The Broncos were back with the early sun, completing the first half of their second two-a-day stint of training camp. Here are some quick hits from the morning session.
ROLL CALL: Carted off the field during Saturday’s practice, Nic Clemons missed the session.
“Nic probably won’t be out here for the next couple of days, but nothing serious, and hopefully he’ll be back here soon,” Head Coach Josh McDaniels said.
Towards the middle of practice, Brandon Marshall went inside, which McDaniels later explained.“I don’t know anything about it yet,” McDaniels said. “We’ll see. He left the field, don’t know to what extent or what it was. We’ll find out when we get in here.”
After missing Saturday’s session due to soreness, Vernon Fox returned to the field Sunday, wearing the orange jersey designated for players recovering from injuries. He saw plenty of action, including time with the first-team defense in 11-on-11 drills.
Jarvis Moss was also excused by McDaniels.
POSITIONING: There was plenty of rotation on the defensive side. The first team consisted of Kenny Peterson, Ronald Fields, and Ryan McBean on the line. Elvis Dumervil and Darrell Reid planted themselves at the outside linebacker spots, while Andra Davis and D.J. Williams navigated the inside positions.
The starting secondary was comprised of Andre’ Goodman and Champ Bailey at cornerback, along with Renaldo Hill and Brian Dawkins at safety. Jack Williams, Wesley Woodyard and Alphonso smith were among the players to crack the first team unit on some full-contact plays.
Correll Buckhalter and LaMont Jordan took most of the carries with the first-unit offense, with Ryan Torain also getting his share. Peyton Hillis often shifted from the fullback/running back spots. In three-receiver sets, Jabar Gaffney, Eddie Royal and Brandon Stokley were the primary targets. Tony Scheffler and Daniel Graham were on the line for most of the two-tight end packages, while rookie Richard Quinn also saw time with the primary squad.
DRILLS: Working with trios, defensive line coach Wayne Nunnely drilled his players on rotations in coverage. With one lineman posing as a running back and another as an offensive lineman, the third defender had to fight through the initial block and then cover the running back out of the backfield. “They open the door, something’s up,” Nunnely yelled. “They open the door, something’s up.”
Secondary coach Ed Donatell worked with the defensive backs on 1-on-1 bump coverage. With one lined up as a receiver, he stressed that the cover man leave enough yards of space to adjust.
Head Coach Josh McDaniels pulled aside Elvis Dumervil during 1-on-1 drills with the offensive linemen, giving him pointers for putting pressure on the opposing front.”He made some adjustments with his hands,” McDaniels said. “Elvis has got really long arms for a shorter player, and when he gets his hands into the blocker first, it’s hard to control Elvis. He made strides, and every day he comes out and works his butt off to try to improve.”
The Broncos concluded practice with full 11-on-11 two-minute drills. New threads included Kyle Orton working the no-huddle, D.J. Williams and Jack Williams executing inside blitzes, and Daniel Graham sliding to reach for a first down, before the offense came up for the spike to stop the clock.
PLAYMAKERS: The wide receivers and defensive backs went at it on a series of 1-on-1 encounters.
Brandon Marshall gave Fox a stiff challenge. Using all of his strength, Marshall impressed Fox enough that when the safety came off the field, he said: “Man, that’s a big dude.”
The defense had its share of big plays as well in this series, with Dawkins deflecting what appeared to be a sure catch for Matthew Willis. With his back to the ball, Dawkins made a quick-footed move and slapped the ball away with his left hand.
In seven-on-seven play, Orton was sharp on his deep balls, completing four of five stop-and-go routes to ignite the Dove Valley crowd.
On the first play of 11-on-11 drills, Gaffney and Orton appeared to connect for a big play down the right sideline. Dawkins again came out of nowhere, batting the ball away. In a case of deja vu from yesterday, he again did 10 push ups for not snaring the interception, drawing even more cheers from the fans.
Two plays later, Orton and Gaffney attempted to execute some trickery. Gaffney took a handoff right before lateraling back across the field to Orton. Orton fired deep to what appeared to be an open Royal. To the surprise of Royal, Hill streaked across the field and made an outstanding pass breakup.
QUICK HITS: Fans enjoyed another day of picturesque morning weather in Englewood, with temperatures climbing into the mid-80s and plenty of sunshine.
At the conclusion of stretches, the entire team circled around Director of Special Services Fred Fleming, singing him Happy Birthday.
Broncos coaches haven’t been shy about taking the opportunity to use training camp for plenty of teaching. This was again apparent during coaching assistant Keith Burns’ special teams tackling drill. Each player navigated through a first blocker before wrapping up the returner at an angle toward the ball. When inside linebacker/fullback Spencer Larsen went too low, Burns had Larsen repeat the drill. On the second attempt, he nailed it.
DAILY JUKEBOX: The players made their way onto the practice to the tune of Brooks & Dunn’s “Hillbilly Deluxe.” Other selections included:
Mary Mary’s “God in Me”
Mtume’s “Juicy Fruit”
There is another practice session this evening at 4:45 p.m. MDT. Here are photos from the morning session.
-Chris Gentilviso, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Brian Dawkins, Eddie Royal, Jabar Gaffney, Josh McDaniels, Kyle Orton, Training Camp
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Vick prob wont get signed till the season starts bc of the distraction factor.
i think if they dont make team straight out, maybe they go to practice squad.
why they heck havent we signed our two first rounders!! this is total bullspit
Depends all D-line spots are up for grabs so you never know, I think Baker makes the squad just because of his size. As for the first two rounders they will be there soon…I hope.
i think baker males it also, i put if they dont make it then probably PS
Agreed
Once Ayers gets signed do you guys see him being an immediate starter?
I do. Was wondering this though, if LBs there right now can get the job done, do we move him to DE full time, not just on passing downs.
Those two rookies and their agents are working on my nerves as well. If Marsha Marsha Marshall continues to act right and handle his business then he might end up getting that money he wants.
I think ayers is two small, weight wise to play the DE in a 3-4 but there will be alot of rotation this year so he will see lots of playing time.
another naysayer. lets see them play under mcdaniels first, then we will decid to throw people under the bus. Also if you see the interview on the OTL, Bowlen said he decided to trade P___y Cutler for not answering his calls.
Interesting concept of Hillis as a KR.
I like Torrain over Jordan, but the 2 things IMO which run against RT is (a) Injuries, and (b) Jordan is an Ex-Patriots player, even though it was for only for a season. Milk (lol), high impact carido and, endurance weight training contribute to better bone density.
Torrain and Moreno could achieve what Anderson and Bell just fell short of in 04/05 and having 2 RB’s registering 1000 yd seasons. Mouth watering prospect.
Moss wants to reitre?? Isn’t he like mid-20′s? He needs to pick himself up and not take a defeatists attitude. He still has plenty of time to give the coaches something to seriously consider when they decide to make the cuts.
here is the link
http://www.milehighreport.com/
Orton was able to win 9 games with Chicago’s horrible offensive line and they don’t even have any wide recievers. Denver has one of the best offensive lines and a talented supporting cast.
Samoan,
i agree with the points that can alter torains future with our organization.
I think Moss will come back he is just down on himself. And Torain and Knowshon a two headed monster with the body of the giant Hillis haha.
dont bother chris, you cant change their minds, they were happy with what we had last year.
16th in points scored
30th on defense
and 3 straight losses to miss the playoffs at 8-8.
Haha, I doubt we can get worse than that.
exactly.
D wins championships so it will be on their back this year. Because the Offense is all there.
I prayyyyyy that they don’t let E. Royalty even dream about seeing the field for Kick or Punt Return. We need him on the O side!
I think Phonaz and McKinley will have those duties.
I hope so BroncoAussie esp McKinley bc he has big play written all over him!
chad jacksin showed some burst of speed also, remember that 18 yd catch, was fast.
i even see a 500 yd passing game for Orton this year against oakland.
130 yds marshall
120 yds royal
100 gaffney
75 yds sheff
40 stokley
35 yds backs
Thats why training camp is AWESOME. You can dream big.
I think there are a number of guys handling those duties, I just hope we can get some ST TDs because that would be nice, did we get any last year?
dont think we did, eddie came close 93 yds. I saw that live. Was lucky to be there.
I know was so good and he had Hillis running lead block for him, so cool.
against the fins royal got close.
yes sir.
last year i attended 2 games and lost both. bills and fins.
but i got cutlers autograph
That bills game was a joke, we were up 20 points at one point
wooped r doooooo. Not a complete waste though. I also got Pittmans, Clady, and graham and spoke to Marshall, he borrowed my sharpie for autographs but did not sign my ball.
lol
pisses me off. pic in the endzone, a forced pass.
against the fins also
Hate those forced balls.
yup. all the zip in the world wont go through defenders.
Damn straight, and the offense that McD runs is alot of shorter passes then deep balls i believe so you need to be accurate.
we will be fine Aussie i think, but i will not put the team under the bus unless they fail, i wont judge the team badly before i can see what they can do. I will stay positive.
McD’s offense requires you to know where to put the ball. you don’t need a strongest arm and you don’t need the accurate arm. its all knowing who to pass the ball to and what to do in a certain situation.
But honestly i see better future now, than last year.
Same, I hope the D pulls together.
I dont think we have to make playoffs to have a better year than last year. We just need to progress and add more playmakers next year. Im not saying we wont make the playoffs though, i think we will winn the division.
I saw somw future last year, but not as much as we have this year. we had the right talents on offense but we didn’t have the right character. on defense we had character but not as mch talent. though their was some talent on defense, they just couldn’t stay healthy.
u saw a future with 3 straigh losses, an offense 16th in scoring, a defense in 30th. and us playing 24-24 the last 3 years. Keep in mid 7 of those wins belong to Plummer.
having 4500 yds passing doesnt make you a dangerous team, it could make you a predictable one. it takes a balanced team to win.
we saw what we could do on offense last year. 2nd in yardage. the reason for the lack in scoring was because we were playing with a 7th string running back. all our running backs last year were sissys besides Hillis and Pittman.