For the first time since Saturday’s Summer Scrimmage, the Broncos hit the practice field on Monday. Clouds kept it from getting too hot for the afternoon session, which featured an exciting two-minute-drill session.

For today’s trivia question, rookie quarterback Brock Osweiler led the third-team offense in a two-minute drill near the end of practice — more on that drill later in the blog. On second down, his pass was intercepted to seal the win for the defense. Who made the interception? Of the correct answers, the winner will be chosen at random and will receive a Broncos prize pack. Leave your answer in the comments section, and the correct answer — and winner — will be revealed at 7:30 p.m. MDT.

ROLL CALL

After practice Head Coach John Fox went over the injury report. He started by saying safety Quinton Carter did not participate with a hamstring and a “scoped knee.” Wide receiver Tyler Grisham (knee), running back Ronnie Hillman (hamstring), defensive tackle Justin Bannan (calf) and tight end Anthony Miller (ankle) also did not participate.

Demaryius Thomas (“His Achilles got a little tight, nothing serious”), Greg Orton (ankle) and Ryan Harris (right ankle) left practice early.

PLAYMAKERS

• Wide receiver Jason Hill had a nice day of practice, bringing in a deep pass over his shoulder from quarterback Peyton Manning during 7-on-7s. That drew some of the loudest cheers from the crowd of the afternoon. Earlier in the drill, he made a back shoulder catch on the sideline in front of safety Rafael Bush.
• Wide receiver Cameron Kenney had an impressive catch of his own. Quarterback Brock Osweiler threw to the receiver’s back shoulder, and he made the leaping catch with cornerback Joshua Moore in tight coverage.
• Syd’Quan Thompson stripped the ball away from a receiver to force a fumble during 7-on-7s.
• On the first play of team drills, defensive tackle Ty Warren batted Manning’s pass at the line for an incompletion.
• Safety Rahim Moore was part of two plays notable for tight coverage. Both were passes from Manning aimed at wide receiver Eric Decker. On the first, Manning launched the ball deep and Decker couldn’t catch up to it, sandwiched by Moore and cornerback Champ Bailey. On the second, Manning simply threw the ball away as Moore and cornerback Tracy Porter had Decker double covered.
• Decker still had some big catches, including one in front of Champ Bailey during team drills, and another for a touchdown during red-zone drills.
• Hill had perhaps the catch of the day in the team red-zone drills, leaping up and over Bailey in the back corner of the end zone for a touchdown catch off a Manning throw. After the play, Bailey offered Hill a high five for the highlight catch.
• Right before Hill’s catch, Manning hit wide receiver Andre Caldwell in the opposite corner of the end zone for another toe-tapping touchdown catch. Safety Mike Adams was in coverage and argued that the receiver was out of bounds, but it looked to be ruled a touchdown.
• Cornerback Drayton Florence had a nice pass breakup during team drills, tipping the ball high enough for Bush to nearly intercept it before it hit the ground for an interception.
• During one of the last team drills of the day, safety David Bruton had an athletic, leaping pass breakup with one hand at the ball’s highest point to ensure an incompletion. That drew cheers and some “ooohs” from the crowd. Just after that, Bush slapped the ball out of Hill’s hands at the last second to force an incompletion, drawing props from Florence.

TWO-MINUTE DRILL

The club closed practice with some situational football. The offense started with the ball at its own 35-yard line, down 21-20 to the defense with 1:20 left on the clock and no timeouts.

Manning and the first-team offense was up first. He got started with a quick 5-yard completion to wide receiver Matthew Willis, which was followed by an incompletion because Manning’s intended target slipped. Manning wanted a flag, but the coaches didn’t give him one. So on third-and-5, he hit Eric Decker for a first down at the 46-yard line. The next play was a completion to running back Lance Ball out of the backfield, and Ball got out of bounds after a gain of a yard to stop the clock with 30.8 seconds remaining.

On the following play, Manning hit Willis again down the sideline to the defense’s 30-yard line, and the offense ran up to the line of scrimmage to spike the ball and stop the clock. With 5.9 seconds left, kicker Matt Prater jogged onto the field and hit a field goal to give the offense the win.

Next, it was Caleb Hanie’s turn. The quarterback quickly hit tight end Virgil Green, who got out of bounds at the 48-yard line. Hanie then went back to the same sideline, hitting Caldwell at the opposite 40-yard line. The receiver got out of bounds with 1:08 left on the clock. From there, the offense ran down the clock until they spiked the ball to set up a fourth-and-1 at the 31-yard line with 5.6 seconds remaining. Prater came out and hit another field goal to give the second-team offense the win.

Finally, Osweiler was up. He threw a quick, 4-yard completion to set up second-and-6, but his second-down pass was intercepted to seal the win for the defense. The defender who brought down the pick — the answer to today’s trivia question — will be revealed in the comments section at 7:30 p.m. MDT.

Practice ended with one more situation — the offense was down four at the defense’s 40-yard line with only four seconds remaining on the clock. The first Hail Mary rep belonged to quarterback Adam Weber, whose pass fell incomplete out of the back of the end zone. Next up was Hanie, who hit wide receiver Gerell Robinson for the touchdown — but the defense backed off to allow the receiver to catch it. Finally, Osweiler had the last throw of practice, but it fell incomplete out of the back of the end zone as well.

QUICK HITS

• The newest Bronco, linebacker Keith Brooking, watched practice from the sideline in shorts and a Broncos T-shirt. Fellow free agent signee, safety Jim Leonhard, watched the first part of practice away from the field, talking with Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway.
• Alongside Elway, Owner Pat Bowlen took in the session from the sideline as well.
• In one-on-ones between the offensive and defensive lines, the O-line had the advantage, but defensive lineman Ben Garland stood out on the defensive side of the ball.

The team is back on the field Tuesday morning at 8:50 a.m. MDT for a practice free and open to the public. As always, gates open an hour prior.

Click below for a photo gallery from Monday’s practice.

Tags: Training Camp 2012

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