Earlier Saturday, the Broncos trimmed the roster to 53 players by waiving or releasing 24 players and putting three more on injured reserve.
The decision-making process began with the coaches and front office staff watching tape of the Arizona preseason game yesterday then meeting with Head Coach John Fox and Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway at about 4 p.m. for two-and-a-half hours, going over the roster position-by-position.
This morning, players set to be waived or released got the news by first meeting with General Manager Brian Xanders, then Coach Fox before saying goodbye to position coaches, the training and equipment staffs and their teammates.
This afternoon, Xanders spoke with the media about what he called “Emotionally, one of the toughest (days) of all.”
“When you bring 27 guys in and look at them in the eye, you’re ending an NFL dream, and it’s tough,” Xanders said. “It’s just something that’s part of the business.”
ON THE ROSTER
Despite the difficult nature of Saturday, Xanders said he and the rest of the front office are excited about the 53 players that make up the team’s regular-season roster.
“I think there will be some younger players to contribute more, earlier in the process. Coach Fox has been great about letting these guys compete for roles. [LB] Von [Miller], [T] Orlando Franklin and [S] Rahim Moore are going to start. [TE] Julius Thomas might get in there and start at some different roles based on how we use him. [S] Quinton Carter is going to play. [LB] Mike Mohamed has played all three linebackers. [LB] Nate Irving is competing in special teams. [TE] Virgil Green, same thing, talking about the fullback versus utility with Virgil. [CB] Chris Harris, [DT] Mitch Unrein — there’s a lot of young guys that are going to play. We feel good about the mix. There’s a lot of good experience in there and some good young players coming up.”
As for how the roster will progress throughout the season, Xanders alluded to what Fox told the players in a recent meeting.
“They still have to earn their role every week,” he said. “Coach met with the team, and he said, ‘It’s an honor and a privilege to make the Denver Broncos, but that seat, you have to earn it every day, and it’s a production-based business.”
WAIVER WIRE
Since the order is determined by last season’s schedule, the Broncos have the No. 2 priority for all waiver claims through the third week of the regular season. Beginning in Week 4, waiver claim will be based on the current standings.
“We’re going to look at everybody on the waiver wire,” Xanders said. “We’re excited about that process today; we’ve worked hard at it for three or four weeks now, and today is the day you finally get to realize who’s out there. We feel good about our football team. We’re going to always work the bottom of the roster and try to figure out better players that we can bring in.”
The deadline to put a claim on a player waived by another team is 10 a.m. MDT Sunday morning, and then the team will hear from the league whether they were awarded any players, in addition to whether any of the players waived from the Broncos were claimed by another team.
“There are a couple names that are interesting on the wire, but we’ll see how it goes and what the shake-out is. Do you claim that person over someone we’ve trained for five weeks?”
In addition, the team can begin building its eight-man practice squad on Sunday, which could feature some of the players waived Saturday.
“We came through with some practice squad candidates — hopefully we get some of them back,” Xanders said.
INJURY UPDATES
Xanders also addressed some of the injured players that made the 53-man roster, including Demaryius Thomas, who he said has been cleared by doctors to practice.
On Demaryius Thomas: “He’s cleared to practice; he’s ready to go. We’re excited about him. The receiver cut-down was tough. A lot guys did really well; a lot of guys competed hard, and Demaryius worked really hard to get back, so he’ll be on the 53 [-man roster].”
“He did great job rehabbing himself during the lockout, then, he came in and had a great five weeks with us. Out on the field, the doctors allowed him to work more routes, and more explosion exercises—jumping. There’s a lot of stuff to do with the Achilles tendon there, but he did really well, so they cleared him to go.”
On when Thomas can play in a game: “I can’t really speculate. That’s really up to the trainers. They’re going to monitor him really closely. Our coaches are obviously going to monitor him. He’s going to be running scout team cards eventually in full pads and we’ll see how he is. We’ve got to get him in shape leg wise, quadriceps, hamstrings and all of that has to be working good. He could be good in a couple weeks. We’ll see how he does, hopefully it’s sooner than later.”
On Ty Warren: “We’re hopeful he can come back. With the triceps surgical repair, it could be 10 to 12 weeks. We’ll see; it could be longer, but we’re going to keep him inactive and get him rehabbed and ready to go.”
Xanders also said he can’t speculate on when Marcus Thomas will return to action, but hopefully “sooner than later.” In addition, he said he hopes Broderick Bunkley could return as soon as this week.
GETTING SPECIFIC
On DE Derrick Harvey making the roster: “He’s a big athlete. He’s long; he’s explosive. He can play more stout against the run, and he has some pass-rush skills, and when we stunted him, he was hard to block in there. He can provide a backup left end/ right end behind [DE] Elvis [Dumervil] and [DE Robert] Ayers.”
On the receiver position: “The receivers, some teams keep five, some keep six. We felt there was a lot of competition there. [WR] Eddie Royal and [WR Eric] Decker were going to make it and [WR Brandon] Lloyd obviously led the league in receiving, and then [WR] Demaryius [Thomas] came back and [WR Matthew] Willis was a special teamer and provided some good production in the preseason, really the last two preseasons. [WR] Eron Riley did excellent. [WR D’Andre] Goodwin did well on special teams, had some nice catches. So, there was a lot of competition there.”
On waiving CB Perrish Cox: “No roster spot is safe; his was based on the four preseason games and the five weeks of training camp. It’s unfortunate to make a cut like that when he had started for us the year before, but the coaches talked to him about what he needs to improve on for his career.”
On waiving DT Jeremy Jarmon: “He fit as a three technique and a backup left end. He competed really hard; he was another tough cut. We picked the guys that competed hard in there, and he tried really hard and had to move to two positions.”
On waiving S Kyle McCarthy: “We graded the whole thing over four weeks. We graded the games, the special teams, the practices, the evaluations of how they’re doing here. With him, some guys came on at the end and that’s how it works out sometimes.”
On waiving QB Adam Weber: “Some teams do that and bring a fourth quarterback in for practice squad. We’ll see what happens with him on the waiver wire. We’re going to try to build the best practice squad we can and we’ll see what happens.”
-Gray Caldwell
danso, keep that Raider fan quiet. He will not be allowed to yell at all!! haha
Broncos: 33
Raiders : 25
Not sure you got my predict for the season bay
6-10
seweather-he will be feelin the pain & crying the blues (& Orange)
GREAT!!
Broncos 24
Raiders 16
I think I figured out why the Broncos didn’t claim anybody on the waiver wire. If you claim them off the waiver wire you’re stuck with their contract. If you wait until they clear waivers, EFX can negotiage a contract; obviously at a much lower contract cost to the Broncos. Makes sense to me.
45YEARBROINCOFANSTILLONSTRIKE!!!
Counting the hours to game time!!!!
Broncos 13 raiders 10
Monday Night Football here we come!!!! Just one more week, I can’t stand the wait any more, bring it on!!
Broncos 21, Faiders 13
GO BRONCOS 2011!!!!
Week 1 Prediction: Raiders 20, Broncos 23 in an overtime thriller.
I know this sounds crazy but I say we go 10-6 my prediction. I like fox n that makes all the difference in the world he is players coach. He is a diffensive minded coach that should help a ton. But come on we are playing the raiders we win 33-13 n I say either von or doom take a fumble for touchdown. Denver all the way…
So, Fox says that they were only interested in a couple of guys on the waiver wire, but not interested enough to ditch someone they had already trained for five weeks.
bronco4L,
I love your optimism, but the Raiders have had our number lately–particularly in Denver. In 2007, we needed a Shananigan to beat them 23-20 in overtime following the timeout scheme Mike Shanahan used while Oakland attempted field goals in overtime. In 2008, with Shanahan still in Denver we lost 31-10. In 2009, we let JaMarcus Russell lead a game winning drive and lost 20-19, and then there was last season’s 59-14 disaster.
I think the Broncos will beat Oakland, but I think it’s going to be a very close game–an old school slugfest. However, I would be very happy if your 33-13 prediction comes to fruition next week!
Week one prediction/
Oakland: 10
Broncos: 16
We are good for at least 1 TD, then Prater to the rescue.
What stuck me as odd, is that I am an extreme minority in the group of people I communicate with daily which is about 200… I am looking at the first half of the season being low scoring. Everyone else around here assumes just the opposite. I may be way off base here, but I always believed it took Offenses a lot more time to gel, then defenses.
When it rains it pours, already 22 score predictions!!!
This one’s for brian & everyone else of course…
Little Johnny Joke
Little Johnny and his parents relocated from Denver to San Diego.
As the weekend approached, Little Johnny was in school, when a Teacher asked the class how many students were Charger fans. Everyone in the classroom raised their hand except Little Johnny.
The Teacher turned to Little Johnny and said, “Little Johnny, everyone here raised their hand in support of the Chargers, why you didn’t raise your hand”?
Little Johnny replied, “well Teach, my Mom is a Denver Broncos fan, my Dad is a Denver Broncos fan, therefore – I’m a Denver Broncos fan”!!
The Teacher responded, “WELL, if your Dad was a convicted felon and your Mom harbored fugitives, what would that make YOU”??
Little Johnny replied, “Oh that’s easy Teach, – A Raiders Fan!!! LOL!!
Broncos 23
Raiders 19
Shananigan!!! ROFLMBO
good one Royal. love it, i need some PG rated jokes to add to my arsenal.
I was going to wait to make my prediction. I am still kind of torn between a 16-10 win and a 17-16 loss. But heck, I am feeling a little frisky today. Just installed a kick butt new 1TB Hard Drive on my computer and a 1 GB video card. All because of 1 single video game. Ahh the agony of loving simulation games that require adequate computer graphics and components.
Didn’t even see the last page, 29 entries now! And the season record predictions keep piling up too, good thing I’m retired, haha, great to see! And don’t worry about asking me if I saw an entry or not, I always go back to the spot the last time I was on and get up to date every time I log on, just don’t go posting a prediction on anything but the last and current blog is best even so I always double check the last one or two. So, no worry.
Yeah steve, those Little Johnny jokes are hilarious!
You’re a busy man bay, good for you.
Thanks for keeping everything fun & interesting around here!!
Brian will see it tomorrow from work, pretty much the only place he blogs from, I heard that joke before, even maybe from you here last year, cute.
My pleasure, as you know, Bronco lover here all the way.
That makes me wander, I don’t think I ever thanked you for your dedication Bay. Thank you. Awesome that someon stepped up and is willing to put in all the work to track, hundreds of fans.
my favorite is still the custody joke though CLASSIC.
New blog.
Yeah, I did post it last season. I post the pg version as the reference to the Raiders Mom would be inappropriate to post.
It does over much better during live interaction amongst Bronco fans…lol.
Can it be posted steve, or is it not a pg version?
Ok, then move all your new predictions to the new blog, thanks.
here you go Royal. Even though it covers a tragic reality for many of our youth, when taken in context, it can be hilarious.
Denver, CO (AP) -A seven-year old boy was at the center of a Douglas County courtroom drama today when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulation requiring that family unity be maintained to the highest degree possible. The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried and said that they also beat him. After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him. After two recesses to check legal references and confer with the child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the Denver Broncos, whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.
Yeah that came out last year after the drubbing we kept taking under McD.
Allright, finally decided to join bronco country so many a first for me….
1st post allthough have been reading the blogs for years.
Been a bronco-fan since 85 when I was an exchange student in Manitou springs,CO was a fan even before I understood the rules of AF
It was obvious from day one though that there was only ever one team to support.
1st Score prediction Broncos 17 – raiders 14
desperate to see a return to winning ways against the NFL’s least likeable team…
1st season prediction Broncos 6-10
I went to Wembley last year to see my beloved broncos lose to 49′ers. The thing that stood out to me about the broncos performance that night was the lack of passion, energy and desire to win against a 49′ers side that could hardly be described as frightening… I am desperate to see an improvement in desire and attittude this year, and judging by training camp this may be on the cards (still want to see it in a regular season game though)..
I can live with another losing season in what might be a 2-3 year rebuilding phase as long as the team show the desire to fight and compete for 60minutes.
Bay : thanks for running these competitions – what a great idea and good fun for all involved. hats off for what must be a considerable amount of work.
LOL … thanks steve.
New guy here. Just wanted to say thanks for not being so freakin’ negative, like those guys commenting on the DP.
As far as a comment. I think they’re definitely heading in the right direction.
Hello again. Just read my post and thought I might want to clarify. I meant the Broncos are heading in the right direction, not the negative commentators at the DP. They’re not all that way but, it sure seems that way. Josh M. left a lot of mistakes to correct in his wake and it’s going to take some time to get back. It doesn’t take a football genius to see things are looking up. I’m ready for some football. Go Broncs!
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Broncos 24- Oakland 17
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