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Denver Native (Carol)
06-13-2009, 05:18 PM
http://blog.denverbroncos.com/denverbroncos/minicamp-day-two/

On a day when Head Coach Josh McDaniels named Kyle Orton the starter at quarterback, there was plenty to report from practice.

The music continued during Saturday’s session, kicking off with a little U2 when the media arrived as the team stretched. The playlist today ranged from The Roots to Gavin DeGraw to Run DMC. In addition, one of the strangest transitions you’ll ever hear — Kenny Chesney’s “Summertime” was followed immediately by The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight.” Clearly the Broncos have an eclectic taste in music.

Now here are a few snippets from Saturday’s practice.

MAKING PLAYS

Last season, the Broncos defense didn’t cause many turnovers. So the coaching staff has clearly made it a point to work on that statistic this offseason.

During Saturday’s practice, one defensive back would line up five yards behind a receiver while another lined up about 15 yards ahead. Defensive backs coach Ed Donatell blew the whistle and threw the ball to the receiver, who took off. The trailing DB chased down the receiver, who was being held up by the DB who lined up in front, and practiced punching the ball out to cause a fumble.

It’s all about teaching that if you’re not the first man to the tackle, try to strip the ball.

SWARMING DEFENSE

The defense was everywhere today. From Lou Green diving to break up a pass before it reached Brandon Stokley to Andra Davis snagging an interception after a pass bounced of a helmet, most of the breaks in today’s practice went the defense’s way.

That’s not to say the defense wasn’t making its own breaks. Jack Williams also had an interception, Alphonso Smith batted a ball at the line of scrimmage, found it in the air and grabbed the pick, and Robert Ayers had an interception he returned for a touchdown before being mobbed by the defense.

A few breaks fell the way of the offense, however. Josh Barrett had an interception in his hands that slipped through his fingers — and Eddie Royal quickly dove and grabbed the ball before it hit the ground. In another instance, a ball was batted into the air, but rookie Kenny McKinley swooped in to grab it and head upfield before the defense could capitalize.

QUICK HITS
# During a drill in the red zone, Orton asked Jabar Gaffney before a route whether he likes high passes or line drives when he’s running routes into the end zone. Just in case you’re an AFC West defensive back reading this blog, I won’t tell you the answer. Just know that the next play was a touchdown.
# A few days ago, the defensive line used a JUGS machine to practice swatting passes at the line of scrimmage. It seems to be an effective drill, as several balls were knocked down at Saturday’s practice. Jarvis Moss twice made the play.
# Knowshon Moreno, who took some reps with the first group today, caught two touchdowns out of the backfield. On one play, he ran a route out of the backfield and caught the ball over his shoulder before kicking it into gear and sprinting past the defense down the sideline for a long score. On another, he caught it behind the line of scrimmage and simply beat his man to the sideline before diving at the pylon.
# Every day at practice, the quarterbacks, running backs, tight ends and receivers run through a drill where coaches try to strip the ball. Chad Jackson has been the joker of the group — once the players are through the line, he tries to knock the ball out of teammates’ arms from behind. Today he popped the ball away from Peyton Hillis, who snatched it back out of the air. Meanwhile, Ryan Torain — who participated in practice for the second day in a row — tried to smack the ball away from Jackson at the same time.
# Tim Crowder continued to get some work at outside linebacker with the first group, alongside Ryan McBean, Ronald Fields and Kenny Peterson on the line, Andra Davis, D.J. Williams and Robert Ayers at linebacker and Champ Bailey, Andre’ Goodman, Brian Dawkins and Renaldo Hill in the secondary.

Denver Native (Carol)
06-13-2009, 09:45 PM
http://blogs.denverpost.com/broncos/2009/06/13/saturday-minicamp-notes/

The big news out of Broncos’ camp today was the official announcement that Kyle Orton is the team’s starting quarterback. No big shock there, though I was a tad surprised Josh McDaniels decided to end the battle so soon, even though it was clear by midway through Saturday’s practice that Orton was taking all of the first-team reps.

McDaniels said he expected the Orton and Chris Simms to continue to push each other, but that Orton had established himself as the clear No. 1.

“That certainly doesn’t mean there won’t be competition now or in training camp, because there will. Chris has a great attitude and is going to continue to push,” McDaniels said. “Kyle has the job right now, but we’ll see if he can keep it. That’s what will make those two players better.”

On to other non-QB news …

- The offense practiced for a bit in an I-formation goal-line package, with Peyton Hillis as the fullback. LaMont Jordan too the first rep at tailback, followed by Correll Buckhalter then Knowshon Moreno.

- The entire defense spent a period working on turnover drills. For defensive backs, that entailed a drill where one player acted like a tailback or wide receiver, sprinting at full speed while the defensive back charged from behind to try to strip the ball. Defensive linemen and linebackers worked on fumble recovery.

- Punters Brett Kern and Britton Colquitt spent a long period working with the full punt team practicing directional kicking, trying to punt the ball to the right side line. The returners included Eddie Royal, Alphonso Smith and Kenny McKinley.

- The first-team goal line defense was as follows: D-linemen Ryan McBean and Kenny Peterson at DE and Ronald Fields at NT; Tim Crowder, Robert Ayers, D.J. Williams, Andre Davis and Mario Haggan at linebacker and safeties Brian Dawkins, Renaldo Hill and Josh Barrett.

- The wide receivers and tight ends spent a period working on “top shelfing” — catching passes at the very back of the end zone. During this time, Josh McDaniels worked closely with the receivers, and ran around like a corner back while the receivers executed their routes. He’s quite the hands-on coach, literally.

- D.J. Williams must be liking his new position, because he never leaves the field. Williams, playing the Jack linebacker spot — one of two inside linebacker positions — is on the field for the base, nickel and dime packages.

- Second-year cornerback Jack Williams has been a pleasant surprise in his role at nickel corner. He intercepted Orton and batted down a pass in front of Eddie Royal in the end zone Saturday.

- The team practiced its hurry-up offense at the end of practice. Brandon Stokely and Jabar Gaffney each caught passes from Orton as the offense moved down the field. A pass intended for Royal was broken up by D.J. Williams.

- No one was scoring the practice, obviously, but Saturday appeared to be a better day for the defense than the offense. This is not uncommon for this time of year.

- More music at practice Saturday, though a much more unconventional playlist that included Kenny Chesney and Sugar Hill Gang on back-to-back songs. Probably the only place that’s ever happened before. Saturday’s award for best sideline dancer goes to No. 2 punter Britton Colquitt for his smooth moves to “Rapper’s Delight.”

Denver Native (Carol)
06-13-2009, 09:51 PM
http://blogs.denverpost.com/broncos/2009/06/12/minicamp-odds-and-ends/

From Friday's Minicamp

DOVE VALLEY — Though most of the buzz through the media ranks on Friday morning was about the player who WASN’T at the Broncos’ Dove Valley headquarters, there was plenty of action going on with the players who were there.

Here’s a couple of notes and observations:

- Your first-team base defense throughout Friday’s workout: linemen Ryan McBean, Ronald Fields and Kenny Peterson; OLBs Tim Crowder and Robert Ayers; ILBs D.J. Williams and Andra Davis; DBs Champ Bailey, Andre Goodman, Brian Dawkins and Renaldo Hill. Second team: linemen Matthias Askew, Marcus Thomas and Nic Clemons; OLBs Darrell Reid and Elvis Dumervil; ILBs Mario Haggan and Louis Green; DBs Jack Williams, Alphonso Smith, Vernon Fox and Darcel McBath.

- The special teams units practiced onside kicks and pooch punts, and “gunners” on punt coverage, like Alphonso Smith and David Bruton, practiced downing the ball just short of the goal line. Kicker Matt Prater also hit two long field goals in a drill simulating the final seconds of a game.

- 2008 draft picks, corner Jack Williams and safety Josh Barrett, continue to practice with the first-team nickel defense. That package also included Dumervil at linebacker with Ayers, and Reid as a down lineman with Peterson. On one snap, Williams got to Kyle Orton on a corner blitz and swatted the ball out of the quarterback’s hand. 2007 draft picks Jarvis Moss and Crowder each played with the second-team nickel, and Crowder — lined up as a down lineman in that package — snagged an interception off Chris Simms.

- The team lined up briefly in a traditional I-formation, with LaMont Jordan at tailback and Peyton Hillis at fullback. Good to know they can do that, though I would be it will be a rare sight come September.

- I heard “Sweet Child of Mine” by Guns and Roses coming from the practice field when I got out of my car an hour before practice started. Little did I know then it was a sign of things to come. In a welcome change (for me at least) from the previous regime, a full McDaniels practice includes plenty of music to simulate crowd noise. Friday’s playlist included “Eye of the Tiger”, “Crazy Train”, “Beat It”, “Born to Run”, “Live Your Life” and even the old “Monday Night Football” theme music.

- Right guard Chris Kuper was excused from practice to get married, and rookie Seth Olsen took all the first-team repetitions in his place. Kuper is one of the toughest players on the team (remember last year, when he played all training camp with a broken hand?), so it only made sense that his absence had something to do with his personal life. Kuper, like Brandon Marshall and Jay Cutler, was part of the Broncos’ 2006 draft class, and a television reporter joking asked McDaniels after practice if Kuper, too, was holding out. “He might be nervous, but he’s not holding out,” McDaniels said, laughing.

The team will hold its final two practices of the offseason Saturday and Sunday.

broncohead
06-13-2009, 09:56 PM
I haven't heard anything about Thomas yet. Anyone have info?

Tned
06-13-2009, 10:03 PM
I haven't heard anything about Thomas yet. Anyone have info?

Second team NT based on the article above.

broncohead
06-13-2009, 10:21 PM
Second team NT based on the article above.

Guess I didn't read that... Thanks

Requiem / The Dagda
06-13-2009, 10:22 PM
I liked the pictures on DB.com. They had one of a rabbit in the grass at mini camp. Made me think of Bronconut.

LRtagger
06-14-2009, 06:17 AM
wow doom got bumped to second team in favor of crowder?

JKcatch724
06-14-2009, 12:51 PM
It’s all about teaching that if you’re not the first man to the tackle, try to strip the ball.

Thank. God.

I don't know how many times I've yelled at the TV for players not doing this during the Shanny era.