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Posts Tagged ‘Gray Caldwell’

Pittman and Hall to IR

November 3rd, 2008 - 3:30pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

The Broncos announced on Monday that two running backs will be placed on IR. Andre Hall (left hand) and Michael Pittman (neck) were both placed on the reserve/injured list. Both players were injured during Denver’s game against Miami on Sunday.

Pittman has been the starter at running back for the past three games, and his 320 yards on 76 carries leads the team. He has also caught 10 passes for 112 yards. He has been into the endzone four times on the ground. Pittman is an 11-year pro who has seen time in all eight games this season.

Hall, who averaged 4.9 yards per carry in 2007, has rushed 35 times for 144 yards this season. He has also caught three passes for 25 yards and returned 21 kickoffs for an average of 22.3 yards per return. In his second year with the Broncos, Hall has seen time in all eight games this season.

The Broncos also signed Matthias Askew to the practice squad. Askew is a third-year defensive tackle who joins the Broncos’ practice squad after competing in the Redskins’ 2008 training camp. Selected by Cincinnati in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft, Askew has appeared in six career games — all with the Bengals — and owns six tackles along with one forced fumble.

Prater A PFW Midseason All-Pro

November 3rd, 2008 - 3:24pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

Pro Football Weekly recently came out with its annual Midseason All-Pro team, and a Bronco made the cut.

Matt Prater was named as the placekicker on the all-star squad for the first half of the season.

Prater has only missed two field goals this season — he’s 14-of-16 — and his five 50-plus yarders tie the Broncos franchise record. He’s a perfect 20-for-20 on extra points, and eight of his kickoffs have gone for touchbacks.

You can see the rest of the publication’s selections after the jump.

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Broncos vs. Dolphins: Fourth Quarter Notes

November 2nd, 2008 - 5:24pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

15:00: The crowd at INVESCO Field at Mile High is still booing from an offensive pass interference call on Brandon Marshall, and the Broncos face a third-and-24 from their own 15 to begin the quarter.

Cutler avoids pressure from Joey Porter, stepping up in the pocket and launching a ball downfield toward Brandon Stokley. A Miami defender steps in front of the pass, however, for an interception at the Denver 43-yard line.

14:52: First-and-10 Miami, and the handoff is to Ronnie Brown. He’s brought down by Jarvis Moss for a loss of two.

On second-and-12, Chad Pennington floats a pass between the Denver defense for a 23-yard reception to Greg Camarillo. It’s first-and-10 for Miami on the Denver 22-yard line. Pennington takes the snap in the shotgun and hands the ball off to Brown — he’s brought down for a loss of one yard.

12:50: Brown takes another handoff and he’s immediately brought down by Jamie Winborn. The play gained no yards, and it’s third-and-11 from the Denver 23 for Miami. Pennington is almost sacked, but avoids the pressure and gets the ball off — but it’s incomplete. Dan Carpenter is out to attempt a field goal. The 41-yarder is good, and it puts the Dolphins ahead of the Broncos, 19-10.

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Broncos vs. Dolphins: Third Quarter Notes

November 2nd, 2008 - 4:43pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

15:00: The Dolphins won the coin toss to start the game and chose to defer to the second half. So Miami will get the ball to start the second half.

Ted Ginn, Jr. takes the kickoff and sprints forward for 41 yards. The Dolphins begin their drive on their own 41-yard line.

14:51: The first-down pass from Chad Pennington is intended for Greg Camarillo, but it’s just out of his reach and it’s almost intercepted by Dre’ Bly.

14:37: Nate Webster makes a tackle on Ronnie Brown on second down, and the Dolphins face third-and-6. Pennington is in the shotgun and tries to find Anthony Fasano in the middle of the field. Jamie Winborn is there to break up the pass, and Brandon Fields is out to punt for Miami.

Eddie Royal is back for the return, but he waves everyone off as the punt goes out of bounds. The referee signals that the punt went out of bounds at the two-yard line, and Denver will begin its first drive of the second half pinned back near its own endzone.

13:51: Jay Cutler fakes a handoff to Michael Pittman and rolls out to his right on a misdirection play and finds Peyton Hillis — the exact same play the Broncos ran earlier in the game. Hillis turns the corner again and leaps entirely over a defender before being pushed out of bounds after 11 yards.

Eddie Royal was injured on the play — it looked like he might have been poked in the eye — and he’s walking off the field under his own power.

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Broncos vs. Dolphins: Second Quarter Notes

November 2nd, 2008 - 3:50pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

15:00: Third-and-3 for the Dolphins on their own 43-yard line. Chad Pennington takes the snap, drops back and is leveled by a leaping Ebenezer Ekuban. Ekuban looked like he came out of nowhere, flying through the air and clobbering Pennington for a six-yard sack.

Eddie Royal is back deep to field the Brandon Fields punt. The crowd is chanting “Eddie, Eddie, Eddie” as Royal fields the punt and turns upfield, picking up 16 yards to the 25-yard line.

14:11: First-and-10 Denver. Jay Cutler finds Peyton Hillis near the right sideline for six yards. Now Cutler is in shotgun on second-and-4. He finds Darrell Jackson down the middle of the field, complete all the way to the Miami 46-yard line. It’s a 23-yard reception.

12:53: Cutler’s pass to Hillis on first down is incomplete. The second-down play is a handoff to Michael Pittman up the middle, and he picks up a quick two yards before being brought down.

That brings up third-and-8 for the offense. Cutler is in the shotgun formation with Pittman to his left. Daniel Graham goes in motion from right to left, and Cutler takes the snap. He’s sacked by Joey Porter, the NFL’s sack leader coming into this week.

After the two-yard sack, Brett Kern is out to punt away to Davone Bess, who fields the punt for the Dolphins at their own nine-yard line after a fair catch was signaled.

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Broncos vs. Dolphins: First Quarter Notes

November 2nd, 2008 - 3:04pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

15:00: Chad Pennington called heads, and it was heads. The Dolphins elected to defer to the second half, so the Broncos will start with the ball.

Eddie Royal is deep for the Broncos, and Peyton Hillis is just ahead of him at about the nine-yard line. It’s a touchback to start the game.

15:00: Jay Cutler pitches the ball to Michael Pittman to start the game. Peyton Hillis is the starter at fullback. The rest of the starting lineup includes Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal at receiver, Daniel Graham at tight end, then the offensive line — Ryan Clady, Ben Hamilton, Casey Wiegmann, Chris Kuper and Ryan Harris.

13:40: Jay Cutler’s third-down pass is intercepted by a Dolphins defensive back, and Miami starts its first drive at the Denver 34-yard line.

The defensive starters are Dre’ Bly and Karl Paymah at corner, Marlon McCree and Marquand Manuel at the safety slots, D.J. Williams, Nate Webster and Jamie Winborn at linebacker and Elvis Dumervil, Dewayne Robertson, Marcus Thomas and Ebenezer Ekuban on the line.

11:38: The defense stops the Miami offense after three plays, but Dolphins kicker Dan Carpenter knocks down a 45-yard field goal to put Miami ahead of Denver early, 3-0.

11:34: Royal is back deep again, ready to return the kickoff. This one is returnable, and he does out to about the 23-yard line. Cutler and the offense are back on the field for another drive.

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Broncos vs. Dolphins: Pregame Notes

November 2nd, 2008 - 1:13pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

12:00 p.m. MST: Ah, good to be back at INVESCO Field after an off week. It’s football time again in Broncos Country. It’s a warm day in Denver — right now Weather.com says it’s 71 degrees, and the high could get up to 75 — so it’s no surprise that it looks like more players than normal are out on the field warming up a little early. It’s nice out there.

Brandon Marshall is on the field in his trademark pajama bottoms, and Jay Cutler is throwing passes to a few receivers — Brandon Stokley just ran a quick post route.

12:05 p.m. MST: There’s a lot of orange on the field — mostly hats and gloves, but players from both teams are sporting the bright color during warm-ups. I feel like I’m at a University of Tennessee game. Or Texas, whichever UT you prefer.

12:08 p.m. MST: Just saw a happy couple — one was wearing a Ronnie Brown jersey and the other donning D.J. Williams’ No. 55. I wonder if they planned to portray one of the more crucial matchups for this afternoon — those two could run into each other on the field quite a bit today.

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Locker Room Craze

October 31st, 2008 - 9:31am by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

Not sure if any of you have seen this youtube clip, but it’s making its way around the locker room right now, and players can’t stop laughing.

The running backs especially seem to be enjoying it — Michael Pittman was cracking up the other day.

Enjoy.

-Gray Caldwell, DenverBroncos.com

“Wildcat?” Try “Wild Horse”

October 30th, 2008 - 3:49pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

A couple of quick notes from a sunny Thursday at Dove Valley.

“Wild Horse” Offense? The Broncos might be on to something. Talking about the Dolphins’ “Wildcat” offense, Peyton Hillis said he’s more than familiar with it, having run the “Wild Hog” offense at Arkansas. He said he’s been lining up as Ricky Williams in the formation.

Then, when some reporters jokingly asked Michael Pittman about running that offense in Denver, he jumped at the opportunity.

“Oh definitely. I’d definitely be the quarterback in that,” he said, smiling. “I’ve been lobbying for the halfback pass already — they haven’t put it in yet.”

Coaching by Showing: Quarterbacks Coach Jeremy Bates showed Jay Cutler how it’s done on the practice field this afternoon. During warmups, Cutler tossed the ball Bates’ way every other pass and let the coach rocket a ball or two toward the receivers.

It’s worth noting that Bates began his college career playing quarterback at the University of Tennessee.

Injury Update: Andre Hall was the only Bronco to be downgraded on the injury report. He did not participate in today’s practice. Champ Bailey was out, Tony Scheffler, Brandon Stokley and Selvin Young were still listed as limited participation, and Brandon Marshall, Michael Pittman, Dewayne Robertson and Ryan Torain all had full participation.

The only player on the Dolphins’ injury report is fullback Casey Cramer (ankle), who is listed under full participation.

Quotable: “Not really. I’m letting them be the coaches they can be. They’re really good coaches, and I wouldn’t want to listen to me either.”
-Peyton Hillis, on whether the coaching staff has picked his brain about stopping the “Wildcat” formation.

Pictures after the jump.

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Wednesday Notes: Back to Business

October 29th, 2008 - 4:16pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

The Broncos got back to the grindstone Wednesday, preparing for their next opponent, and it’s one that will provide some unique challenges.

The Miami Dolphins come to INVESCO Field at Mile High this week, and coming off of two losses before the bye week, the Broncos are getting ready for a battle to get back on the winning track.

There are several interesting storylines leading up to the game, not the least of which involves two prominent figures from the 2009 NFL Draft.

ROOKIES LIVING UP TO BILLING

Sunday’s game features a first-round 2009 NFL Draft pick at left tackle for both teams’ offensive line, and both rookies have started every game for their team this season.

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