On Friday, Laurence Maroney spoke to the Denver media for the first time — three days after the Broncos acquired him in a trade with the New England Patriots.
The former first-round pick said he was pleased to reunite with Head Coach Josh McDaniels, who served as Maroney’s offensive coordinator on the Patriots.
“(I) know a lot about him and know a lot about the system, so it’s not like I’m coming into a brand new system and have to learn a lot,” Maroney said.
The tailback said the verbiage of the Broncos’ system is similar to New England’s. His familiarity with the offense could help buffer the shock from leaving the only NFL team of his five-year career.
“It was something that just came out of thin air — it just happened,” he said. “I’ve just got to take it and run with it.”
The prospect of creating a new role awaits Maroney whenever he recovers from a thigh injury and hits the practice field.
Although he admitted it wasn’t always easy to get into the flow of the game when he split carries with a committee of backs in New England, Maroney has no qualms when it comes to working in relief duty for Knowshon Moreno or Correll Buckhalter.
“It’s one of those things where I’m not trying to come in and take anybody’s plays away, anybody’s shine,” Maroney said. “I just want to come in, fit in and help the team win.”
He hopes to integrate a self-described “downhill” running style into the backfield, and while he said there are always some things he wishes he could have done differently in the past, Maroney is looking forward.
“I’m just focusing on my future here with Denver and being the best player I can be for them,” he said.
LINE CAROUSEL
An injury bug in Seattle complicated more than just the Seahawks’ game plan.
They lost starting guard Max Unger for the season last week against San Francisco and already declared rookie left tackle Russell Okung out for Sunday’s game in Denver.
“I think for us on defense, it’s hard to tell exactly who it is we’re going to see,” McDaniels said on Friday.
For now, the Seahawks have former Bronco Tyler Polumbus penciled in to start in place of Okung and Stacy Andrews — whom they acquired in a trade from Philadelphia last week — slated to start at right guard.
But if the newly-minted starters don’t perform up to expectations, or if the Seahawks simply change their minds, Denver might face linemen with completely different skill sets.
“The preparation for how you’re going to play against a specific player is the hard part,” McDaniels said. “We’ve really tried to get our defensive line and our defensive unit ready to go against different people.”
At least no mystery surrounds Polumbus.
“We played against him, I practiced against him and we pretty much know what type of player he is,” Marcus Thomas said. “He’s a good player, quick, so we’re just going to have to do what we can and play with technique.”
Andrews presents a different challenge.
At 6-foot-7 and 340 pounds, the former tackle isn’t your typical zone-blocking guard in the mold of Seattle’s Ben Hamilton or Mike Gibson.
“Really, what they’re trying to do is put a bigger body in there because we’ve got a lot of 3-4 guys and big bodies inside,” Kevin Vickerson said. “They’re trying to match up a little bit better.”
Vickerson has his own place in the Seattle shuffle. The Broncos signed the defensive lineman one day after Seattle released him last week.
He said providing information on an old team “comes with the territory,” but there wasn’t much to say.
“It’s on a tape,” he said. “They’re a zone team, stretch zone and a lot of gadget plays. It’s nothing that they really can do that we haven’t seen.”
Vickerson greets the challenge of whichever lineman might put his hand down in front of him.
“I’m going to do my job and just be dominant,” he said. “That’s what I try to do every time I touch the field anyway, just try to be a force.”
BACK AGAIN
The club waived running back Andre Brown from the active roster on Wednesday to make room for Maroney, but Brown was back on Friday. The team waived Bruce Hall from the practice squad and signed Brown in his place.
Safety Darcel McBath (forearm), offensive lineman Ryan Harris (ankle) and Maroney (thigh) did not practice on Friday are out for Sunday. Offensive lineman Chris Kuper (knee/ankle), who did not practice on Friday, and linebacker Wesley Woodyard (hamstring), who was limited in Friday practice, are questionable for Sunday. Wide receivers Eddie Royal (groin) and Demaryius Thomas (foot) fully participated in Friday practice and are probable for Sunday.
For Seattle, tackle Russell Okung (ankle) has been declared out since Wednesday, and guard Chester Pitts (knee) was limited in Friday practice and declared out for Sunday as well. Linebacker Matt McCoy (quadricep) is doubtful after missing practice all week, and defensive end Chris Clemons(ankle), guard Mike Gibson (back) and wide receiver Mike Williams (thigh) are all probable after fully participating in Friday practice.
- Gabe Hiatt, DenverBroncos.com
Below are photos from practice on Friday:
Tags: 2010, Denver Broncos, Head Coach Josh McDaniels, Kevin Vickerson, Laurence Maroney, Marcus Thomas
I really want to know why Woodyard hasn’t gotten a chance to start on defense.
Im very happy Andre Brown is back, got to give him a chance =)
As far as Woodyard, he might not play at all since he is questionable. Questionable players hardly ever play so I don’t expect Kuper to go either, still trouble on the O line with Harris and Kuper most likely out but same for Seattle so it evens things out. Funny how they spend so much time talking about how it’s difficult to game plan against their O line for our D, since it’s exactly the same thing for the Seahawk D about our O line, but didn’t read anything about that. McBath still out is still a ST killer.
Brown in Hall out in PS, maybe one day in the future we will know what Brown is all about afterall.
Last thing, I think this is the kazillion pic of Brady Quinn throwing on here, I bet he holds the record as far as how many times his pics have appeared on this blog, kind of weird, thought I’d mention it. How does he look holding a clipboard? LOL.
I
No idea where that I came from, it must be beer thirty somewhere.
didnt get to see the game so i cant comment on it , but i do know 4 yards a carry is pretty good.
can anyone explain to me why we traded for L maroney for because i dont see why.
Why so many injured broncos. Man we really are snake bitten
MANIAC
Because, 1 while woodyard has good sideline to sideline speed, he is not the prototipical ILB size to stuff runs. Maybe a MLB in a 4-3 but not an ILB. 2, cuz his specialty is pass coverage (because of his speed), and even that he got torched in last year. So thats why they only bring him in on 3rd downs.
Goldengut
I assume Maroney was brought in because not only is buckhalter injury prone, he lost a costly fumble at the 15 yard line or there about that ruined a good drive. And last year Bucky was coughing it up as well. What i dont understand however is that Maroney has had alot of injuries as well, and from what i hear coughs up the ball alot. So to trade a 4th round pick for him I thought was a bad move (especially since he is injured and cant contribute immediately) but only time will tell. Maybe he will have a resurgence here ala Cedric Benson.
TRB out…
Well just saw the Maroney interview and the guy did say his style is downhill. I hope it is cuz we dont need any line of scrimmage dancers. One cut and run. The shanahan era way. I will say I REALLY liked him in his rookie season. But he has under achieved in my opinion and a 5th round pick would have been better suited. 5th pick for him, and they can keep their 6th lol. or maybe we shoulda traded two first round busts for each other (phonzy-Maroney, Brady Quinn-Maroney) LMAO
Well the weekend is finaly here!!1 The one thing I love about fall winter is that i can realy look forward to sundays.
I have a good feeling about sunday, I think seattle is going to come back down to earth a little and we should play a little better together as a whole unit.
Things I am looking for.
More preasure on the QB even if that means more Blitz I don’t realy recall alot of Blitz packages last sunday.
Isnt Martindale out of the rex ryan line of D coordinators? Doesn’t that mean preasure packages?
Not a complaint a question????
Also Better runing in general from Knowshon. Especialy early. I believe in him, Sorta, But I want to see some 100 yard games back to back and It would realy impress me to see him breakaway for a couple long touchdowns, hes not a rookie anymore he was a high first round pick outa the SEC lets see some breakaway speed and less dancing at the line of scrimage looking for the perfect hole!!!!
Overall I got a good feeling some things for them to adress this week in practice and GO GET EM!!!!
GO BRONCOS 60 MINUTES OF FOOTBALL
TRB, obviously you must of missed the blog where we talked about N-E fans complaining that Maroney does too much dancing at the line of scrimmage, that’s why with Moreno doing the same, I called them the Maroney-Moreno disco duo.
BTW, “Ready to speak” is a cool blog for Maroney, just make sure you have a “ready to play” blog when the time comes.
Alot of talk about the running backs here. (yes I realize that Maroney was the subject here) Anyone concerned about the O-line? I have been. I didn’t think they offered a whole bunch of opportunities against JAX to have successful runs..no matter who was taking hand-offs. Seattle’s D-line played great last week…in a divisional game at home sure….but if they bring that kind of intensity to Mile High it could be a long day for our QBs and RBs alike. Hope our O-line is up to the task.
On a positive note: I think our defense can set the tone early…get some quick stops and hopefully lots of pressure on Hasselbeck…and I look for KO to hook up with Lloyd and Gaffney early and often. Pass protection is the key.
I think the Broncos win a sqeaker at home 24-21
GO BRONCOS!!!! South Stands Forever!!! The Orange Crush Lives!!
Incidently….How many of you saw the Texans beat the Colts? MAN I saw Terrell Davis on some of those runs…out of those all so familiar formations. Go Kubiak.
Isn’t it obvious why Maroney is here he is intimately familiar with Joshes way of doing things and will have the smallest time needed to adjust in a move like this !Also Josh knows what hes getting is a 4th rounder all that much for a YOUNG back that will be on the team most likely at least the next 4-5 years ? and guess what all backs get injured that’s why the league has gone to multiple back systems because from week to week ppl get banged up and u need other backs who can come in and perform only time will tell but by my count next year we will have Moreno Maroney and that local kid whats his name lendale white also YOUNG could be a really solid and versatile 3 think about it !!!!!! That is why we get so many X-pats because they know this system and have an easier time adjusting to the move !!!!
Can not post my coment as free spre-cheeh here>i-s So I say GO BONCOS and– You guys on holden back on what we say are wrong. It’s not all that bad> Com-om guys
isn’t it odd ppl say ahh dont trade for that back he gets hurt so if next year Ryan Grant comes available we shouldn’t take him because he gets injured that’s such a week point !!!!
Bay,
I was hear, it was the same post where u mentioned his goal line fumbles as well (according to fans). Just holding out, hoping, and maybe just wishful thinking
wild horses
we hear you and all. But many people we have said, “hey they are familiar with joshes system we just hit the jackpot” how many have been the jackpot? none. Only hold over ex pats are gafney and the long snapper dude. And Gaf is not exactly a jackpot but he does produce
2nd, Ryan grant is not known for injuries, and by next year if he is available and not CURRENTLY suffering from an injury, sure get him. its a combination of many things, failed ex pats, injury history, and gotten while injured. its just a general thing, dont draft injured and dont trade injured. We seem to just ignore that adage. anyway, like i said, if he works out yay, i liked him as a rookie, but if he doesnt then not surprised, like many wont be, which is why we look at it like W/E. Plus without hillis and white a big powerful back woulda been appreciated.
TRB out…
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-playoffs/09000d5d8061e975
some maroney running against the chargers for anyone interested. Anything against the chargers always looks good lol. TRB out…
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d805efaaa/Divisional-Playoffs-Laurence-Maroney-highlights
and some more. at the very least, he is a step up from buckhalter…..if he can stay healthy….
I thought Maroney would wear #39. Weird… #26 is a revolving door in Denver.
we must win sunday even if it’s an ugly win. We need a spark to ignite the team. I hope that will help.
bay, about my other post I meant that you have been through the good, the bad and the ugly so you have a better understanding about what a good team is all about. I just hope your wong about this season.LOL!!!
60 MINUTES OF FOOTBALL GO BRONCOS!!!
You’re right BAYLIN IT’S BEEN beer thirty here for a long time (probably too long) but I’m her bro…………..but Maroney has to prove to me he’s a true player before i’m a believer……….sorry but I have to be sold on Maroney,cause I’ve never been impressed by him……..prove me wrong big guy…………..BFE
TRB……staying healthy is the BIG word on Maroney,cause he ain’t been healthy his whole career…………hope he proves me wrong bro…..cause I think he can be our freight train till White gets healthy…..it is what it it is !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!GO BRONCS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BFE
I don’t see Maroney as a savior,but if we need his services,put him to work(trying to be positive towards McD)…………BFE
Pretty good article by Klis this morning, “Battle of systems”, where he talks about our new O line power scheme vs. Seattle’s zone blocking scheme that Alex Gibbs brought over there even though he has retired now. The most important point I got out of that article is that over the years, teams with zone blocking scheme don’t seem to finish the season as strong, in fact the Broncos of 98 are the last zone blocking team to win the super bowl. Of course winning or losing a SB has a lot of intangibles and other facets to it than just the O line, nevertheless, it’s an interesting fact.
Shanny is in there arguing the merits of the zone using some stock market analogy, whatever, but I tend to agree that the zone is more productive, at least it has been in our past, no one was as successful running it as us, so I get nostalgic about it, because as we all know we so far have seen very little positive results with the power blocking scheme.
But now as the article points out is the first year we have the body requirements on the line to achieve that: 310.6 lbs average per lineman! Too bad we don’t have that legitimate power back though, but McD only has himself to blame for that since he never cared to address it in free agency or the draft, only in mid August when all the RB’s were going down did he bring one in as a second thought, LenDale, but he is out for the year, so here we are, McD has everything he needs to operate the power scheme as he sees it, a huge line and obviously he feels the size of the RB’S is not that big a deal, everyone of the ones we have should do well behind that line.
So I honestly can’t wait to see how all this unfolds this year, the O line, its power scheme and the running game. There is no doubt that as far as I’m concern McD has put a lot of his chips into completely changing the Broncos stalwart running game, and how he succeeds with it will go along way into McD establishing himself as the legitimate coach of the Broncos long term. I always have been a trenches type of guy, believing that’s where games are won or lost, so I’m all for more size and power in the lines on both sides of the ball, and I’m very happy Mcd has done just that, however I would of added two big power backs back in the Spring when so many were available, that’s where in my eye McD went wrong and is therefore missing a piece of the puzzle, but obviously he chose not to address that as a need, so now he must perform with his formula: A big O line using the power scheme with no legitimate power back.
Like I say, can’t wait to see how that works out, our season pretty much depends on it, without a running game teams will catch on to Orton as the season goes on and it will make for a very long season. Even so McD uses the running game pretty much just as a diversion, pass to set up the run type of thing, not the other way around, I think he will still find out that without it we stand very little chance of success, because no matter how Orton has improved, he is no Peyton Manning, the only QB in the league in my mind who can win it all without a good running game.
Anyway, all this talk about the running game strictly came up because of Klis’ article, but in all honesty I don’t believe this is a game we should hit our heads against the wall trying to run repeatedly, that’s clearly the Seawhawks’ strength, so this one will have to be in Orton’s hands afterall. We need the O line to gel for Orton’s protection tomorrow much more than we need them to attempt to open holes for our backs, just my opinion.
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BTW, today is the LAST DAY to place your score prediction, over 20 already, good first week.
Denver wins 31-23 lol
realy like the post bay very informative. Realy ready to see the game. would like to see more of the two draft picks Thomas and Decker. If the system works the way MCD talks about it they will add a good Change of pace. Is Thomas in the mold of LLoyd and Decker Realy in the mold of Stokley in the slot???? Are there enough balls to go around??? If I had my choice Gafney would take more of a back seat as the season goes along to Thomas. Gafney doesn’t have near the speed that I would like to see from a starting wideout. And he complains about calls too often mainly because he dosn’t have the speed to get to the windows he needs to be in.
Haveing said that I know more about Decker than I do about Thomas based upon his pre season play.
No one answered my Question about Martindales lineage and his Preasure packages. I didn’t see alot of preasure on the QB last week. I thought he was in the Rex Ryan mold alot of preasure on the QB???
Anyone shed some light for me????
I’m realy into the next game Seattle is a good test for us. Just like Jaksonville, Two teams right in our same competition level in my opinion. If we can play mistake free foootball we should be able to come out with a W this time especialy important because the game is in Big D!!! Gota win the home games!!! Big trouble if we can’t come through.
Score prediction 28-17 Denver
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!
17-13. Denver
24/21 Broncos
Omg enough about Hillis 1nOnlyTRB if he could hold onto the ball he would still be one of us how many times did he loose it last week TWICE! I do agree we need a big power back but Hillis wasnt and will never be that guy 31-14 Denver and 4 the record Gaff has more tds this season then B-marsh also Royal and Brandon have more yards think about that !! Things will be just fine if the line gets healthy and Hill leans to cover big tight ends !!
you get saviors in the draft u get solid back ups in trades usually unless its Donovan or B-marsh or something Cutler will be a great back up soon LOL
So to all the naysayers should we have passed and held out 4 who umm Lynch who isn’t getting traded ?? or would you all have rather counted on bucky all season ??? we needed a solid back up and we got one give the guy a shot he did have his best yeas under Josh and if he gets hurt he does it happens as far as drafting and trading hurt i guess Will see how that works out long term for the team i thing the 2 injured wide receivers we drafted will be awesome for the next decade then will that still be a bad idea ???
my prediction 24-17 denver
Doesn’t make up for the fact that McDaniels has mismanaged this team…Gaff has more touchdowns…Marshall has more wins. We are going to have a hard time running the ball because we do not have a legitimate WR. I know you are asking how but I will explain. When we had Marshall, teams were forced to play with two deep safties because one had to be over the top of BM and one had to do the rest of the field. With us having “no number one” teams are playing man-to-man with 1 safety over the top, and the other safety is at the LOS. It is gonna be intersting to see how the WR situation develops.
17-13 Denver! It’s gonna be a good game!!! Are they showing this one on tv? If anyone knows let me know..
24!
Denver 31 Seattle 17
Go Redskins
Wow really again I thought that guy was gone forever
30 score predictions so far, pretty awesome for the first week, you only got until midnight to place your score, speak up or forever hold your peace.
And actually Olap has been back for a couple days now saying the only thing his vocabulary allows him to: Go Redskins. If he only could put a brain behind the chant, but no, that’s expecting way too much in his case, it has been since the beginning of the year now that this chant has been the only thing this guy has been able to muster, so I think we need to keep welcoming him here as the real nice guy he is who means well but is a little short on anything else. Go Olap. Go Redskins. You are in the wrong site, but who cares, you mean well, you mean no harm, you’re just a simple guy, love you bud!
Come on ORANGE AND BLUE, lets take care of business. I want to see Bay Bay gets some love.
28-10 Denver (:
A little over 4 hours left to place your score…
Hello..
Been a silent reader for a while, enjoyed reading every input…finally decided to join in.
Broncos Win: 13-27
Really hoping to see Thomas and Royal with 100 yards tomorrow! Bryant got 58 yards in his debut and didn’t really look all that impressive and I hope Bay Bay comes out and shows everyone why he was the first wide out picked in the draft!
And by the way…mark my words, we win by two TD’s…28-14
hey bay, did you have a score prediction from me? I think I gave you one if not its no biggie!…ITS GAME DAY!!!!!
GO BRONCOS!!!
24-17 Broncos
Yeah Yovi, got you down for 21-17.
Ok, all scores are in, no predictions on game day, good luck to all you guys, except the one who predicts us to lose, haha.
benbronco9, you were here asking if anyone had any answer to why Wink is not using many pressure packages since he has some history with Rex Ryan. Klis from the DP had this to say about their association during the Pro bowl early this year:
Martindale is part of the Ryan family. He may work directly for Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels now, but much of his defensive coaching education came from the Ryans. Martindale was part of Rex Ryan’s defensive staff at the University of Cincinnati in 1996-97 and coached linebackers for Rob Ryan with the Oakland Raiders from 2004-08.
I think that the key to that tidbit of information regarding your question easily rests on “He may work directly for Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels now, …”. That is probably the answer to your question. Martindale may be a gang ho type of defensive coach like Rex Ryan who doesn’t mind bringing lots of pressure through different packages, including the kitchen sink, but Rex is his own man, the HC, Wink is not, believe it or not McD ultimately tells Wink how he wants it done.
Why do you think he parted ways with Nolan, because Nolan wanted to do it his way and McD didn’t see eye to eye with his way.
And why do you think he promoted Wink to Defensive Coach, because in house is better? No (even so that’s what they want us to believe), because in house is an easier way to keep the control on D he wants, bringing a top notch DC from outside would of been like Nolan all over again.
McD is a conservative play caller, I think we have all now pretty much witnessed that, on O and on D it’s not any different, the man doesn’t like to take too many chances, so there you have my take on it, hope you get to read it.
Enjoy the game you all, I’m out getting primed for prime time, talk to you guys after we find out what we really are about this season. A loss here and the Bronco fans who thought we would win at least one of the first two games (I tend to think that would be 100% of the Bronco fans) would be falling flat on their faces, me included. A loss is not acceptable, a loss is not an option since it easily could signal a monster slide due to the quality of the opposition in the next 4 games. I know many folks here believe that the “must win games” term applies only to games that if you lose you’re out, we argued that point here to no end last year, but I for one do call this one a must win game, and the players and coaches better play it like it’s a must win game, whether they buy it or not, that’s all I have to say about that.
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
anyone got any idea as to inactives today? also.. bay did i make a pick for this week? if not is it too late? i say 24 to 21 denver of course!
Buck on Broncos
THE BATTLE IS WON IN THE TRENCHES