Dean
04-19-2009, 07:04 PM
I didn't see this posted so if it is any of the mods can delete or merge it. There is a little more personnel information than has been mentioned previously like Dumervil and our almost invisible DE out of Texas (Crowder).
http://blog.denverbroncos.com/denverbroncos/closing-out-camp
The Broncos’ first mini-camp of the Josh McDaniels era wrapped up on Sunday, and it did nothing if not get the players and coaches even more excited for this year’s campaign.
“It was great,” McDaniels said. “You could see the energy that’s out here — the players are practicing hard, the coaches are coaching hard and everybody has the same goal in mind, which is to get better every day. We’re going to pay the price right now to try to win in September.”
Sunday’s practice was open to the media, so here are some quick hits from the session:
Coach McDaniels has certainly taken a hands-on approach for the first three practices. Not only has he rotated from position group to position group, he’s also gotten involved in some of the drills. He lined up as a defensive back to make sure the receivers were running crisp routes, and even tried to slap the ball away from running backs to stress ball control as they finished up a drill.
“He’s had some good offenses over the last few years in New England, and you don’t get that way by just sitting back in your chair and watching TV,” Chris Simms said. “I think he’s a pretty hands-on guy.”
Speaking of coaches being up-close-and-personal, Jabar Gaffney and Offensive Line Coach Rick Dennison got to know each other a little better Sunday morning. During 7-on-7 drills, Kyle Orton dropped back and launched a pass to Gaffney, who was streaking past his defender down the sideline. Players began to shout as Gaffney neared the offensive line position group, and the receiver made quite a catch over his shoulder before running right into the back of Dennison. The coach hopped right back up with a smile, and the offensive line applauded as Gaffney jogged back to the huddle, got a fist pound from Chad Jackson and a laugh and high five from Orton.
“I said ‘Great catch’ to Jabar and I’ll try not to do that again,” Orton said with a smile. “But it was a great play.”
Orton and Simms split the repetitions evenly throughout Sunday’s practice, and afterward the two were asked separately how to describe the process of learning McDaniels’ offensive system.
“Whatever you put into it is what you get out,” Orton said. “There are plenty of teams implementing new systems and plenty of quarterbacks that have to learn new systems, so it’s nothing overly challenging. Just come in and put the work in — it’s not rocket science.”
Simms agreed that it might not be rocket science, but he had another metaphor ready.
“It’s a new language,” he said. “Any time you’re learning a new language things are going to be hard, just trying to get everybody on the same page. There are some new routes for receivers that they haven’t run before, and there are routes that I haven’t thrown before, so it’s a matter of us all getting on the same page.”
The snow hasn’t melted from the team’s practice field, so once again they took to the “bubble,” an indoor field surrounded by a dome that looks like it’s made out of a Moon Bounce. But being forced indoors didn’t stop Matt Prater from practicing field goals. Lonie Paxton snapped the ball to Brett Kern, who held for Prater, and the kicker simply booted the ball against the side of the dome.
The quarterbacks were involved in an interesting drill during practice — fielding ground balls and tossing the baseball back toward the wall of the dome.
“Just trying to get quick feet, quick hands and get the ball out,” Orton explained.
Plenty of fans seem to be interested in how the linebacker corps is taking shape this offseason. Here’s one update — Wesley Woodyard said he’s been taking some repetitions at inside linebacker when the team runs a 3-4. He said it’s not much different from the role he played last season — “just flying around, making plays,” he said. It seems to be working out so far — during 7-on-7 drills he read a route the whole way, jumped it and returned an interception to the endzone, which resulted in plenty of shouting from the defensive sideline.
A few new faces took some snaps with the linebackers during 7-on-7 drills as well, including Elvis Dumervil and Tim Crowder.
“It was kind of shocking at first, but to see (Dumervil) drop out of there, him and Tim Crowder, to be able to drop back, they look like linebackers out there like they’ve been doing it for years,” Woodyard said. “So it’s been a pretty good fit for those guys.”
Now that this mini-camp is over, the team can look foward to the NFL Draft, which starts this Saturday.
“I think it’s always exciting when you get an opportunity to add good football players to your team, whether it be through free agency or the draft,” McDaniels said. “The draft offers a lot of good young players and we’re looking forward to the ones that are going to end up as Broncos here after seven or eight days.”
http://blog.denverbroncos.com/denverbroncos/closing-out-camp
The Broncos’ first mini-camp of the Josh McDaniels era wrapped up on Sunday, and it did nothing if not get the players and coaches even more excited for this year’s campaign.
“It was great,” McDaniels said. “You could see the energy that’s out here — the players are practicing hard, the coaches are coaching hard and everybody has the same goal in mind, which is to get better every day. We’re going to pay the price right now to try to win in September.”
Sunday’s practice was open to the media, so here are some quick hits from the session:
Coach McDaniels has certainly taken a hands-on approach for the first three practices. Not only has he rotated from position group to position group, he’s also gotten involved in some of the drills. He lined up as a defensive back to make sure the receivers were running crisp routes, and even tried to slap the ball away from running backs to stress ball control as they finished up a drill.
“He’s had some good offenses over the last few years in New England, and you don’t get that way by just sitting back in your chair and watching TV,” Chris Simms said. “I think he’s a pretty hands-on guy.”
Speaking of coaches being up-close-and-personal, Jabar Gaffney and Offensive Line Coach Rick Dennison got to know each other a little better Sunday morning. During 7-on-7 drills, Kyle Orton dropped back and launched a pass to Gaffney, who was streaking past his defender down the sideline. Players began to shout as Gaffney neared the offensive line position group, and the receiver made quite a catch over his shoulder before running right into the back of Dennison. The coach hopped right back up with a smile, and the offensive line applauded as Gaffney jogged back to the huddle, got a fist pound from Chad Jackson and a laugh and high five from Orton.
“I said ‘Great catch’ to Jabar and I’ll try not to do that again,” Orton said with a smile. “But it was a great play.”
Orton and Simms split the repetitions evenly throughout Sunday’s practice, and afterward the two were asked separately how to describe the process of learning McDaniels’ offensive system.
“Whatever you put into it is what you get out,” Orton said. “There are plenty of teams implementing new systems and plenty of quarterbacks that have to learn new systems, so it’s nothing overly challenging. Just come in and put the work in — it’s not rocket science.”
Simms agreed that it might not be rocket science, but he had another metaphor ready.
“It’s a new language,” he said. “Any time you’re learning a new language things are going to be hard, just trying to get everybody on the same page. There are some new routes for receivers that they haven’t run before, and there are routes that I haven’t thrown before, so it’s a matter of us all getting on the same page.”
The snow hasn’t melted from the team’s practice field, so once again they took to the “bubble,” an indoor field surrounded by a dome that looks like it’s made out of a Moon Bounce. But being forced indoors didn’t stop Matt Prater from practicing field goals. Lonie Paxton snapped the ball to Brett Kern, who held for Prater, and the kicker simply booted the ball against the side of the dome.
The quarterbacks were involved in an interesting drill during practice — fielding ground balls and tossing the baseball back toward the wall of the dome.
“Just trying to get quick feet, quick hands and get the ball out,” Orton explained.
Plenty of fans seem to be interested in how the linebacker corps is taking shape this offseason. Here’s one update — Wesley Woodyard said he’s been taking some repetitions at inside linebacker when the team runs a 3-4. He said it’s not much different from the role he played last season — “just flying around, making plays,” he said. It seems to be working out so far — during 7-on-7 drills he read a route the whole way, jumped it and returned an interception to the endzone, which resulted in plenty of shouting from the defensive sideline.
A few new faces took some snaps with the linebackers during 7-on-7 drills as well, including Elvis Dumervil and Tim Crowder.
“It was kind of shocking at first, but to see (Dumervil) drop out of there, him and Tim Crowder, to be able to drop back, they look like linebackers out there like they’ve been doing it for years,” Woodyard said. “So it’s been a pretty good fit for those guys.”
Now that this mini-camp is over, the team can look foward to the NFL Draft, which starts this Saturday.
“I think it’s always exciting when you get an opportunity to add good football players to your team, whether it be through free agency or the draft,” McDaniels said. “The draft offers a lot of good young players and we’re looking forward to the ones that are going to end up as Broncos here after seven or eight days.”