Spiritguy
12-06-2008, 07:04 PM
Nothing is askew, on the surface.
Take a quick glance at the NFL's statistical leaders and Brandon Marshall's name is all over the place: tied for seventh in receiving yards (942); seventh in receptions (72); seventh in yards per game (85.6); eighth in first downs (46); and first in AFC Pro Bowl balloting at wide receiver.
But it's the elephant in the room for a Broncos offense that has been, at times, dominant.
Marshall, one of the team's premier talents, has not been his same playmaking self for most of this season, despite what the numbers show heading into the team's home game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
Research by the Rocky shows he has dropped 12 passes, a figure confirmed by the receiver.
Stats Inc. lists Marshall with the most pass targets this season in the league (134), with 20.1 percent of that total amounting to poor throws, 53.7 percent caught and 19 passes broken up.
Carve up those numbers as you wish.
The simple fact is this: Marshall often is making routine plays, not the game-breaking, crunch-time receptions that made him a budding star.
And Marshall knows it, too.
"Where I'm at, a lot of receivers would take it and say this is a great season," the receiver said in a one-on-one interview this week. "But the standard I set for myself and what I've shown and given my teammates and coaches, you can almost say it's unacceptable. I'm embarrassed for myself sometimes when I'm watching film and I'm not getting the same separation. But I think that's part of the game, where sometimes your body gets banged up a little bit and you've got to deal with it the best you can."
For the first time, Marshall revealed that he began the season in the trainer's room, trying to calm nagging hip pain that, until the past two weeks or so, has limited him much of the season.
No problems were evident when he came off his one-game, season-opening suspension with an 18-catch performance against San Diego and a 155-yard day against New Orleans. But it soon would be obvious something wasn't quite right.
"With all the pounding and running we do as receivers, it kind of caught up to me," Marshall said.
Tough stretch
The drops began to mount and the after-the-catch abilities that placed him at an elite level at his position were minimized, especially during a stretch from Sept. 28 until Nov. 6, when he averaged 65.5 yards per game.
"Clearly, anybody who's watched the games during the middle part of the season, you could see he wasn't the same speed as he was early on or that he's been the last couple weeks," Broncos wide receivers coach Jedd Fisch said.
Marshall explained that the injury interfered with his livelihood in other visible ways. Things that were "habit," such as beating press coverage, getting out of his breaks, even catching the ball, were more difficult.
"I'm so worried about running my routes and getting open that I drop the ball," he said.
And he began pressing as he searched for the form that allowed him to make 102 receptions last season against only eight drops.
"Definitely, because I want to be that same guy," he said. "I set the bar pretty high with the things I did last year. But everyone is expecting me to make the plays I haven't been making and to do the things I did last year. And I am on track to do the same things. It just hasn't been pretty. It's been a grind this year."
He hasn't had a 100-yard receiving game since Sept. 21.
He has scored only one touchdown in the past eight games.
Yet on his current pace, he is set to finish with 98 catches and 1,285 yards.
Through it all, Marshall has remained a fixture in the headlines.
There was the near-celebration fallout in the closing minutes of the Cleveland game Nov. 6, when he was stopped just short of making a potentially costly political stand. There was the offensive pass interference in the Nov. 12 Miami game, wiping out a 77- yard touchdown, and the verbal spat with the Dolphins' Joey Porter afterward.
Off the field, Marshall has dined with Hall of Famer Mi- chael Irvin, announced a new Web site and spent many off days working with Denver at-risk youths, all while raising his profile nationally with a number of interviews.
Marshall denied that any of that has interfered with his performance.
"There are two reasons why my focus is where it's supposed to be," he said. "No. 1, I went fourth round. And No. 2, I want to be the best. With that said, there's no way I'm going to let my focus slip."
Nor will he forget that it nearly was all taken away.
Still dealing with injury
It was only in March that Marshall ripped apart his right forearm when he went through an entertainment center at an Orlando, Fla., resort.
"The back of my hand and the side of my wrist is still numb," he noted, adding it sometimes feels "weird" when he catches the ball. "The doctor said it's going to take a year or two for that. So I'm thankful to be able to catch a football."
Rehabilitation from that injury cost him much of the offseason and might have contributed to him taking additional time to find his stride, along with the hip issue.
Fisch has worked with Marshall on staying confident and "crossing the line from good to great," adding that the receiver is working hard to make that leap.
"The last couple weeks he's played really well," Fisch said.
Five of the receiver's 14 catches of 20-plus yards this season have come in the past three games. Marshall credited his teammates for picking up the slack offensively while "I'm having a bad game or two or three or four or five, maybe six or seven."
"I feel better now than I did before the season started," he said. "I came into the season aching, hurting. It's a hip problem I've been dealing with since college. But there's no excuse. Like I said, I'm embarrassed for my own play. Hopefully, now that I'm back healthy, I can peak as a player at the right time to help our team win games down the stretch and into the playoffs."
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/dec/05/broncos-marshall-embarrassed-his-play-season/
Take a quick glance at the NFL's statistical leaders and Brandon Marshall's name is all over the place: tied for seventh in receiving yards (942); seventh in receptions (72); seventh in yards per game (85.6); eighth in first downs (46); and first in AFC Pro Bowl balloting at wide receiver.
But it's the elephant in the room for a Broncos offense that has been, at times, dominant.
Marshall, one of the team's premier talents, has not been his same playmaking self for most of this season, despite what the numbers show heading into the team's home game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
Research by the Rocky shows he has dropped 12 passes, a figure confirmed by the receiver.
Stats Inc. lists Marshall with the most pass targets this season in the league (134), with 20.1 percent of that total amounting to poor throws, 53.7 percent caught and 19 passes broken up.
Carve up those numbers as you wish.
The simple fact is this: Marshall often is making routine plays, not the game-breaking, crunch-time receptions that made him a budding star.
And Marshall knows it, too.
"Where I'm at, a lot of receivers would take it and say this is a great season," the receiver said in a one-on-one interview this week. "But the standard I set for myself and what I've shown and given my teammates and coaches, you can almost say it's unacceptable. I'm embarrassed for myself sometimes when I'm watching film and I'm not getting the same separation. But I think that's part of the game, where sometimes your body gets banged up a little bit and you've got to deal with it the best you can."
For the first time, Marshall revealed that he began the season in the trainer's room, trying to calm nagging hip pain that, until the past two weeks or so, has limited him much of the season.
No problems were evident when he came off his one-game, season-opening suspension with an 18-catch performance against San Diego and a 155-yard day against New Orleans. But it soon would be obvious something wasn't quite right.
"With all the pounding and running we do as receivers, it kind of caught up to me," Marshall said.
Tough stretch
The drops began to mount and the after-the-catch abilities that placed him at an elite level at his position were minimized, especially during a stretch from Sept. 28 until Nov. 6, when he averaged 65.5 yards per game.
"Clearly, anybody who's watched the games during the middle part of the season, you could see he wasn't the same speed as he was early on or that he's been the last couple weeks," Broncos wide receivers coach Jedd Fisch said.
Marshall explained that the injury interfered with his livelihood in other visible ways. Things that were "habit," such as beating press coverage, getting out of his breaks, even catching the ball, were more difficult.
"I'm so worried about running my routes and getting open that I drop the ball," he said.
And he began pressing as he searched for the form that allowed him to make 102 receptions last season against only eight drops.
"Definitely, because I want to be that same guy," he said. "I set the bar pretty high with the things I did last year. But everyone is expecting me to make the plays I haven't been making and to do the things I did last year. And I am on track to do the same things. It just hasn't been pretty. It's been a grind this year."
He hasn't had a 100-yard receiving game since Sept. 21.
He has scored only one touchdown in the past eight games.
Yet on his current pace, he is set to finish with 98 catches and 1,285 yards.
Through it all, Marshall has remained a fixture in the headlines.
There was the near-celebration fallout in the closing minutes of the Cleveland game Nov. 6, when he was stopped just short of making a potentially costly political stand. There was the offensive pass interference in the Nov. 12 Miami game, wiping out a 77- yard touchdown, and the verbal spat with the Dolphins' Joey Porter afterward.
Off the field, Marshall has dined with Hall of Famer Mi- chael Irvin, announced a new Web site and spent many off days working with Denver at-risk youths, all while raising his profile nationally with a number of interviews.
Marshall denied that any of that has interfered with his performance.
"There are two reasons why my focus is where it's supposed to be," he said. "No. 1, I went fourth round. And No. 2, I want to be the best. With that said, there's no way I'm going to let my focus slip."
Nor will he forget that it nearly was all taken away.
Still dealing with injury
It was only in March that Marshall ripped apart his right forearm when he went through an entertainment center at an Orlando, Fla., resort.
"The back of my hand and the side of my wrist is still numb," he noted, adding it sometimes feels "weird" when he catches the ball. "The doctor said it's going to take a year or two for that. So I'm thankful to be able to catch a football."
Rehabilitation from that injury cost him much of the offseason and might have contributed to him taking additional time to find his stride, along with the hip issue.
Fisch has worked with Marshall on staying confident and "crossing the line from good to great," adding that the receiver is working hard to make that leap.
"The last couple weeks he's played really well," Fisch said.
Five of the receiver's 14 catches of 20-plus yards this season have come in the past three games. Marshall credited his teammates for picking up the slack offensively while "I'm having a bad game or two or three or four or five, maybe six or seven."
"I feel better now than I did before the season started," he said. "I came into the season aching, hurting. It's a hip problem I've been dealing with since college. But there's no excuse. Like I said, I'm embarrassed for my own play. Hopefully, now that I'm back healthy, I can peak as a player at the right time to help our team win games down the stretch and into the playoffs."
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/dec/05/broncos-marshall-embarrassed-his-play-season/