Wednesday was the second open practice of passing camp, and there was plenty of action on the field to report. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the happenings at practice.
“WE WANT DANIEL”
The defense made it known from the start of practice that they were out to stop Daniel Graham from making any plays today.
Wesley Woodyard explained:
“Daniel’s a competitor, man. He’s one of the guys who always comes out here and brings his best every day. We like to go after the best, and he’s one of the best.”
So about halfway through an offense vs. defense drill, Alphonso Smith made an acrobatic pass breakup that prevented a Graham touchdown. That got the defense fired up, and the sideline started chanting “We want Daniel!” As usual, Woodyard was one of the most vocal taunters.
A few plays later, Graham headed back into the huddle — and immediately caught a touchdown.
“He told me, ‘Be careful what you wish for,’” Woodyard said with a laugh. “Then the next play he got in and scored and tossed me the ball.”
Graham said it’s all in good fun, and he likes that guys are competing.
“At this point that’s what it’s all about,” Woodyard said. “Having fun.”
PLAYMAKERS
In a route-running drill, Tony Scheffler ran up the sideline and looked back for a pass from Kyle Orton. It looked like the throw would sail just over his head, but he leaped and snagged the ball with one hand.
That drew cheers from the offense, and Scheffler jogged back to the huddle pretending to try to shake the ball out of his hand.
There were a couple big defensive plays. First, Darrell Reid snagged a fumble recovery and returned it for a touchdown. Then Mario Haggan stripped LaMont Jordan from behind, which was also recovered by the defense.
It was the offense that might have had the biggest play of the day, however. The ball was set on the one-yard line, and both the offense and defense trotted out 11 players. Darrell Reid, Kenny Peterson and Jarvis Moss were on the defensive line, Ayers, Woodyard, D.J. Williams and Andra Davis were at linebacker, and Champ Bailey, Brian Dawkins, Jack Williams and Andre’ Goodman were in the secondary.
Chris Simms dropped back and fired a pass to Brandon Stokley that zipped right past the outstretched arms of Jack Williams. Stokley hauled it in and managed to get two feet inbounds in the end zone before spiking the ball and being met immediately by Knowshon Moreno and Peyton Hillis for a celebration.
QUICK HITS
The three quarterbacks worked on pass location with Jabar Gaffney and Brandon Stokley. The two receivers stood near the sideline or in the corner of the end zone to practice tight catches.
Elvis Dumervil was excused from practice today for a personal matter, Head Coach Josh McDaniels said.
In Dumervil’s place with the first string defenders — Robert Ayers.
During 11-on-11 drills, Spencer Larsen stood beside Peyton Hillis with the offense, though he was wearing a blue defensive No. 46 jersey.
Two other drills were interesting — Orton worked with the tight ends on route running and catching in the red zone, and the special teams unit practiced onside kicks, a play that has seen some rule changes this offseason.
Rulon Davis was the last player to leave the field Wednesday. He worked with Special Teams Coordinator Mike Priefer and Special Teams Assistant Keith Burns after practice on getting loose from blockers during kickoff returns.
Here are pictures from practice:
For more pictures, check out the photo gallery from Wednesday’s practice.
-Gray Caldwell, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Passing Camp
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Watching the video of McD sounds like they may have a lot planned for Hillis. Hey did I get the first post?
Nice !! Way to go Graham & Scheffler !! Scheffler has proven he can make those tough catches in the past
I am really excited to see Tom Brandstater play. I am excited to see how well he does in pre-season. I also wonder if Simms is going to beat orton out.
Great stuff, thanks for the pics!
Oh yeah this sounds all good.
Hope all is well with Dooms.
Go Broncos
P.S. QLD 28 v NSW 18 Game one in the bag Aussiebronco!!!
Gray Caldwell and staff did a great job with reports, pics, and blog.
This gets me fired up!!! Has anyone noticed that these practices seem far more improved than the old stale stuff Shanahan was doing every season? This is really exciting stuff!
Theise – I agree these practices are very specific and every drill has more impetus.. These, ladies & gentlemen are very exciting times!!!
Its nice to see the Broncos in action again…keep it coming.. i hope that Kyle orton wins the job…
I agree these drills are way more advance than the old shanny era…. But Hillis at RB, FB, & WR damn i need to put him on my fantasy team. Also it seems like Woodyard is becoming more of a leader now
I also agree with theise:There does seem to be an eletricity in the air that i as a fan have not seen in a loooong time.I’m pumped for this upcoming season…I think it’s gonna be good…
thatdude807:Yea i agree with you about Woodyard…i know it’s big shoes to fill but what do ya think:woodyard=al wilson clone???
i agree, woodyard is special to this team. to think he was not drafted makes me realize the tough road he had to take to get here. i like his attitude and he sure can stick a big tackle!
Its sounds good, but the leader of the D will be Dawkins. No if ands or buts. Watch and learn.
and peyton hillis is badass too. thatdude807 and i are gonna kick some ass in the fantasy leauge this year (depending if hillis is healthy)
the thing that excites the most about dawkins is his leadership skills. its always an added plus to have such a highly talented vet on your team. and think of what a great teacher he will be for barrett and mcbath! those two i think will be a good tandem in years to come.
They got both Superbowl teams of the Broncos on NFL Network right now. America’s Game how sweet it was. It’s gonna be sweeter this yr.
it just looks and sounds like the guys are having fun and learning how to be a team. Sometimes its good to have a change like we had this year. i think the team just needed a new way of doing thing.I reember being a player. It was always fun to learn new thing. not that the old things didnt work it was just fun learning new ones.
very good article. I hope Doom is ok.
I’m watching NFL Network’s production of America’s Game: the 1998 Broncos and it brings back so many good memories. Oh, how I loved Eddie Mac, TD Shannon and Elway. Still, there are numerous players on this team I’m really looking forward to cheering on. Spencer Larsen, my fellow Mormon stud (well, the “stud” part isn’t true about me), Kyle Orton, Tony Scheffler, Dan Graham, Brian Dawkins and others. GO BRONCOS!!! Shock the world this season!
It appears that this team has a lot of commoradaryship (if you saw America’s Game tonight, you know what I mean). It is exciting to see. Great report, keep up the good work!
Amazing post! Seems like they really listened to us about how we would like our practices that are open to be reported since we aren’t there!
Love how our team is gellin without Dr. Scholls! IMAGINE AFTER THEY PUT IN THOSE INSERTS FOR THE GAME! lol
But really there isn’t really a spot on the team of big concern if we get some injuries this year unlike last. Hopefully it doesn’t bite us that hard, but whoever wins the qb spot we have a good backup.
Can’t wait to see the starters and have them flying around the field!
Samoanbronco, GO QLD!!!!
I am excited about this season too but I must admit I am cautiously optomistic about the defense because of the D-Line. Some of these guys are going to have show up big on that side of the ball if we want to get some pressure on th quarterback. And we need to because no matter how good our defensive backfield is we need more pressure on the quarterback. Remember the San Diego game?
BroncoChick: Not to assume you don’t kow much about a 3-4 scheme, but the d-line doesn’t really cause a pass rush in that scheme. If they do, great, but from my understanding, they just eat up space/blockers. And the more the merrier. It’s up to the LB’s/blitzing DB’s to create the pressure on the QB’s. I believe we are gonna be better just by the scheme change. I mean, come on, Moss a DE at 250? Going against a guy that outweighs him by 75 lbs? Not a very good matchup. But put someone heavier on the line, and watch what he can do rushing from an OLB position. Look at the formula in Pitt, SD, etc. Their DL guys aren’t all world, it’s their LB’s mostly. The one thing I’m afraid we’re missing, and I hope I’m wrong, is a massive NT. The successful 3-4′s have ‘em.
G funk, I’m with ya. These practices seem better and it just might be because everyone is learning new ways of doing things and all the new players. Cut downs are going to be tough.
2champ4pickSIX, my only concern would be a backup for Prater, what happens if He gets hurt? I don’t want to jinx anything but what is the backup plan here.
On a more positive note, it sounds like Hillis will be a big force to reckon with this year, and I do love the new approach Prater is taking this year.
TIME OF POSSESSION ! ! !
GO BRONCOS ! ! !
Oh and thanks for the post Gray.
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