They had seen pictures. They had heard a variety of different reviews.
On Friday, the Broncos got a first look at themselves in their 1960 retro uniforms.
Head Coach Josh McDaniels had the players practice in the new colors, getting them accustomed to the threads before Sunday’s Legacy Game against the Patriots. The full ensemble included the yellow jerseys, vertically striped yellow and brown socks, brown pants a brown helmet with numbers instead of a logo.
Ronald Fields was one of the first Broncos to try on the new look and his reactions were mixed.
“I don’t even know what to think anymore,” Fields laughed. “I thought our colors were blue, man. What’s up with this brown?”
Looking at the vertically striped socks, Matt Prater said the uniforms would add something fun to Sunday’s game against the Patriots.
“They’re pretty flashy,” Prater said of the socks. “I feel like a bumble bee in them but it’s different and it shouldn’t affect the game too much. You just play the game the same way and look a little different this time.”
SENDING A STRONG MESSAGE
Head Coach Josh McDaniels is six months shy of his 34th birthday.
As the second youngest head coach in the NFL, his age has at times sparked awe amongst some. For McDaniels, there is less value attached to his age and more value attached to the message he is delivering to his players.
“I learned a long time ago in this league that if you are telling them something that is going to help them win, help the team win, help them play better than what they have played before — that everyone of them in that room will listen to you,” he said.
Winning only helps establish that principle. Through four games, McDaniels has placed himself in a pair of exclusive classes. He and Red Miller are the only two coaches in Broncos history to start their career with a 4-0 record. Miller went 6-0 in 1977, leading Denver to a 12-2 record and an AFC Championship.
McDaniels is also only one of six rookie head coaches in the NFL to go 4-0 since the 2000 season. That group includes current Colts coach Jim Caldwell, who has Indianapolis standing as the only other AFC team besides Denver with a 4-0 start.
Caldwell turned 54 in January, demonstrating that two decades of separation in the age column does not equal separation on the football field.
“If you can lead and you can communicate and you understand the game and how the National Football League works and you can prepare your team and get them ready to play good football and win, who is to say what that age is?” McDaniels said. “I certainly am not going to put an age restriction on that. Somebody certainly could be much younger than I and be as ready as I am to go as I am or somebody else, for that matter.”
ROYAL RAPPORT
After setting Broncos rookie records with 91 catches and 980 yards a year ago, Eddie Royal has drawn one thing from opposing defenses — attention.
That attention has not stopped Royal and Kyle Orton from forming a great relationship in a complicated offense.
“We have worked extremely hard, and Eddie is one of those guys that stays after practice every day to run routes and make sure he is doing everything that I want him to do,” Orton said. “He has worked hard. We would love to get him the ball more. Maybe this will be the week.”
Four games into the 2009 season, Royal has eight catches for 58 yards. He’s added 84 yards on punt returns and 64 yards on kickoff returns, hurdling him over the 200 all-purpose yards mark.
While Orton said that defenses have had their eye on the speedster, he does not see that eye winning out in the long run.
“They have done a great job of making sure they know where he is at and relating to him and trying to take him away,” Orton said. “But Eddie is the type of guy that can beat double-coverage. He can beat single-coverage. Whatever they do, he should have an answer for him.”
INJURY UPDATE
There was one change to the Broncos’ Week 5 Injury Report on Friday. After not participating in Wednesday or Thursday’s practice, Brian Dawkins was a limited participant on Friday. He is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Patriots. There were no changes on the Patriots side, but running back Fred Taylor is listed as out for Sunday’s game.
– Chris Gentilviso, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Boston Patriots, Eddie Royal, Head Coach Josh McDaniels, Kyle Orton, Matt Prater, Ronald Fields, Week 5
coachemup, I see you already have us winning tomorrow in Orton’s record, lol, he is actually 25-12 now. I’ m with you about him, he is tough, he is smart, he is a good teammate and he is a winner, what’s not to like. I’m not unhappy or worried about his performance like, let’s say OC, but I do know that he has yet a lot of improvements to make before we can go into a game and not have to rely mainly on the D to pull off the win, that’s all. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect more of him, it is a team sport and you expect everyone to compete at the same level. It’s not like I want to see him throw long passes or run around the pocket better, those are not his stronger attributes, but I would like him to start out a game well for a change, with more confidence early, completing more passes and taking more control of the game. I understand it is a very complicated offense and any QB would take awhile to get it, but he is experienced, we are going into the 5th game and I believe that to expect a little more of him at this point is not unreasonable.
balinorangecrush: Yep that was me lookin into the crystal ball 26-12 lol. I’m glad somebody caught that!
I just have a strong feeling that the players go all out in this one with a little added emphasis for their coach.
Regards,
Coach
Patriots Defense currently ranked 7th overall in the league. 11th vs. rush and 7th vs. pass.
Broncos Defense currently ranked 2nd overall. 5th vs rush and 3rd vs pass.
Good to see KO practicing without the glove. Let’s hope he’s healed up.
The uniforms look pretty good with the exception of the socks.
Ok Monodono – with those we can have a bonfire. ha ha
Guys, check out the “match up: Broncos vs. Patriots” in the video/audio section of the website front page.
IT IS HILARIOUS.
Some of the players, in their yellow uniforms, are doing a marching band imitation in the middle of the field during practice. DJ and Dawkins are absolutely priceless. They are having so much fun, no wonder they’re doing so well. It kind of reminds me when we were at the top of the world and the team was having similar fun with Shannon Sharpe being the class clown. That could be a good omen for us! Haven’t seen that much camaraderie in the team since then.
Watch it, it’s not quite as eye opening as the miked up McD video, but I believe it’s just as important.
Baylinor – checked it out earlier – it is hilarious!
Also saw B-Marsh having some fun as well!
As I picked in my matchup article, I take the Broncos in this game, 24-20. I think if either team makes a mistake it will cost them dearly. This game may get decided by turnovers. Especially with the bad weather. McD is impressing the heck out of me with his decisions (practicing in bad weather, etc.). Tomorrows game will be a barn burner. I look forward to this matchup.
DDave, that was the early week weather report, now they have mostly sunny, mid to high 40′s, I don’t think the weather will have any effect.
DDave, you’re not here very long when you’re here, so you may not have seen the following post from the other day that explains to you why I haven’t been back on your site so far:
DDave, I have been back a couple of times checking out your articles and comments, it seems pretty slow so far, of course it just opened. The bigger problem for me is, I’ve had to apply for 3 new passwords so far and it just won’t let me in anymore. For some reason, I haven’t been able to get my own password, so they issue one to me and this last one has 12 characters, letters, some in caps, and a few #’s, a total pain in the you know what. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get back in ever, but either way I’ll give it a good break, wait for traffic to increase and try to register again… In the meantime, websites are like jobs, so make sure you stay with us, you never know how long that website will be on. The big problem I see with it is it is way too broad, I mean it covers so many sports and so many teams, everything seems lost in the shuffle. However, I’m glad for you, but don’t wear out, you’re still recovering and you seem very tired. I like this wesite, it’s all about and only about the Broncos and that’s what I care about so don’t take it personally, but so far the fanhuddle hasn’t exactly been rewarding to me.
Hey, this is random, but I really hope Richard Quinn has a good game tomorrow. the rest of the team as well, but I mean MVP performance
Baylinor, I never asked anyone to abandon this site. I come here for news as well. I don’t comment as much because I’ve been ill and it takes much of my time, healing (sleeping, eating). Plus, researching and doing my articles takes up much of my time. As for the password, sorry you’re having problems. Do as I do for many things that require their own password (I have to use theirs for Fan Huddle as well). I copy and paste it to an email to myself. Then when it’s time to go to the site, I copy it and then go to the site and paste it. Takes, 20 extra seconds but is no big diff to me. No real trouble or hassle.
The way a site grows is by people being there to read and comment. I know it’s broad and new, but so are many sports sites. While we don’t have press credentials, we do hope to eventially get that for interviews, etc.. It’s a growing thing but it starts with building a fan base. Don’t give up.
Marsh15, why do you think Quinn will play a lot in this game?
Marsh 15, why Quinn specifically? What motivates you to all of a sudden hope he plays awesomely?
and why is everything “random”?
I love Gaffney’s barber shop pole socks! lol
They will be funny to see (socks). As long as they win, they could wear whatever they want (except dresses).
Where is this miked up McDaniels video I keep hearing about? I haven’t seen it and would like to check it out…..Anybody know?
Hey Peytonoverthehillis22 here is a website for that.
http://www.nfl.com/teams/denverbroncos/profile?team=DEN
click on the pic of McD under the video.
thanks broncofan96. talk about a passionate coach huh? glad hes on our side
broncos win 24 17
I WANT A BONFIRE!
does anybody know if Buck is going to be suiting up or is he still injured?
Bucky sauce is out tom…
BRONCO Fans check this out. This guy is a big bronco fan i know. He made this song, its rap but its pretty cool if you listen to the lyrics and gets me pumped! im not big on rap by any means but this is cool stuff.
http://bulletins.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=bulletin.read&authorID=184561622&messageID=6571856872
I think it shows how loyal fans feel about the team
I’m gonna give myself a boost of confidence for the game by remembering that when the pupil Kubiak left Shanny the teacher and they met in 2007 for the 1st and only time, the pupil in Houston destroyed the teacher and his Broncos 31-13.
May the same happen for McD.
GO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O……………………..BRONCOS!
Baylin…..
Can you give me a boost of that Orange..eh, Yellow confidence? I could use a double shot!
Morning, OC, have yourself a nice brown hot dog with lots of yellow mustard for breakfeast, that oughta do the trick, LOL.
You eat a few of them, you ate yourself a sock! AHAHAHAH!
I like the pic of King Doom with the socks on his arms. Those uni’s arent too bad. I kinda like’em. Better if they were in Orange and Blue though. They should all twist the socks like Gaffney, and then wair a pair on their forearms like Dumervil.
I LOVE ME SOME VERTICALLY STRIPED DENVER BRONCOS!!!!!!!
HEY…VERTICAL BRONCOS EQUATES INTO HORIZONTAL PATRIOTS!!!!
THAT MEANS WE’RE GONNA KNOCK’EM DOWN!!!!!
Hot dogs and mustard…….The Breakfast of CHAMPIONS!!!
OC, you and I are not the only ones who need a boost of confidence today, of the twelve predictions I saw here this week, only one has us winning by 10, otherwise there is one by 8 points, 3 by 7 points, 4 by 4 points and 3 by 3 points which is you and I and broncosfreak30. Everyone is pretty scared of this one, nervous times ahead, I know I am but I’ll have fun because deep inside, regardless of the record, I know it’s still a rebuilding year.
I’m fine with the uni’s too, I talked about them in my 5:14pm post.
Coach McDaniels is not rebuilding for next year. He wants to win now which is why he brought in some talented and experienced veterans… (Dawkins, Fields, Davis Reid, Gaffney, Hill, Goodman etc..). They’ve a established a premier defense with the hiring of Mike Nolan. McDaniels also assembled an outstanding group of assistant coaches. It’s true, they’ve exceeded expectations so far.
McDaniels “miked” is a strong indication that he wants to win and he wants to win now. (A fiery Coach – players gotta love that).
Some interesting tidbits for todays game:
Patriots FB Taylor out and only runner to reach 100 yds in a game so far this year. No one else on Team has rushed for more than 32 yds…(so far).
Tom Brady has not completed a pass for 40 yds plus so far this year after getting 15 in 2007.
Patriots 2-5 vs Denver since they turned super in 2001.
Let’s find a way to win today !!!!!
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!
Royalbroncofan1, when you start 32 new players over last year, rebuilt is what it is, I call it like it is, my god this is one of the biggest turn around in players and coaches in the history of the NFL! Of course McD wants to win now, that doesn’t make it that this isn’t a rebuilding year. Whenever you tear something down, you have to rebuild it, I don’t understand the argument over the word, it is what it is , it doesn’t have any negative connotation to it. You are way too sensitive to the rebuilding word, take it easy, enjoy this rebuilding year for what it is, if we win the super bowl, it still wouldn’t change the fact that this is a rebuilding year. We would just happen to win it all in a rebuliding year.
I took it out of context for next year, which you didn’t actually state. Yes, I’ll enjoy the season – You do the same.
Time to head out to the stadium – Have a great day!
Section 111, right? Be loud for all of us who can’t be there…
Well, I see someone has already picked my predicted score, 20-16. I’m considering 23-16, but I don’t know if I quite see that out of our offense yet, even with all of NE’s losses on defense. Yeah, I’ll go with Denver winning 20-16, with the D setting up at least one score.
I’m hoping that McDaniels has been saving some surprises for this game – like some screen passes to Peyton Hillis; use his great hands. Tom Brady has not had much success against the Broncos traditionally, and I think, between our incredible, clutch defense and coach McD’s knowledge of Brady and the other personnel, the Broncos have a good chance to go 5-0.
Go Broncos!