It may be Wednesday on the calendar, but in the Broncos’ world, it’s actually Friday, with tomorrow being Saturday and Friday being Sunday.
Confused yet?
Since this is the first week that the team has switched over to their regular season weekly schedule, Friday’s preseason contest against the Green Bay Packers has turned things somewhat upside down. It all makes at least a little sense when you take into account that the Broncos are treating this week like it may as well be in the middle of the season, thus Friday is being treated like a gameday Sunday.
And since today is actually Friday in Bronco-world, the team went through their regular Friday practice schedule. The Broncos took the field for their 90 minute jog-through wearing jerseys and shorts, but no pads or helmets. Many of them donned visors or hats throughout the entire practice. All in all, it was light morning of final preparation for the Packers.
Boss Bailey and Daniel Graham did not participate in practice as they continue to recover from their injuries. Ebenezer Ekuban sat out practice as well.
Each position group performed their individual drills before convening for 11-on-11 and 7-on-7. With such a light practice, specific notes and plays were few and far between. But the team made up for it in laughs.
Brandon Marshall has made himself known for often wearing Broncos pajama pants in place of the regular warmups during practice. Today, he came out with some new Broncos PJs that drew quite a few stares from both on and off the field.
At one point between plays, Nate Webster was walking along the sidelines. On his hands. The ninth-year linebacker did a handstand and took a few steps before returning to his feet. If only we had been prepared with a camera.
In one goal line drill, Mike Leach ran a pass pattern to the back pylon, with Marlon McCree covering him. Leach ran a little faster than McCree was expecting, forcing McCree to sprint to catch up.
“Very few people can run with me. Don’t feel bad,” Leach said with a laugh.
“Man! I did just run with you!” replied McCree.
Later in practice, the special teams took to the field for some punt coverage work. Coach Scott O’Brien was shouting directions to his players, and in the middle of one sentence, his voice cracked, drawing some laughter and immitation from the players.
The big play of the day came during 11-on-11 drills with the starting defense going up against a scout offense. Darrell Hackney threw to a receiver on a comeback route, but his pass fluttered a little high. Champ Bailey, Marquand Manuel and McCree all converged, but since they were all going at about half speed, they all looked at each other as if waiting for someone else to make the play. Manuel went up and picked off the pass, laughing with his fellow DBs as he came back down.
Near the end of practice, Brett Kern, Sam Paulescu and Matt Prater went to the next field over to work on holding for Prater’s field goals. Jay Cutler ran over and held for a few kicks as well.
Friday’s also offer something a little different after practice — different food, to be specific. With no meetings after practice, players jet out of Dove Valley pretty quickly, but not before snagging all the pizza and fried chicken they can carry.
Now for some pictures from practice:
Also, tickets are still available for this weekend’s game against the Green Bay Packers on Friday at INVESCO Field at Mile High. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. MDT.
The tickets are on sale now at all Ticketmaster outlets, via Ticketmaster Charge By Phone, through online sales at www.ticketmaster.com and at the INVESCO Field at Mile High box office.
Fans may purchase tickets with a credit card via Ticketmaster Charge By Phone by calling (303) 830-TIXS in the metro Denver area or (719) 520-9090 in the metro Colorado Springs area.
– Adam Zinser, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Adam Zinser, Boss Bailey, Champ Bailey, Daniel Graham, Jay Cutler, Jog-Through, Marlon McCree, Marquand Manuel, Nate Webster, Practice, Special Teams, Uncategorized
i definitely need to get some of those PJ pants.
again, guys, thanks for the updates. you can even give us great material on days like today, when not much is going on. props.
Any news on Spencer Larsen’s progress? He quietly was the second leading tackler in the last pre-season game. Just wondering how he is progressing after missing a little time earlier in camp.
I actually have a pair of PJ bottoms just like that only the orange is more dominant than the blue.
My mommy made them one Christmas many moons ago. LOL.
They are comfy.
I think this “light practice” could be a great preview of the type of team we actually have. In previous years, the Broncos would be given an easy practice after a good performance – especially on a short week – and they usually ended up a step or two behind the competition on the following game day. We may play down to the level of the Green Bay Packers, but I am hoping instead, that our team shows some discipline and confidence and picks up where they left off against Dallas. If they do the latter, we could very well be in for a special season. If they do not, we can probably expect the same inconsistencies after the by-week or anytime the week’s schedule is tweaked. Here’s to the Broncos in a new season with a new attitude! ! !
play down to the level of the packers? didn’t they play in the nfc championship game last year? i don’t think dallas made it that far in the playoffs. don’t take the packers lightly, they are a good young team.
77crush Says:
August 20th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
play down to the level of the packers? didn’t they play in the nfc championship game last year? i don’t think dallas made it that far in the playoffs. don’t take the packers lightly, they are a good young team.
I couldnt agree more! The Packer arent a bad team. They have great players with young QB. Their defense is very solid and strong. Like Crush said, they played in the NFC championship last year as a hometeam. Favre may be gone, but the talent is there. We better bring the bathtub and kitchen sink. Now is not the time to consider ourselves “playing down” to them. Go Broncs!
BTW…I would also like to hear about Spencer Larsen? Any updates Adam, Kyle,Grey?
Quick Six and HOGblog: Larsen has been looking good. Early on in camp, he played at both fullback and linebacker. Then the coaches switched him to just linebacker. Then about two weeks back, he played at both again. That says so much about his versatility, which goes a long way in the NFL. And Quick Six, you said it perfectly, “he quietly was the second leading tackler.” Larsen is an understated guy. He quietly does his job, and he does it well.
Thanks for your perspective on Spencer Larsen. I was worried that the fullback/LB experiment meant they didn’t think he was a fit at linebacker or somehow wasn’t what they’d scouted. I’ll take your word that the versatility is a positive. It would be a great draft if he develops into a starting middle linebacker on this team.
Hey 77 the Packers level is low because the have enexperianced players at key points in the Defense and obviously at Quarterback. Im not saying Rogers is bad, I just think it will take some more time in games. Rogers will be a great quarterback in two seasons and hopefully will help get over this Farve issue. I think Green Bay is a good young team but it will take a little time to develop. So for now down to their level is right. Hnd how about our young Defensive stars all the second year players are proving to be good choices and now with Williams, Larsen, Barret, and Woodyard we look stacked. Its going to be a tough decision for the coaches when the 53 man team is finally developed.
Hey guys, I was kind of wondering if they might try and make Cutler the primary holder for Prater??? Also is there any word on if Boss will play anymore in the preseason or are they letting him heal for the regular season???
Broncos PJs rock! I always wear them in the winter. Thankfully, in the summer, I can wear my Broncos shorts! I would love to cross the 70 from Utah into Denver and take the 25 to INVESCO, but my cousin decided she wanted to get married on Friday. Andre Hall is the man, he’s my favorite Bronco! I hope he takes one to the house against the Pack.
Tom Nalen really needs to learn to tuck his shirt in. All that visible white flesh isn’t good. Although I’m not volunteering to tell him!!!
I’m seeing more confidence from the offense than last year. Jay is making smart decisions. His head is right since they’ve diagnosed him with diabetes. He seems to make quicker decisions with the ball. Sure am glad for his sake they detected his diagnosis when they did. But this year I expect many great things to happen. Defense still worries me, however we have not seen Champ play this pre-season, yet, Boss Bailey had a very limited role, not sure what he is capable of yet. My point is when all the pieces are aligned, I’m hoping for a return to our dominant run stop defense. I’ve been impressed with all of our rookie starters. Clady and Royal have really stepped up. Clady still has some things to learn and experience will help with that. Royal, man nobody can cover this guy, he is so fast. I expect to see him be the deep threat we’ve needed for so long. Anyway, GO BRONCOS!!!! Superbowl or bust. Will be watchin every game from my home in LAS VEGAS. Maybe I can get to Denver this year for at least one game.
Film Analysis(wish I had coaches tape)
O-Line
Kuper can accelerate well, and is playing well with only one hand. However,When pass blocking, his feet go quiet, and gets left behind. Head down and high pad level at times.
Harris and Clady are doing a great job, but will have their rookie mistakes, but they look like athletic bookends for a long time!
Hamilton looked rusty, hes better than that. I think the same with Weigman.
Cutler helps his O-Line a ton when he makes his reads and gets the ball out quickly, A+ grade for him.
Scheffler and Nate Jackson-are we getting better in the blocking department?
D-Line
I think Thomas and Robertson will do well. To me it looked like Thomas needs to learn double team skills.
Engleberger is a hard worker/character guy, but my lord, get some pash rush moves please!!! Effort alone makes plays sometimes, but use some skill!! I did not see any basic swim or rip or anything!! If you are not a high quality bull rusher, develop other skills please.
The first thing I notice in the secondary was that Bly was not locked up with T.O. This tells me something…I think Fox did a nice job, and I would call it a battle for starter with Bly and Fox.
If the front four doesn’t get a pass rush, blitz D.J.! Its great having him in coverage and running down plays, but he proved last year that he can bang inside and play in the middle. I havent seen enough of Niko to make a grade, seemed to be in decent position enough.
Having Stokely and Royal is a huge help for the Offense.
Stay Healthy!!
you put this on every blog 24zone your silly
So whos the front runner for the starting RB job? Or will this be a two backs with 200 carries year for the broncos. Ive been impressed with Andre he’s a hard runner and still explosive. While Selvin still makes you gasp some times when he’s going through the hole. But both have looked good so what do you media heads think is going to happen.
Ive noticed Selvin is either waiting for the big play too much or that weight he put on is slowing him down alot because he was getting tacked outside alot in that cowboys game at the line or two yards in or out. I think either Paymah or Hamza might not be in denver by this roster cut unless they play really well agaist the greenbay packers. Hamza was the starter but now it seems like manuel is gonna be the starter because of injuries. I havent seen any improvement in Jarvis moss’s game but Crowder looks good and he is a good size defensive end to give some size to that undersized line. So far so good for the Broncos i just hope they can carry this to the regular season and be a very serious player in the division.