A Week’s Work
After wading in and out of the lineup because of injuries, two Broncos could return to the defensive backfield this week.
In his Friday press conference, Interim Head Coach Eric Studesville said Andre’ Goodman and Darcel McBath had two good days of practice this week, and the team has another chance to judge the players’ health in Friday’s practice.
Mays, Gronkowski to IR
Two players who joined the Broncos in trades before the season are headed to the injured reserve.
After sustaining an ankle and knee injury, respectively, in Sunday’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Dan Gronkowski and Joe Mays are out for the remainder of the season.
Gronkowski, who had eight catches for 65 yards this season, suffered his injury in the second quarter but toughed it out to return to the game.
“He’s just a tough (player),” Head Coach Josh McDaniels said. “He (injured) it and then he went back in and taped it again at halftime. I love his toughness and we have a great deal of respect for what he tried to do yesterday, because he did not want to come out of the game. As a coach, you appreciate that a lot.”
While Gronkowski did not reinjure the ankle, the initial injury was severe enough to end his season.
McDaniels also discussed the loss of Mays, who has stepped in as a starter at middle linebacker in five of the previous six games, accumulating 40 tackles and a pass defensed this season.
Learning Experience
Last week Defensive Coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale needed to devise a gameplan without a pair of starters in the secondary with a combined 25 years of experience.
The defensive coordinator acknowledged it’s not easy to replace Brian Dawkins or Andre’ Goodman, but being able to plug in improving rookies Perrish Cox and Syd’Quan Thompson — who came up with his first career interception in the 24-20 loss — made the process a lot easier.
“There’s a lot of young players that we feel are very good football players and they need to step up and play, and they have done that,” Martindale said.
A Constant Test
Perrish Cox can thank the man sitting next to him in the meeting room for his early season production.
Champ Bailey has served as the rookie cornerback’s sounding board as he acclimates himself to the NFL, but the nine-time Pro Bowler’s field presence could be the biggest reason why he and Cox are tied for the team lead with 7 passes defensed.
Confident Coverage
Perrish Cox did his best Champ Bailey impersonation in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s home opener against the Seahawks.
Bailey picked off a Matt Hasselbeck pass in the red zone on the Seahawks’ first drive of the game, prohibiting a Seattle score and shifting the momentum of the game to his team. Cox intercepted Hasselbeck with less than two minutes remaining in the game, allowing Kyle Orton to kneel the ball three straight times to finish the fourth quarter.
Training Camp Day 10 Blog
After a day off, the Broncos were back on the practice field on Tuesday. Last week, dark clouds and rain greeted most of the afternoon practices, but today the sun was shining with very few clouds in sight. A crowd of 1,593 gathered to soak in the sun and watch the Broncos return to work with the preseason opener less than a week away.
In a pre-practice media session, Head Coach Josh McDaniels said he and his staff were productive during the two-day break, while it gave players a chance to rest and get treatment. It also gave the rookies, whose new and ridiculous haircuts created quite a stir at Saturday’s INVESCO Field workout, time to fix their veteran teammates’ clipping mistakes. Tim Tebow was among the freshly shaven rookies.
The Journey Begins
The journey that is the 2010 season has begun for the Denver Broncos.
It has started out as an interesting journey, to say the least. Undoubtedly, the Broncos did not expect the trailhead to be frought with adversity.
But so it is.
2010 Training Camp Day 4: P.M. Blog
After a brief lightning delay, the Broncos were back on the practice field for their evening workout. The rain subsided quickly, allowing players to take the field about thirty minutes later than the scheduled start of practice.
Fans readied themselves for the weather with raincoats and Broncos-orange ponchos, and two observers stood out in day-glo yellow jumpsuits.
Click to continue reading “2010 Training Camp Day 4: P.M. Blog”
Numbers GameJust got the updated roster, so here’s another session of who’s wearing what.
2010 NFL Draft Picks:
Demaryius Thomas: 88
Tim Tebow: 15
Zane Beadles: 68
J.D. Walton: 50
Eric Decker: 87
Perrish Cox: 32
Eric Olsen: 69
Syd’Quan Thompson: 43
Jammie Kirlew: 53
New Numbers:
J.J. Arrington: 26
Akin Ayodele: 51
Justin Bannan: 99
D’Anthony Batiste: 67
Bruce Hall: 29
Tyler Polumbus: 77
A.J. Trapasso: 2
Jamal Williams: 76
You can check the current roster page on the site — everyone has been assigned a number. The college free agents will be assigned numbers when they arrive for the rookie camp on Friday.
-Gray Caldwell, DenverBroncos.com