Lonestar
08-15-2009, 11:16 PM
Offense, defense or special teams, the versatile second-year pro will play it.
By Jeff Legwold
The Denver Post
Posted: 08/15/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
Updated: 08/15/2009 01:33:55 AM MDT
SAN FRANCISCO — Each and every day, history walks the halls of the Broncos' Dove Valley complex. It smiles a lot, carries three binders and has plenty of football homework.
It's linebacker/fullback/special-teamer Spencer Larsen, who is the only player in franchise history to have started the same game on both offense and defense. Larsen did it at Atlanta last season, playing 55 defensive snaps and seven on offense in a 24-20 victory over the Falcons.
"It's cool," Larsen said. "And, really, I can't believe how much attention it still gets."
And while there is a substantial list of things that have changed in the Broncos' transition from coach Mike Shanahan to Josh McDaniels, one thing is the same as it ever was.
After
Broncos
View slide show of Broncos two-way player Spencer Larsen.
looking things over from top to bottom, backward and forward, McDaniels has decided Larsen should indeed play offense, defense and special teams.
"It takes a special guy to be able to do it," McDaniels said. "To get in that time crunch, to do what's necessary to be prepared with everything, you wouldn't even consider it with a lot of people."
McDaniels has seen it before. As a defensive assistant with the Patriots, before he was the team's quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, McDaniels worked with the secondary. And injuries forced them to put wide receiver Troy Brown at cornerback as well.
Brown not only tried to outwit cornerbacks on offense, he had to learn the team's defense and how to play it while keeping his offensive skills sharp.
"Troy was special," McDaniels said. "You have to pick the right guy. And you have to make sure the player gets the right reps in practice without killing him. Sure, he could play 50 percent on offense and 50 percent on defense, but then that's every play. You've got to make sure you give him the work he needs without crossing over too much.
"You can't ask him to do 20 things on the other side of the ball; you gear the responsibility to what he's capable of doing. You can't handle 35 calls on defense and 120 on offense and be able to perform at a high level."
Athletically, there certainly are many players who could handle double duty, but McDaniels said the real issue is being able to handle the time spent on each side of the ball during the week. Larsen, for example, has his time divided up very specifically, almost to the minute, as far as how much he meets — and practices with — the offense, defense and special-teams unit.
"My head was exploding a little bit early on in minicamp and a little bit in training camp," Larsen said. "But the minicamps were huge for me, I was able to get a good foundation. It's unique, and I like that aspect of what's going on here . . . just trying to put it together as much as I can."
"There is more than a few challenges — one is meeting time," McDaniels said. "It's not like, 'Oh, yeah, just do this on this day and do that on that day.' It's 25 minutes he's here, 25 minutes he's there, then he's at this walkthrough, then he's catching up to this coach."
Larsen, entering his second NFL season, has been used as a fullback in some of the Broncos' short-yardage offense as well as some of their two-back looks. He also has carried the ball sparingly in training camp while taking regular rotations on defense and being one of the expected regulars on the special-teams units.
As a result, Larsen said he spends any and all available time these days studying one of the three binders he carries around — the offensive playbook, the defensive playbook and this past week an abbreviated game plan for Friday night's game at San Francisco.
During the regular season, that game plan will be a little thicker. At practice, he said he keeps his head up to see which coach waves him over as the team switches from one period to another.
"I look down and if (running backs) Coach (Bobby) Turner doesn't give me the sign, I stay with the defense," Larsen said. "But I love doing it, and as long as they want me to try, I'll keep going."
"You do wonder sometimes, am I shorting a player from an opportunity to do one thing better?" McDaniels said. "So it does take an unselfish player, a smart player and a player physically who can handle it. That's what we've chosen to do with Spencer."
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
Taking sides
Broncos linebacker/fullback Spencer Larsen is the team's only two-way player. He breaks down what he likes about both sides of the ball:
OFFENSE
"My favorite thing about offense is you know exactly who you are supposed to block. It's a lot more specific. It's physical, and I like that, but you know if they do this, you do that; if they do that, you do this . . . that you always know what to do."
DEFENSE
"On defense, the formation determines what your assignment is when you line up, but things change if they shift, if they motion. And then you have to react to run and pass. There are a lot of other things, but on defense I like to read and react, and I like to feel more free-flowing and make the hit."
Jeff Legwold, The Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13105126?source=rss
By Jeff Legwold
The Denver Post
Posted: 08/15/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
Updated: 08/15/2009 01:33:55 AM MDT
SAN FRANCISCO — Each and every day, history walks the halls of the Broncos' Dove Valley complex. It smiles a lot, carries three binders and has plenty of football homework.
It's linebacker/fullback/special-teamer Spencer Larsen, who is the only player in franchise history to have started the same game on both offense and defense. Larsen did it at Atlanta last season, playing 55 defensive snaps and seven on offense in a 24-20 victory over the Falcons.
"It's cool," Larsen said. "And, really, I can't believe how much attention it still gets."
And while there is a substantial list of things that have changed in the Broncos' transition from coach Mike Shanahan to Josh McDaniels, one thing is the same as it ever was.
After
Broncos
View slide show of Broncos two-way player Spencer Larsen.
looking things over from top to bottom, backward and forward, McDaniels has decided Larsen should indeed play offense, defense and special teams.
"It takes a special guy to be able to do it," McDaniels said. "To get in that time crunch, to do what's necessary to be prepared with everything, you wouldn't even consider it with a lot of people."
McDaniels has seen it before. As a defensive assistant with the Patriots, before he was the team's quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, McDaniels worked with the secondary. And injuries forced them to put wide receiver Troy Brown at cornerback as well.
Brown not only tried to outwit cornerbacks on offense, he had to learn the team's defense and how to play it while keeping his offensive skills sharp.
"Troy was special," McDaniels said. "You have to pick the right guy. And you have to make sure the player gets the right reps in practice without killing him. Sure, he could play 50 percent on offense and 50 percent on defense, but then that's every play. You've got to make sure you give him the work he needs without crossing over too much.
"You can't ask him to do 20 things on the other side of the ball; you gear the responsibility to what he's capable of doing. You can't handle 35 calls on defense and 120 on offense and be able to perform at a high level."
Athletically, there certainly are many players who could handle double duty, but McDaniels said the real issue is being able to handle the time spent on each side of the ball during the week. Larsen, for example, has his time divided up very specifically, almost to the minute, as far as how much he meets — and practices with — the offense, defense and special-teams unit.
"My head was exploding a little bit early on in minicamp and a little bit in training camp," Larsen said. "But the minicamps were huge for me, I was able to get a good foundation. It's unique, and I like that aspect of what's going on here . . . just trying to put it together as much as I can."
"There is more than a few challenges — one is meeting time," McDaniels said. "It's not like, 'Oh, yeah, just do this on this day and do that on that day.' It's 25 minutes he's here, 25 minutes he's there, then he's at this walkthrough, then he's catching up to this coach."
Larsen, entering his second NFL season, has been used as a fullback in some of the Broncos' short-yardage offense as well as some of their two-back looks. He also has carried the ball sparingly in training camp while taking regular rotations on defense and being one of the expected regulars on the special-teams units.
As a result, Larsen said he spends any and all available time these days studying one of the three binders he carries around — the offensive playbook, the defensive playbook and this past week an abbreviated game plan for Friday night's game at San Francisco.
During the regular season, that game plan will be a little thicker. At practice, he said he keeps his head up to see which coach waves him over as the team switches from one period to another.
"I look down and if (running backs) Coach (Bobby) Turner doesn't give me the sign, I stay with the defense," Larsen said. "But I love doing it, and as long as they want me to try, I'll keep going."
"You do wonder sometimes, am I shorting a player from an opportunity to do one thing better?" McDaniels said. "So it does take an unselfish player, a smart player and a player physically who can handle it. That's what we've chosen to do with Spencer."
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
Taking sides
Broncos linebacker/fullback Spencer Larsen is the team's only two-way player. He breaks down what he likes about both sides of the ball:
OFFENSE
"My favorite thing about offense is you know exactly who you are supposed to block. It's a lot more specific. It's physical, and I like that, but you know if they do this, you do that; if they do that, you do this . . . that you always know what to do."
DEFENSE
"On defense, the formation determines what your assignment is when you line up, but things change if they shift, if they motion. And then you have to react to run and pass. There are a lot of other things, but on defense I like to read and react, and I like to feel more free-flowing and make the hit."
Jeff Legwold, The Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13105126?source=rss