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Posts Tagged ‘Mike Bell’

Cedric Cobbs: Back for One More Go

August 21st, 2007 - 5:02pm by AndrewOther posts by

Well, I don’t think this will spawn as many comments as yesterday’s entry …

Cedric Cobbs

I scanned the east field at Dove Valley on Tuesday afternoon, taking a mental roll call of who was and was not taking part in the Broncos’ on-field session. I started with the running backs and fullbacks.

Selvin Young … check.

Cecil Sapp … check.

Kyle Johnson … check, back after missing Monday’s practice.

Travis Henry … still out.

Mike Bell … still out.

Andre Hall … still out.

Troy Fleming … check.

Paul Smith … check.

After those names had been accounted for, I squinted into the sunlight. Who’s this guy in jersey No. 33? It didn’t seem as though Thump Belton had returned after being released just under a month ago; the guy wearing the number this time was slimmer.

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Training Camp Day 8: Morning Report

August 6th, 2007 - 2:17pm by AndrewOther posts by

Camp Day 8
Aside from Jarvis Moss — no news yet, still waiting on the MRI — the morning at Dove Valley was nevertheless a fairly eventful one, capped by the release of the first official depth chart, which was distributed towards the end of practice. Here’s some items worth noting:

… Chris Kuper is listed as the first-team right guard, but found himself running with the second team after allowing three sacks during the morning session. “That’s why he was changed,” Head Coach Mike Shanahan said. “When a guy gives up three sacks in one day, sometimes you make a move to see how the other guy responds.” That “other guy” was Montrae Holland, listed on the depth chart as the second-stringer at right guard.

… Although Nate Webster, D.D. Lewis and Warrick Holdman have shared time at first-team strongside linebacker throughout training camp, the Broncos placed Louis Green as the first-team strongside ‘backer, backed up by Nate Webster and T.J. Hollowell. Lewis is listed as the second-team middle linebacker with Cameron Vaughn behind him, while Wesley Mallard is shown as the second-string weakside linebacker, one spot ahead of Warrick Holdman.

All that, however, is subject to alteration.

“It could change any day,” Shanahan said. “Lou has had an excellent camp so far; that’s why we put him as the No. 1 ‘Sam’ linebacker. But in a day or two, he could be two or three (on the depth chart).”

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Training Camp Begins

July 31st, 2007 - 1:20pm by domonique_foxworthOther posts by

Where do we start?

I want to address my friend TerpsFan. First of all, go Terps. Just wondering what class we had together back in the day. Tell me a little about yourself.

I guess we can get right down to what people really care about: the start of camp. It’s camp. Everybody has things in their job that are not quite their favorite. This is the toughest time of the year for coaches and players, and our day starts at about 7:30. That’s what time I get up.

I normally go to bed around 10, get home around 9:30, so it’s a pretty long day we spend over here. It’s not always a lot of fun, but the great thing is you get to spend a lot of time with your teammates. It’s when you start to build that team bond.

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OTA Day 6: Photos and Notes

May 23rd, 2007 - 1:32pm by AndrewOther posts by

OTA Day 6
This is one of my favorite shots of the OTAs to date, taken as the team stretched out prior to the practice session. Some of the coaches stroll through the players as they warm up, engaging in conversation. But looking at Bill Johnson standing on the FieldTurf surface about 50 yards from the players, I couldn’t help but notice how intently he watched his defensive linemen prepare. With the blocking sled in place, it’s as if he’s thinking, “I’m ready when you are, guys — let’s hurry up and get this thing started!”

And really, could you blame him for feeling that way? Three of the Broncos’ four picks over the first four rounds of the draft are under his jurisdiction. He’s helping a cadre of returning veterans adjust to Jim Bates’ new defensive scheme. There’s a lot Johnson and his fellow defensive coaches want to impart, and only eight more OTAs and three mini-camp days left in which to do it.

“We’re putting in quite a few defenses,” defensive tackle Gerard Warren said. “Coach (Bates) expects us to pick them up fast and keep it moving.”

And the movement won’t stop for the four-day Memorial Day weekend respite the players receive. “(Bates) told us to take those playbooks home and make sure we stay polished up for the next camp,” Warren said.

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OTA Day 5: Notes and Photos

May 22nd, 2007 - 12:07pm by AndrewOther posts by

OTA Day 5

Guten tag and hello from Dove Valley, where cooler temperatures — 56 degrees as the session began, to be exact — greeted the Broncos as they took the field for the fifth of their 14 organized team activities. Storms have since arrived at team headquarters, and thunder and lightning is crackling through the skies as I type.

Addendum: The practice was truncated by a half-hour as a severe thunderstorm slammed Dove Valley with lightning, thunder and hail.

Notes:

… There’s not too much to note from the 10 minutes of pre-practice warmups. Dre’ Bly returned for a full day of work; wide receiver Glenn Martinez was out of uniform; no one got called in front of the team to do a pre-stretching dance. It was a very quiet start to the on-field work …

… Things haven’t been so quiet at the league’s May owners meetings, currently ongoing in Nashville, Tenn. The venue for Super Bowl XLVI will be announced today, but the league has already released a medical panel’s recommendations to the league on dealing with player concussions and head injuries, the findings of which were presented to owners at the meeting.

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Cobbs’ Road Ends

May 1st, 2007 - 1:12pm by AndrewOther posts by

Sometimes a sprained ankle can be as pricey to a man’s career as a torn anterior cruciate ligament or a compound fracture.

For running back Cedric Cobbs, the beginning of his end in Denver came when he lost the handle on the overtime-opening kickoff return against Kansas City in Week 2 last year, and then suffered an ankle sprain in the ensuing scrum around the 20-yard-line at the south end of INVESCO Field at Mile High. The Broncos recovered the loose football, but Cobbs left the stadium on crutches and could never recover his previous stature with the team.

The sprain kept him inactive for the next four games, and although he would carry the ball three times for nine yards at Pittsburgh, that represented the extent of his on-field work; he spent the season’s final eight games watching in warmups from the bench as one of the Broncos’ game-day deactivations.

Meanwhile, the team promoted Damien Nash from the practice squad, kept feeding the football to Mike and Tatum Bell and signed rookie Andre Hall to the practice squad.

Now, two days after the NFL Draft, Cobbs’ career as a Bronco is done. Tatum Bell’s place at the top of the tailback tree now belongs to March street-free-agent signee Travis Henry. Nash passed away in February. Cecil Sapp is being placed in a hybrid fullback-tailback role that could get him the football more — which might not be a bad thing, seeing that he averaged 8.0 yards per carry in ’06. Hall possesses practice-squad eligibility and could find himself showcased in the preseason as the team attempts to learn what the two-time 1,300-yard runner at South Florida can do on the pro level. And the kickoff-return duties Cobbs so briefly handled will be settled in a scrum that will likely include names like Quincy Morgan, Brian Clark, Domenik Hixon and Brandon Marshall, among others.

Cobbs’ opportunity in Denver proved to be as brief as his flashes of preseason success last summer — flashes that left Head Coach Mike Shanahan speculating after the August finale at Arizona that carries could be divided three ways. That didn’t come to pass, and now, Cobbs and the Broncos pass into each other’s respective rear-view mirrors.

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Painting the Roster By Numbers

April 19th, 2007 - 1:12am by AndrewOther posts by

Earlier this month, we learned that Travis Henry had successfully pried No. 20 away from fellow running back Mike Bell, moving the second-year back to No. 30, a jersey last donned for a regular-season game by Terrell Davis.

The rest of the numbers game is coming into focus, as well, with many new Broncos grabbing their digits for the upcoming season. Grab your scorecards, and let’s go:

Darrell Hackney, QB: He’ll wear No. 4, which he donned at at UAB.

Brandon Stokley, WR: The Broncos issued him No. 14. He has never worn a number outside of the 80s in his NFL career until now, but wore this number to great acclaim back at Louisiana-Lafayette. It was retired from UL-L annals after he completed his four years there with 241 receptions for 3,702 yards and 25 touchdowns while becoming the first player in Division I-A annals to average 100 receiving yards per game for his career.

Glenn Martinez, WR: Will wear No. 17. He wore No. 87 for the Rhein Fire in 2005 and Nos. 12 and 84 for the Detroit Lions in recent years.

Paul Smith, FB: Will wear No. 26. He’s been all over the map, donning jersey No. 27 in San Francisco, 40 in Detroit and 31 in St. Louis.

Troy Fleming, FB: Jersey number 35. He donned 44 with the Tennessee Titans and had No. 27 at the University of Tennessee.

Eric Hill, CB: Jersey number 36. He had Nos. 14 and 37 for the Colts earlier in his career, but that belongs to fellow Colorado State alumnus Cecil Sapp. Hill wore No. 38 for the Carolina Panthers on their practice squad last year and donned No. 26 for the Hamburg Sea Devils in 2006. Back at CSU, he played wide receiver and wore No. 7.

Eddie Moore, LB: Will wear No. 51, donned by Keith Burns the last two years. Moore wore No. 58 in his four years with the Miami Dolphins — three of which were under Broncos assistant head coach Jim Bates — and was No. 37 in your program at the University of Tennessee.

Montrae Holland, OL: Will wear No. 70 after donning No. 61 for his entire New Orleans Saints career. He also wore No. 61 at Florida State.

Carlos Hall, DE: Will wear No. 98 in Denver; he had No. 92 in Kansas City and No. 97 in Tennessee.

Alvin McKinley, DT: Issued No. 99. He had No. 97 for most of his years in Cleveland, although he started there with No. 70. He also wore No. 97 at Mississippi State.

Some players have not yet been issued numbers: tight end Daniel Graham, punter Eddie Johnson, quarterback Patrick Ramsey, offensive tackle Jacob Rogers and three NFL Europa allocations: tight end Teyo Johnson, guard Kevin McAlmont and cornerback Lamont Reid. On Graham, it’s worth noting that there is only one number in the 80s currently open (81).

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Mike Bell’s Numbers Game

April 4th, 2007 - 2:24am by AndrewOther posts by

Mike BellWhat’s in a number? If you’re Mike Bell and you’re about to take on the jersey of one of your childhood football heroes, it means asking for permission before you don it — even if that request ends up being via proxy.

After yielding his No. 20 to new acquisition Travis Henry, Bell didn’t have many options for his new number, but No. 30 — which has not been worn in the regular season since Terrell Davis’ retirement — was available. (Santonio Beard wore it in the offseason and training camp in 2004.)

Jersey No. 30 in Denver doesn’t quite possess the lineage of, say, No. 44 at Syracuse, which has belonged to Jim Brown, Ernie Davis and Broncos Ring of Famer Floyd Little, among others. It is, however, important to Bell, even though it is still merely stitching on a shirt.

“It means a lot,” Bell said, adding, “I think people place too much significance on it because a number is not going to make me play any better, but I did grow up watching him, and it basically completes what I wanted to do. It is special to me, but it’s not going to mean anything if I don’t go out there and perform.”

ON THE SCHEDULE: Don’t look for the schedule to be released this week. The NFL Network programming schedule once had the show penciled in for Thursday, but now the channel plans to air NFL Films programming in that afternoon time slot. If previous years’ trends hold true, the schedule will be released sometime this month before the draft.

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Season Review: Mike Bell

January 16th, 2007 - 11:39am by AndrewOther posts by

From Reggie Bush with the No. 2 overall pick to Quinton Ganther some 244 selections later, 14 running backs went in the 2006 NFL Draft.

That collection of tailbacks didn’t include the University of Arizona’s Mike Bell. But he outran all but three of those drafted backs in his rookie season, while becoming just the fifth undrafted rookie to gain more than 500 yards in his NFL debut season.

Bell finished with 677 yards splitting time with three-year veteran Tatum Bell, who finished the year as the Broncos’ leading rusher and the team’s sixth different 1,000-yard ballcarrier in the Mike Shanahan era. But in the season’s last 10 games, it was the rookie who led the way, with 10 more carries, 96 more yards, half a yard more per carry nd seven more rushing touchdowns than the elder Bell.

That work initially arose from Tatum Bell’s late-October toe problems. He recovered, and with his increased workload in early December, Mike Bell’s share of the carries dropped, to only 14 in Weeks 13 and 14 (when Tatum Bell broke 100 yards). At Arizona, however, Mike Bell reasserted himself with 61 yards on 16 carries and a pair of touchdowns.

“Sometimes one person has it, sometimes somebody doesn’t,” Mike Bell said after he scored twice in his return to Arizona. “But Tatum’s been successful the whole season, so it was good to get the opportunity to get in there.”

And the opportunity arose again in Weeks 1 and 17, with 69 and 66 rushing yards, respectively. It was a solid end to the season, but considering where his expectations were upon his arrival, it was nothing short of extraordinary.

“A successful rookie season means making the team and just working my way from there.,” Bell said in June. “Right now, I’m just working on making the team and then from there, the sky’s the limit.”

And that sky seems a little more limitless now than it was when he arrived as an unheralded, undrafted newcomer.

FINAL ANALYSIS: Led the Broncos in rushing touchdowns with eight … Three-quarters of his scores came in couplets, with a pair of touchdowns against Indianapolis in Week 8, San Diego in Week 11 and at Arizona in Week 15 … Bell’s three touchdown runs in the final three weeks was tied for sixth in the league behind St. Louis’ Steven Jackson, Seattle’s Shaun Alexander, the New York Giants’ Tiki Barber, Kansas City’s Larry Johnson and Jacksonville’s Maurice Jones-Drew … Had double-digit carries in nine of the Broncos’ last 11 games in 2006 (in the other two games, he had four carries against Seattle on Dec. 3 and didn’t play at Oakland on Nov. 12).

NEXT: Tailback Tatum Bell.

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Tatum Bell: Hoping for a Grand Finish

December 28th, 2006 - 1:53am by AndrewOther posts by

Tatum BellTatum Bell is just 23 yards from becoming the sixth different tailback to notch a 1,000-yard season in Mike Shanahan’s 12 seasons as Broncos head coach. He’s found these final yards before hitting the milestone to be the hardest to attain.

“I’ve got to be the slowest back to get to 1,000,” the third-year back said Wednesday.

A year earlier, he went into the season finale at San Diego needing 131 yards for a 1,000-yard season that would have made the ’05 Broncos the first team in 20 years with a pair of 1,000-yard runners. Bell scored three times but ultimately fell 79 yards short.

Coming close last year has only made this year’s pursuit of a grand that much more frustrating.

“It means a lot, man, because I felt I should have had it last year,” Bell saud. “Right now I’m right around the corner with (about) 20-30 yards. I’ve got to get 30 yards. I don’t care, man. There’s no excuse if I don’t get 30 yards.”

It’s been a roller-coaster season for the 2004 second-round pick, who has started every one of the 12 games in which he’s played this year. At times, he’s been dominant, notching five 100-yard games so far this year, including back-to-back triple-digit tallies against Seattle and San Diego earlier this month. They were his first games back from turf-toe problems that had dogged him since the Week 7 win at Cleveland on Oct. 22, and all signs pointed to a dominant December after his post-injury efforts.

But a pair of fumbles in the last two games has helped send Bell reeling into the season’s final game. The one at Arizona was scooped up and returned for a touchdown; his giveaway against Cincinnati on Christmas Eve led to a Bengals score that gave them a halftime edge over the Broncos.

As he struggled, rookie Mike Bell took up the slack and flourished, gaining 61 yards against Arizona and 69 more against Cincinnati while scoring three times in those two games.

But Tatum Bell knows this: More fumbling and he could be headed for the bench — whether he’s broken 1,000 or not.

“After this game, (Shanahan) told me, ‘It’s all good; put it behind you; you’ve got to learn to get over that stuff,’” Tatum Bell said. “(That’s) stuff I already know. I know if I fumble I won’t be in there for a series or two.

“Especially if I fumble and Mike goes in there and does well — (then) I sure won’t be in there.”

Other notes:

  • A statistical change: Elvis Dumervil was credited with a sack Sunday, giving him a team-leading total of eight heading into the regular-season finale.
  • ESPN ranked Alaska No. 51 among states when it comes to football. Broncoland would respectfully disagree with that assessment, considering that a Pro Bowl offensive lineman (Mark Schlereth) and a current rookie on the line (Chris Kuper) came from out of the 49th State.
  • The Denver area is now under a winter storm warning that goes into effect at noon on Thursday … or right when the Broncos are scheduled to be practicing.

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