Here’s where you really start to learn about players — when the shoulder pads go on. The Broncos didn’t put on the full pads, practicing in shorts, but placing the shoulder pads under their jerseys altered the tempo and tenor of the day’s second practice.

“The first day in pads, it takes a while (to get accustomed),” Head Coach Mike Shanahan said after the hour-and-a-half session.

“It’s not natural. You haven’t worked with pads for a while, and it’s going to take a number of days before we feel comfortable, “That’s why you come back here and have training camp — to get in football shape.”

“Pads do make a difference — big time,” said Kenard Lang, who ran with the second team Sunday afternoon after working on the second and third units in the morning session. “When you don’t have pads, you can’t be as physical as you like because you don’t want to hurt (the player you hit).”

NOTES FROM THE AFTERNOON:

ATTENDANCE REPORT: Quite a few veterans are on the one-practice-per-day schedule, a group that Sunday included Brandon Stokley, Matt Lepsis, Tom Nalen and Sam Adams. Ebenezer Ekuban was in uniform but didn’t see the field during the team work, which consumed the majority of the afternoon session. Fifteen-year veteran John Lynch took part in both of the day’s practices.

WHO’S WHERE? As Jim Bates indicated Saturday, Nate Webster saw some time at strongside linebacker, working there with the first team during the afternoon practice … Elvis Dumervil and Jimmy Kennedy saw some time with the first unit … With Lepsis and Nalen sitting out, Greg Eslinger worked with the first unit at center, while Adam Meadows took the left tackle slot; Meadows saw time at right tackle in the morning session with the second unit.

MAKING THE PLAYS: Cornerback Kevin House intercepted a short Darrell Hackney pass for Marquay McDaniel … Mike Bell and Andre Hall drew cheers from the crowd for bursting up the right sideline into the open field on runs. Bell also showed some nifty moves juking his way through the secondary after catching a pass from Patrick Ramsey … … Stokley’s absence meant that the Broncos’ first-team three-wideout grouping included Javon Walker, Domenik Hixon and David Kircus … Nate Jackson made a solid catch across the middle from Jay Cutler with Nick Ferguson closing in … And in two-minute drill “move the ball” work at the end of practice, the second-team offense used a series of Ramsey completions — including one to Brian Clark that ended when D.J. Williams nearly grabbed his face mask — to drive into field-goal range after beginning its drive with just 55 seconds remaining on the clock. The first-team offense went backwards on its first two plays against the No. 2 defense, and then went out on downs as a fourth-down pass from Jay Cutler to Hixon skipped low and incomplete.

KICKIN’ IT: Some of the loudest cheers of the afternoon session came for Todd Sauerbrun’s ionosphere-scraping punts, which not only covered a lot of territory but a lot of time, as well. Six of his 10 points broke 4.5 seconds for hangtime according to my stopwatch, and one of them hung in midair for a gravity-ignoring 5.16 seconds.

“He’s trying to make field goals from back there,” Shanahan said. “He’s punted extremely well. He’s had a good offseason program and hopefully he can keep that up.”

HOMEWORK FOR THE ROOKIE: Jarvis Moss found himself working with the first team when it went into the nickel package on Sunday and the second unit in its base lineup, but that didn’t mean he was particularly happy with where he stood after his first day of training camp.

“I didn’t do well on my pass rush, and I’m really down about it,” Moss said. “I’m just going to go watch the film and look at myself and break down everything I did well and then break down the bad things as well and just see if I can’t come out tomorrow and correct them all.”

Moss will be authoring this year’s Rookie Journal, with his first entry to come later this week.

WEATHER REPORT: Unusually muggy conditions greeted the Broncos as they took the field. The temperature remained at 79 to 80 degrees, but the humidity was at 42 percent — abnormally high for a dry Colorado afternoon.

TRAINING TABLE: For dinner, the Broncos had their choice among lasagna, chicken piccata, sandwiches and salads. Their lunch options included sweet chili chicken skewers, French dip with au jus sauce, potato wedges, vegetable medley and fettuccine alfredo. I went with the chicken piccata for dinner and the skewers and wedges for lunch.

And now, more photos …






More Monday … one full session, one special-teams practice. Until then, vaya con Dios.

Tags: Food, Kenard Lang, Mike Shanahan, Nate Webster, Patrick Ramsey, Training Camp

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