banner
« Older Entries

Posts Tagged ‘Passing Camp’

Final Week of Passing Camp

June 7th, 2010 - 11:40am by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

The Broncos took the field on Monday for the final week of passing camp. Monday’s practice — like Friday — was an “opportunity practice” for rookies and younger players to get some on-field work as the veterans worked out separately.

One new sighting was third-round pick Eric Decker, who was running back and forth catching passes from strength and conditioning coach Rich Tuten away from the rest of practice.

Demaryius Thomas, Ryan Harris and J.J. Arrington — all of whom returned to practice last week — were involved in the team portions of practice for the first time.

Click to continue reading “Final Week of Passing Camp”

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in DenverBroncos.com | 243 Comments »

Passing Camp Energized

May 27th, 2010 - 2:19pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

Thursday marked one of the most energized practices of OTAs so far. In 80-degree weather, the offense and defense squared off for much of the session, and in the end the offense seemed to claim victory.

PASSING ORDER

In drills today, Orton was the first quarterback to take reps, followed by Quinn, Tim Tebow and Tom Brandstater.

It was the first time — during an open practice — that Tebow has taken reps before Brandstater.

Then again, McDaniels has said the order means little in the grand scheme of things.

“We told everyone, ‘Everyone is going to get reps and everybody is going to get rolling in there,’” the head coach said on the first day of OTAs. “The order, I don’t think matters. It doesn’t matter to me and right now I don’t think it should matter to anyone.”

Click to continue reading “Passing Camp Energized”

Tags: ,
Posted in DenverBroncos.com | 39 Comments »

Passing Camp Meets Windy Conditions

May 24th, 2010 - 2:06pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

Anytime a tree falls down in the middle of practice, it’s safe to say the conditions weren’t exactly favorable.

As Denver experienced gusts of wind from 45 to 70 miles per hour, the Broncos felt the consequences on the football field during Monday’s passing camp practice.

THE GOOD

  • The wind made the team’s punters look like Hall of Famers. Britton Colquitt and A.J. Trapasso boomed kicks out of their own end zone — with the wind at their backs — that approached the opposite end zone and occasionally bounced out of the back of it.
  • Matt Prater certainly got a look at some of the worst conditions he could face come gameday. The team dragged out uprights skinnier than the normal posts — think Arena League size — and Prater essentially aimed 10 yards to the right of the posts only to see the ball swoop back left and through the uprights before continuing to sail.

    “Hopefully we won’t have a game like this, but at least we got some experience if we do,” Prater said, predicting that he could have made an 80-yard field goal with the wind. “They were sailing pretty good today.”

    To that point, Prater kicked several of his attempts through the uprights and all the way over the top of the Dove Valley building.

    • Click to continue reading “Passing Camp Meets Windy Conditions”

    Tags:
    Posted in DenverBroncos.com | 94 Comments »

    Passing Camp Under Way

    May 17th, 2010 - 11:46am by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

    The Broncos got back to work on Monday, hitting the practice field as a team for the first time in 2010. Players and coaches were energized as the 70-degree weather was perfect to kick off Organized Team Activities.

    “I don’t think you could ask for a better day,” Brady Quinn said.

    Click to continue reading “Passing Camp Under Way”

    Tags: ,
    Posted in DenverBroncos.com | 47 Comments »

    Cornerback Talk

    June 9th, 2009 - 4:41pm by Zach EisendrathOther posts by

    Cornerbacks Andre’ Goodman and Alphonso Smith stopped by the media room following Tuesday’s practice at Dove Valley.

    Goodman spoke first and shared an interesting tidbit on defensive backs coach Ed Donatell’s teaching method.

    The eight-year veteran has seen his share of coaches during his days with the Lions and Dolphins, but he’s never seen one illustrate a lesson plan by using film as old as Donatell does. Let’s just say some of the highlights he uses aren’t exactly HD quality.

    “He is a guy who uses a lot of archives,” Goodman said. “Like he’ll go back to film that is early 90s. You’ll see Jerry Rice or Tim Brown on the film and it’s kind of surprising.”

    Click to continue reading “Cornerback Talk”

    Tags: , , , ,
    Posted in DenverBroncos.com | 45 Comments »

    Monday’s Practice Report

    June 8th, 2009 - 1:04pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

    The last open practice of passing camp took place on Monday, and the team was in high spirits. The weather was great — sunny, but with enough breeze that it wasn’t too hot — and the energy on the field was contagious. Head Coach Josh McDaniels even bantered back and forth with some of the media as practice was starting, commenting on the bright color of one reporter’s jacket.

    Without further adieu, here are some notes from Monday’s practice session.

    OFFENSIVE IN THE RED ZONE

    Early in practice, the offense and defense lined up for one play in the red zone. As the units got set at the line of scrimmage, Kyle Orton barked out a few commands and tried to get the defense to show its hand. After a particularly loud shout, Robert Ayers jumped slightly forward, letting Orton know he intended to blitz. He alerted the offensive line, took the snap and lofted a pass to the back corner of the end zone where Brandon Stokley snatched the ball just in front of Jack Williams.

    Later in practice it was the offense that shined again in the red zone. McDaniels announced the situation — ball on the two-yard line, both teams are out of timeouts and the offense needs to score. It’s one play to decide the game, and Chris Simms was at the helm. Simms took the snap, backpedaled, avoided some pressure and fired a pass to Jabar Gaffney, who made quite a catch in the corner of the end zone even though Champ Bailey seemed to have him blanketed.

    Click to continue reading “Monday’s Practice Report”

    Tags: , , , , ,
    Posted in DenverBroncos.com | 42 Comments »

    Constantly Improving

    June 4th, 2009 - 2:49pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

    Jeb Putzier and Vernon Fox stepped to the podium one after another this afternoon, and both seemed upbeat about the progress the team is making day by day.

    Thursday marked the seventh day of passing camp, and the team is working extremely hard to make their mark in 2009.

    “Definitely in the circumstance that we’re in — the new coaching staff, a new system — that’s imperative, and guys have taken the initiative to be here,” Fox said of the passing camp attendance. “We’re working hard to get better, getting in awesome shape, and I think you can see that on the field each and every day, that we’re gelling as a team.”

    In fact, Fox — who played in 10 games in 2008, starting three — thought the team improved significantly this offseason just with some of the roster moves before offseason camps even started.

    “I remember (Head) Coach (Josh McDaniels) mentioning that all the pieces that we brought in were guys that were coming from winning organizations, yet they still wanted to be part of what we have going on here,” he said. “I’ve learned something from each and every guy, and I think that if you put it together collectively, it’s something that is going to make us successful on the defensive back end. I’ve seen our ability to make plays, and I think just being more sure of ourselves and our confidence in the guy beside us is just a difference that I’ve seen from last year to this year.”

    Click to continue reading “Constantly Improving”

    Tags: , ,
    Posted in DenverBroncos.com | 105 Comments »

    Wednesday’s Practice Report

    June 3rd, 2009 - 1:36pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

    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.”

    Click to continue reading “Wednesday’s Practice Report”

    Tags:
    Posted in DenverBroncos.com | 28 Comments »

    Thursday’s Practice Recap

    May 28th, 2009 - 2:44pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

    The team reached day number three of passing camp on Thursday, and the practice was open to the media. Here are a few quick hits from today’s session.

    POSTURING FOR POSITION

  • You can’t read too much into a depth chart during passing camp, but it looked like the first team defense consisted of Ryan McBean, Ronald Fields and Kenny Peterson on the line, Darrell Reid and Elvis Dumervil at outside linebacker, Andra Davis and D.J. Williams at the inside linebacker spots, Champ Bailey and Andre’ Goodman at cornerback and Brian Dawkins and Renaldo Hill at safety.
  • Spencer Larsen spent some time both in the backfield and with the linebackers.
  • LaMont Jordan decided to try out a new position as the team was switching between drills — he pulled Brett Kern aside and set up as the long snapper. It looks like Jordan will stick with the running back position, because let’s just say the snap didn’t hit its target.

    • Click to continue reading “Thursday’s Practice Recap”

    Tags:
    Posted in DenverBroncos.com | 46 Comments »

    Expect No Less

    May 27th, 2009 - 3:43pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

    Renaldo Hill spoke with the media after practice today, and he talked a little about how the team is coming together already this offseason.

    It’s a tough undertaking to step into a locker room filled with a lot of new names, but everyone is bonding and getting to know one another quickly.

    “That’s big about the offseason, because we’re pretty much around each other all day every day,” he said. “It gives us a chance to get to know one another. You might not get the names in the first couple weeks, but eventually you get around to knowing everyone and knowing everyone’s personality. That’s the good part about it — knowing who you’re going to be around helps you that much more on the football field.”

    And Hill knows who he’s going to be around in the defensive secondary — former teammate and playmaker Andre’ Goodman, future Hall-of-Famers Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins and three 2009 NFL Draft picks, among others. The hope is that going into this year that unit can create more plays to help the team win games.

    Click to continue reading “Expect No Less”

    Tags: , ,
    Posted in DenverBroncos.com | 127 Comments »

    « Older Entries