Excuses.... First Marshall - Now Prater

[Broncos Mtnman]

Prater: Leg weakened during Broncos season

Matt Prater (http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/dec/29/prater-leg-weakened-during-broncos-season/) botched his first extra point in 39 tries Sunday.

"It was a debacle," the Broncos kicker said of his first-quarter conversion try that struck the left upright.

But that wasn't the only thing missing.

After the game, Prater discussed a lack of leg strength that has dogged him since the bye week.

The first-year Denver kicker had a solid first half this season, including five straight field goals made from 50-plus yards.

Since Oct. 20, he has missed eight field-goal attempts, prompting talk about a new approach to his offseason.

"I've got to figure out a way to keep my leg more fresh, because I kind of fell off toward the end because my leg was getting worn out," he said. "Sometime after the bye week, my kickoffs were getting shorter and shorter. My field goals, I couldn't hit the ball as far. . . . I have to figure out what to do."

As an example, Prater mentioned that in warm-ups here, he hit a 61-yard field goal. But by the time the game began, his leg felt dead.

He didn't attempt a field goal and made his only other extra- point try.

Prater finishes his initial season in Denver, and first full NFL campaign, having hit 25-of-34 field- goal attempts, adding 19 touchbacks.

"My first full year. Was it good? No. But it wasn't bad," he said. "It could have been better. It's something to build off and learn from."

Prater competed last spring with Garrett Hartley, now with New Orleans, for the right to replace Jason Elam, who left via free agency. But he went unopposed in summer camp.

"I'll definitely have somebody compete," he said. "Even if I was perfect, they'd bring in someone. It's a part of the business. But I know if I'm kicking at my best, there's nobody who can beat me out."

[BroncoWave]

If his leg was dead, his leg was dead. I don't think that's making excuses. He took accountability and said that this season wasn't good enough and he has to improve next year. What more do you want from him?

[BroncoWave]

Honestly, this is something else I put on the training staff. If it's not someone pulling a hammy or tearing a groin every week, it's our kicker losing steam towards the end of the season. I don't think it's a coincidence.

[scott.475]

I don't think I would characterize this as an excuse. If the question put to him is something like "Matt, why did your performance fall off the second half of the season?", I guess you could say ANY answer he would give could be an excuse. I don't really consider and answer an "excuse" until someone starts trying to blame other people or forces for their problems. He took responsible for his problem.

Also, I don't really view BM as making excuses about his numb hand. First, I think we would need to hear the Q&A to get a better feel for how it came out. Second, and this is just a personal thing, but I have a neck disk impinging on a nerve that occasionally causes my whole arm to go numb. If I twist my arm just right, or I take a shot to it in a couple places, it feels like my arm has been elctrocuted, and makes me lose a lot of grip strength. I have had a constant numbness in my ring and little finger for over 5 years now. If BM is experiencing something similar, I can certainly understand how it would cause problems with hanging onto the ball.

Honestly, I really don't see a lot of excuse making coming from the team. From what I have heard and read, our players are taking responsibility for their play and they are not blaming others. Seriously, we went through 2 or 3 teams worth of running backs, and a host of others, if any time has a right to make a few excuses, it is us, and I don't see it.

Compare us to, oh, say, LT whenever he gets knocked out of the playoffs...

[Shazam!]

Just another offseason void to fill. This team is a mess. Thanks Mike.

[JKcatch724]

To me, there is no excuse to have kicker that can't force a touchback every time on kickoffs in Denver. Especially with our special teams. Not to mention hit a damn extra point.

[Tned]

Just another offseason void to fill. This team is a mess. Thanks Mike.

Hardly a mess.

We have a stacked offense, with only the need to find a servicable and healthy RB.

We have a solid punter.
We have a kicker that had an awesome first half and horrible second half, so might need to be replaced.
We have 4-5 defensive positions that need major upgrades (DE, MLB, SLB, S).

That is hardly a mess, that is a team that with a few key defensive pickups via the draft and FA should contend for the AFCW, and not at 8-8.

[Northman]

It is an excuse, just like Marshall's was a lame excuse. I dont care if you guys want to blow smoke up their ass by kissing it so hard. At the end of the day dont come out crying about my leg hurt or my arm was numb. Just accept responsibility and say you didnt play up to the level you should have and move on. I can accept that ten times more than all this wah wah wah shit at the end of the year. When things were going well you didnt hear shit about it and now that they are faced to answer the question of why we choked the season away they all have excuses coming out their ass. If they had mentioned this crap earlier in the season i would give them a pass but they didnt so its just a lame attempt at explaining their failure down the stretch. But BTB is right, i think this goes back to my question a few weeks ago about conditioning. With the amount of injuries that this team has had this year there is a bigger issue than just concindence.

[LordTrychon]

It is an excuse, just like Marshall's was a lame excuse. I dont care if you guys want to blow smoke up their ass by kissing it so hard. At the end of the day dont come out crying about my leg hurt or my arm was numb. Just accept responsibility and say you didnt play up to the level you should have and move on. I can accept that ten times more than all this wah wah wah shit at the end of the year. When things were going well you didnt hear shit about it and now that they are faced to answer the question of why we choked the season away they all have excuses coming out their ass. If they had mentioned this crap earlier in the season i would give them a pass but they didnt so its just a lame attempt at explaining their failure down the stretch. But BTB is right, i think this goes back to my question a few weeks ago about conditioning. With the amount of injuries that this team has had this year there is a bigger issue than just concindence.

I remember hearing about the back of Marshall's hand being numb a few weeks back.

To me, if they said "Well, I'm not going to worry about it because it was just because of X and that'll fix itself" I would worry.

Basically though, what they said was what you wanted to hear, but then they gave specifics on what they hope to improve.

[roomemp]

These were not excuses........They accounted for their play on the field. Prater admited he had a dead leg and Marshall said yeah I caught over 100 balls but I also dropped a lot. I am suprised the guy caught over 100 balls with the back of his hand numb.

[Rex]

If his leg was dead, his leg was dead. I don't think that's making excuses. He took accountability and said that this season wasn't good enough and he has to improve next year. What more do you want from him?

Make a few kicks from 40-49 to start.

Weak leg causes a K to miss an extra point? 19 yards?

Most of the kicks looked plenty long from 40-49, just off target.

[Dreadnought]

[/B]

Make a few kicks from 40-49 to start.

Weak leg causes a K to miss an extra point? 19 yards?

Most of the kicks looked plenty long from 40-49, just off target.

Its not an either/or situation. He was both inaccurate and had lost the strength as well. I can't remember a kickoff in the second half of the season getting past the 5 yard line, He went south pretty dramatically late in the year.

[BroncosRockdaRockies]

I don't think of it as excuses either. But what I do see is a lack of conditioning and rehab from Injuries. When DJ and Champ came back they looked worse than a first game rookie. And the fact that we lost so many RB's. And the whole team lost down the stretch i really think it has to do with conditioning and training at this point. JMHO

[Bronco Bible]

When a kicker is that far off on an extra-point,yet gets a second chance at it my guess is he would have made some adjustment......but he boned up the second kick exactly like the first.........he just needs to get a day job.

[LRtagger]

It all boils down to lack of toughness on the team...which can be contributed to the cake walk camp these guys go through.

You think its a big mystery why this team starts off strong and goes limp after the first 5-6 weeks? It's because they are not prepped or conditioned for a 17 week season. It's the reason for the injuries, the lack of desire at the end of the year, the guys buying tickets to go on vacation before they even take their pads off from the last game, etc.

Dove Valley might as well be Chuck E Cheese with the way these guys get prepped for a season. Might as well send them to Cancun to lay in the sun and play golf instead of going to camp. Thats what most of them were thinking about by the second quarter of the SD game anyways...."I better call my travel agent right after the game to make sure I can get a flight to Cancun tomorrow morning".

The team's problem isnt lack of talent. It is lack of toughness and discipline....which is an indication of bad coaching. Do you ever remember Al Wilson complaining about his broken hands? Ever remember John Lynch complaining about his ailing neck and back? Ever remember Eddy Mack complaining about feeling beat up after all those hits he used to take? Now we have a bunch of guys who turn their head the wrong way and they are out 8-10 weeks with a pulled groin. It's pathetic.

[Denver Native (Carol)]

How can what Prater said be considered an excuse. How do you explain -

The first-year Denver kicker had a solid first half this season, including five straight field goals made from 50-plus yards.

Since Oct. 20, he has missed eight field-goal attempts, prompting talk about a new approach to his offseason.

A solid first half, and then what happened in the last half. I don't believe he thought - I was great the first half, I don't care about the second half.

The training camp may not be as tough as some would like, but there are many mini camps before the season begins, which although are not mandatory, many players state that it is "expected" for them to be there.

http://broncotalk.net/2008/05/denver-broncos-quarterback-mini-camp-set-for-may-19/

http://broncotalk.net/2008/05/denver-broncos-mini-camp-scheduled-for-june/

[NameUsedBefore]

Excuse, reality, whatever, that's pretty bizarre. I've seen kickers get off their game; I don't know of any kickers from any level of football whose legs simply "gave out" over the course of a season as far as strength goes.

[scott.475]

Excuse, reality, whatever, that's pretty bizarre. I've seen kickers get off their game; I don't know of any kickers from any level of football whose legs simply "gave out" over the course of a season as far as strength goes.

I know nothing about kicking, but maybe practicing a lot of 60 yard kicks will exhaust a leg. Again, I don't know, but maybe he spent too much time working on the long kicks?

[NameUsedBefore]

I know nothing about kicking, but maybe practicing a lot of 60 yard kicks will exhaust a leg. Again, I don't know, but maybe he spent too much time working on the long kicks?

That might have been it. Perhaps too excited about it all.

[deacon]

Its not an either/or situation. He was both inaccurate and had lost the strength as well. I can't remember a kickoff in the second half of the season getting past the 5 yard line, He went south pretty dramatically late in the year.

One could well affect the other. If he was trying to kick farther because of a dead leg and changed something in his approach, it would cause him to miss.

[Tned]

[/B]

Make a few kicks from 40-49 to start.

Weak leg causes a K to miss an extra point? 19 yards?

Most of the kicks looked plenty long from 40-49, just off target.

It may very well have him changing his 'technique'. I keep hearing it compared to a golf swing. The number one key to a golf key is a consistant, repeatable swing. If he is trying to make adjustments to generate more power, then consistancy likely goes out the window. Even on short kicks, becuase the 'swing' is the same.

Having said that, there was no question his leg was getting tired, because we all saw the kickoffs get shorter and shorter. As to the misses, I attributed them to lost confidence, which is going to lead to trying to 'steer' the ball, rather than swing away (again thinking in golf terms), but it could have just as easily been due to a swing change where he was trying to generate more power.

[Denver Native (Carol)]

Interesting article by Tuten:

http://magazine.stack.com/TheIssue/Article/2917/Conditioning_for_Football_with_the_Denver_Broncos. aspx

What I believe could be the difference causing injuries, etc., is that players like Elway, McCaffery, Rod, etc., made Denver their home, and therefore, worked out at the facility during the off season. A lot of the players today head back to their homes in other states, and who knows what, if anything, they are doing to stay in football shape.

In this article, here is what Tuten said about Rod:

Wide receiver Rod Smith decided to take control of his conditioning and, as a result, transformed his game. During his 12 year career with the Broncos, Smith has never missed an off-season workout (April through July)—that’s 56 workouts a year. The 35-year old specimen—an annual Pro Bowl selection who holds Bronco records for touchdowns, yards and catches—still makes younger guys look silly. Conditioning was once Smith’s weakness, but now he uses it as a means to break records.

“Rod came from a small college and had to learn how to push himself to the max. He realized that he needed to push past the point where things start to hurt without backing off,” Tuten says. “I have seen him go past that point so many times. I’ve seen him fall down and just lie there on the ground on his back—and he couldn’t move for 10 minutes. That is how he learned what his body could do. The great ones can do that.”

[BroncoJoe]

I noticed during the Charger game that it seemed like Prater was trying to kill the ball on kickoffs. Reminded me of a saying in Golf - 1/2 as hard, twice as far. Just get a good strike on the ball.

[BroncoWave]

One could well affect the other. If he was trying to kick farther because of a dead leg and changed something in his approach, it would cause him to miss.

This is spot on IMO. Coming from someone who has done a little bit of kicking in the past, when your leg starts to tire, you do try to overcompensate and it screws your accuracy badly. If Denver can find a way to get him into a better offseason conditioning program, I still think he could be a dangerous weapon for us in the future. I'm not ready to give up on him yet.