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Lonestar
08-11-2009, 11:45 PM
Scouting the Opposition




Broncos TV

By Zach Eisendrath
DenverBroncos.com

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. --Frank Gore, Vernon Davis and a host of other San Francisco 49ers made an appearance at Dove Valley on Tuesday.

Well, sort of.

With Friday's preseason opener at San Francisco on the horizon, the Broncos -- for the first time during training camp -- spent a bulk of their practice sessions on Tuesday studying their upcoming NFC West foe. To brush up on the 49ers, a few members of the Broncos' scout team donned red "penny" jerseys to represent San Francisco players.

On the offensive side of the ball, players such as Davis and Gore were imitated. Meanwhile, the likes of defensive lineman Justin Smith, defensive back Michael Lewis and linebacker Patrick Willis were emulated on the defensive scout team.

"We started talking about San Francisco last night," Head Coach Josh McDaniels said. "We put some specific players in jerseys today to kind of simulate some of the things that (San Francisco) does. This is like a game week for (the team)."

Although Friday's game is an exhibition affair, the team isn't taking preparation for the contest lightly. With a new coaching staff and a host of new players, the preseason slate carries extra weight, according to Daniel Graham.

"This game right here is going to set the tone for what we want to be this season," he said. "It is going to be nice to go out there and hit some other guys instead of our own teammates. But we're looking forward to setting the tone and seeing how we are going to be this year."

BARONE ON TIGHT ENDS

Tight ends coach Clancy Barone stopped to talk with the media on his way off the field on Tuesday following the club's evening practice.

Barone is no stranger to the AFC West. He spent the last four years as tight ends coach in San Diego, working with Antonio Gates. Prior to his tenure with the Chargers, Barone spent his first two seasons in the professional circuit in Atlanta, instructing Alge Crumpler.

Needless to say, Barone has worked with his share of talented tight ends during his NFL coaching career.

Now, working with the likes of Graham and Tony Scheffler, he'll be surrounded by another gifted crop at that position. Through 12 days of camp, Barone, who sets a high standard for the unit, said he's liked what he has seen of his group of players.

"All of our guys have to be able to do everything," Barone said. "And that's one of the things we always talk about. The guys cannot just be one-sided guys. They've got to be tough and smart and so forth."

"There is a learning curve with young guys and older guys alike. But they are all doing very, very well with it."

LOCKER ROOM BARBERSHOP

Moments before taking the field for Tuesday's morning practice session, three of the club's rookies -- Tom Brandstater, Britton Colquitt and Blake Schlueter -- were given not-so-flattering haircuts by their veteran counterparts.

At the team's nightcap session, a slew of other first-year players including Stanley Bryant, Kenny McKinley, Knowshon Moreno, Seth Olsen, Alphonso Smith and Nate Swift displayed their new hairdos.

For this particular "Welcome to the NFL" moment, the first-year players knew they had no choice but to comply.

"They said either do it now and get this haircut or they'll get your eyebrows later," Brandstater said. "(My haircut) you can see from a mile away. (Colquitt and Schlueter's) you might be able to see only a little bit. So I'm just trying to laugh it off a little bit and hopefully my mom is still proud of me."

Said Schlueter after receiving a patchy hairdo: "I don't know if my wife will like it that much, but we'll see."

A number of the rookies made the most of their embarrassing haircuts, openly showing off their interesting new looks. Colquitt, however, was a bit more bashful about his fresh cut. The first-year punter donned a helmet for nearly every second of practice, only briefly removing it so that long snapper Lonie Paxton, who was Colquitt's barber Tuesday morning, could examine his work.

After practice came to a close, Colquitt put on a hat to hide his 'do as he signed autographs.

"I'm trying to compete and trying to win a job and I don't need to be thinking about my hair," Colquitt said with a laugh. "(Paxton) said he wanted to do some kind of spiral or something -- maybe like a pineapple-type look."

Following Tuesday's morning practice, Graham said that the veterans have "a lot more heads to go." Evidentally he wasn't lying after a number of new players displayed exotic haircuts during the night seesion.

Still, there are a few rookies to go ... And David Bruton doesn't plan one being one of those individuals.

"I'm not getting one," Bruton said following Tuesday morning's practice. "They aren't cutting mine."

READY TO PRODUCE

Calling the team's newly implemented 3-4 defensive scheme "fun" and "exciting," Elvis Dumervil said he is looking forward to the way defensive coordinator Mike Nolan plans on using his skill set this season.

Dumervil, who will spend time at outside linebacker and defensive end in Nolan's system, sees many pluses to the defensive format. Personally, he believes the new scheme will keep him from being double and triple teamed by the opposition.

"You can't really isolate me like they did in the 4-3," he said. "In this scheme, everyone gets to eat. What I mean by that is everyone has their chance to make plays. So it's exciting for us. I think we have a bunch of great guys and things are going well so far."

TIME CHANGE

The team's lone practice session on Wednesday has been moved up, as the club will practice from 1-3 p.m. MDT. The session, which is open to the public, will be the team's final practice before the club departs for San Francisco on Thursday.

http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=334&storyID=9218

Dean
08-12-2009, 05:56 PM
The title is misleading. The first thing that came to mind was we were scouting San Fran's practices ala "the mentor".:D