33 p.m. MDT: Just got an attendance update — between 6,000 and 7,000 fans are lining the seats at INVESCO. I see plenty of Champ Bailey jerseys, a Karl Mecklenburg and a few new jerseys, including Brian Dawkins’.
6:37 p.m. MDT: Here we go with the first 7-on-7 period while the offensive and defensive lines work on one-on-ones in the end zone. The first play of the period was a quick pass from Orton for Brandon Stokley, but Smith broke in at the last moment to break up the completion.
6:42 p.m. MDT: The big screen — ThunderVision — here at the stadium just showed a replay of a Smith pass breakup. Pretty cool to see replays at practice.
6:45 p.m. MDT: Head Coach Josh McDaniels stood back with Smith and gave him a few pointers as he prepared to field a punt from Kern. Now he’s standing beside Kern as Colquitt prepares to punt to Smith again — but it’s Josh Barrett who breaks through the line and blocks the kick — drawing cheers from the crowd.
6:47 p.m. MDT: Colquitt gets his next opportunity away, booming it to Smith, who shows some agility, finding a few holes upfield past the punt coverage unit.
6:50 p.m. MDT: The team is practicing kickoffs, both from the coverage and and return standpoints. The return team is working on following the new wedge rules that referee Ed Hochuli went over yesterday with the media.
6:51 p.m. MDT: Nate Swift fumbled the ball on the return, caused by Tony Carter, who also picked up the fumble. Rashod Moulton then caused Carter to fumble it, and picked the ball up himself. Interesting sequence.
6:52 p.m. MDT: Smith fielded a kickoff eight yards deep in the end zone and it looked like he had a chance to go all the way — at least to midfield — but stopped the run so the next drill could begin.
6:53 p.m. MDT: Kenny McKinley returned the following kick, one-upping Smith’s performance. He found his own seam and continued all the way up the sideline to the end zone, hearing raucous cheers from the crowd.
6:57 p.m. MDT: A live 11-on-11 scrimmage session has begun. The first play was a quick pass to Jabar Gaffney, who was wrapped up by Andre’ Goodman. The next play saw Orton drop back and find Brandon Stokley for a big-time catch on the sideline and a first down — but the ref waived it off, saying he bobbled it.
6:58 p.m. MDT: Stokley follows that up with a first-down catch on a bullet from Orton. Some fans are filling in the opposite side of the stadium to get a better view of the action.
7:00 p.m. MDT: Simms in the shotgun, drops back and Jarvis Moss roars back for what would have been a sack. Play continues, however, and Simms gets a quick pass off to Chad Jackson. The next play has the quarterback in shotgun again, this time stepping up and finding Royal, who tight-roped the sideline for what appeared to be a catch — but was waived out of bounds by the referee.
7:04 p.m. MDT: Orton rolled to his right, avoiding pressure, and found Scheffler in the middle of the field for a big gain.
7:05 p.m. MDT: Attendance update: more than 10,000 fans have showed up to the stadium to watch the team practice. On a play-action pass, Orton just tried to find Gaffney up the sideline, but Darcel McBath jumped in to break it up, getting a hand on the ball before it fell to the ground.
7:08 p.m. MDT: Royal looked to have a catch in the middle of the field from Orton, but Tim Crowder’s footsteps may have caused him to bobble it before the outside linebacker/defensive end put a little contact into him and the pass fell incomplete.
7:09 p.m. MDT: On the next play, Simms was back in the game and found Peyton Hillis out of the backfield. Hillis was forced out of bounds after a quick gain by Darrell Reid. Now it’s Hillis out of the backfield on a draw play and he picks up some yardage up the gut.
7:15 p.m. MDT: A lot of movement on the defensive side of the ball before the snap. Robert Ayers and D.J. Williams blitz on the snap, and a late blitz by Darrell Reid forces a quick throw from Simms that falls incomplete.
7:18 p.m. MDT: Fans continue to file into INVESCO, and the newest attendance figure has the crowd at 13,500.
7:19 p.m. MDT: Simms steps under center with the offense at the 10-yard line. He pitches to Correl Buckhalter, who is gobbled up after a short gain. The run defense has been stout in every unit that’s been on the field this evening.
7:22 p.m. MDT: Now it’s Orton in with the ball inside the 10-yard line. He hands off to Hillis, who is met by Jack Williams and stopped without much of a gain. On the next play, Orton rolls to his right, avoids the rush and finds Stokley for the touchdown.
7:24 p.m. MDT: The team is huddled up, offense on one side and defense on the other, with McDaniels in the middle. He’s pointing to one end zone, and the teams head towards it. The offense is now pinned at its own three-yard line on first down. It’s one of the situations that McDaniels sets up for his players to help learn the offense. On the first play, Orton drops back and finds Gaffney for a quick first down, buying some breathing room for the offense.
7:27 p.m. MDT: On the next play, Orton drops back and launches a pass way downfield for a streaking Gaffney, but Andre’ Goodman steps in out of nowhere for the interception, heading back downfield and hearing cheers from the crowd.
7:28 p.m. MDT: Andra Davis bursts through the middle of the line and just misses Hillis as he takes the handoff, but Elvis Dumervil is right there to put an end to the play.
7:29 p.m. MDT: On the following play, Orton drops back and Goodman almost has his second interception of the drill, but a flag was thrown on the defense.
7:30 p.m. MDT: Ronald Fields just ripped through the line for a sack on Orton — but no real contact on the quarterback is allowed, so the play was just blown dead. On the next play Goodman grabs another interception — and the active cornerback takes it back 54 yards for the score.
7:36 p.m. MDT: The defense certainly has been active today, bringing all sorts of blitzes. Andra Davis just burst through the line again and wrapped up Orton for the sack as he was just starting to drop back. On the next play, however, he found Gaffney to pick the yardage right back up.
7:40 p.m. MDT: Now the offense is at the 25-yard line. After a handoff to Hillis for a gain of two, Orton is in the shotgun. He takes the snap and quickly finds Stokley for a pickup of five more. Now it’s third and two, and the offense huddles up. Orton drops back and finds Gaffney inside the 10-yard line for a first down.
7:41 p.m. MDT: On the very next play, Orton buys some time, pump fakes, rolls to his left and finds a wide open Stokley waiting at the 5-yard line. The veteran receiver runs down the sideline into the end zone for another touchdown. Now the team is practicing a two-point conversion. With Orton in the shotgun, he throws a strike to Stokley again in the end zone. Two big-time connections.
7:43 p.m. MDT: The official attendance figure has now been released. It’s 13,402. That’s some nice support to come out and watch the team practice. In fact, it’s the largest crowd to ever watch a Broncos practice.
7:45 p.m. MDT: Jack Williams with another nice tackle on Hillis, swinging him out of bounds after a pass out of the backfield.
7:48 p.m. MDT: Torain ATV Fan had a good comment. It’s true, Coach McDaniels said you find out quickly that you never have a good practice when you want both the offense and defense to do well. But that’s also why this practice is so exciting…big plays on both sides of the ball.
7:52 p.m. MDT: A hit from Joshua Bell jarred the ball loose from Jabar Gaffney for the incompletion.
7:55 p.m. MDT: The team line up for field goal drills next. Matt Prater missed his first two attempts, but drove the next three straight through the uprights. The team is huddling up now as practice is coming to a close. Thanks for checking out the live blog…we’ll have the normal Day 7: P.M. Blog in a little.
Tags: INVESCO Field @ Mile High, live practice blog, Training Camp
both D and O doing good, flashes of brilliance for both.
Who cares what Cutlet and Dukes say about the Broncos. Cutlet showed his true colors when he left this team and Dukes is just a band wagon moron.
Echoing 07elway’s sentiments, I wish I could be there. San Diego is a great city, but it sucks being surrounded by Charger fans.
I’m with IMissEd… total man crush on Hillis. The guy is a stud.
Knowshon getting signed is icing on the cake.
One more week and we get to see our boys against the 49ers!!
ha gaiz
i think McD is going to be coach of the year
Shouldn’t the offense be woopin the defense? I find it hard to believe all these sacks and interceptions.
on the 14th, then we can decide how our team looks. today is just a preview of the future. dont worry about the D or O, just enjoy.
Prater already missing field goals??? Is it too late to bring in a kicker for competition?
thanks for the updates…enjoyed it!
cya guys.
(ThePlayer)4MVP: You have got to change your username. That’s just no good anymore.
its never too late for kicker competition, its not like they need to know many plays. lol
Grey-
So far the experimental blog has been a success.
Has Carlton Powell been on the field yet?
I guess prater only does good during the season
Thanks!
No more (Player) 4 MVP
Gray and everyone working hard on this, Thank You. lots of appreciation for what you do for us the fans. ant to my fellow blogger, its been good. thanks
Is the practice over? My last post is from 7:48
his name is Gray.
Not Grey
Not Gary or Cary but GRAY.
They call him Mr. Caldwell
yup
This was fun best of luck to are team here we come super bowl 44
yes sir broncofan
only problem with this is that it keeps reposting the same comments, hopefully that gets fleshed out for the regular season game live blogs, which i assume this will be used for
lol Miss Ed.. Yea I do need to change it… Such a funky name though… I wish I couldv’e been at practice
are other people getting that problem
Nice chatting with y’all. It’s great to be talking football again with a bunch of broncomaniacs. Not too many of them in upstate ny
4MVP: Do you mean my name is funky? It refers to Eddie Mac!! I miss ed mccaffrey. Of course I came up with that before we had marshall or royal. Maybe I need to change my name, huh?
IMissEd dont change your name Ed was a great part of bronco history
LOL ImissEd .. I’m talking about MY name.. JayCutler4MVP .. is a funky name.. Your name is good stuff.. I miss Ed as well.
Thanks guys. I’ll keep it.Even if we’re not dealing with Ashlie Lelie and Javon Walker anymore. Now we have Marshall acting up a bit. I just miss the likes of Ed who used to show up and go over the middle and do everything asked of him and just play fast hard football.
Eddie Royal is in the same pedigree
SUPERBOWL 44 CHAMPS
FIRST!!!
knowshon deal close according to espn’s Bill Williamson
bout time, innit? and do you think the D has really improved, the O isnt doing so hot, or the competition hasnt really kicked in yet? cuz i do believe the D things 2 good to be true
I sure hope so, cutlersucks8. I won’t wear the Knowshon jersey I bought, again, till he signs. I will just have to order a Royal jersey next.
laugh at the first
denverfan7
Wuz up DD
GUYS, WHY HASNT SOMEONE TALKED ABOUT THE FANS BOOING ORTON AND PRATER AND KERN DURING THE PRACTICE???? THAT IS SOO MESSED UP?? I CANNOT BELIEVE TRUE FANS WOULD BOO THEIR PLAYERS ESPECIALLY DURING TRAINING CAMP!!! WILL SOMEONE PLEASE SAY SOMETHING?
they arent true fans apparently
Hey Torain, busy day. Sure looks like Orton and Stokley are bonding well on the field. Thanks, Gray, for the updates. That was really exceptional. 13,402 people. Call it 13,403. I may live in Vegas, but I was at Invesco in spirit. Bronco fever is alive and well in Denver.
For those bandwagon fans who booed your team in a practice, you disgrace the Broncos Nation by your poor behaviour. Probably the same crybaby trolls who spout off garbage on the DP blogs. Get a life.
No, I mean fans at the scrimmage were booing orton and prater!!! Listen guys, to anyone who did that that is reading that….You do not in any way boo your quarterback especially one that you just picked up. You dont understand, they were practicing against each other…things are COMPLETELY different whenever your playing your teammates!! Orton WILL do good here in denver it is a given!!! He did GREAT in Chicago and we have EVERYTHING better in Denver soo root for him and our team AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT or this team might turn out to be bad. We have to show our love and committment to our team!! ITS VERY IMPORTANT!
Just in from the Denver Post. Dawkins had surgery to repair a broken right hand. Good news is he will be out for only 2 weeks or so. He will be able to play then, if that’s correct some preseason and in the regular season.
D Rocks!! and yeah that booin ticked me off some support huh? hey they didnt practice the confeti coming down!! Super Bowl here we come!!!!
Like I said, they are bandwagon fans who probably write the negative garbage that we are forced to read on the DP blogs. They are pathetic. Orton will do fine in Denver. Prater also.
and some idiot was screamin out loud “BRING BACK CUTLER” and Orton heard it I told that guy to shut his pie hole and go to chicago with his wife miss cutler!
well reading that, especially seeing it on espn, made me want to come down there and just beat some of the “so called fans.” You dont run your mouth about the team that you quote “support and love!”
They are the same trolls that rant at the DP blogs. Losers.
I think they have a right to boo and that doesn’t make them any less of a “true” fan. I actually thinks it makes them more of one. They always talk about the fans in New Yourk and Philly and Green Bay as being great. You don’t think they would boo a bad performance. Shouldn’t a “true” fan expect quality play from the players. I am all the way on the east coast and cannot stand that every report I see read or hear on my team is negative. Except of course on this sugar coated watered down site. The difference between the report on this page and espn, NFL.com is amazing. Season starts soon. We shall see. We shall see.
p.s. bring back Cutler AND Shanny
Yea I don’t blame them for booing but I hope Orton knows it is more directed at McDaniels for blowing up our number 2 ranked offense last year by trading Cutler. With that said, we do have to let it go and focus on the future, Orton is a very capable veteran who won’t lose the game for us but also won’t make the sensational throws Cutler did. It’s an adjustment in our style of play for sure. I am really happy with the signings of Goodman, Hill, Dawkins, and Gaffeny. I just wish we could have snatched up Ron Brace in the 2nd round of the draft this year…
Hey “Holier Than Tho” fans – it IS ok to boo when the situation calls for it. Miss a wide-open receiver once? Not ok. More than once? Certainly ok. Get over yourselves. Guess what. All the “bandwagon” or “false-fans” that were booing at the practice last night…those people are the Bronco Nation. You? You’re just self-righteous, overly devoted worshipers with nothing else to fill your life with. Relax. It is a GAME.