Quick turnaround is sore subject
Short work week will test bodies, minds of players
By Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Defensive end Elvis Dumervil tied his career high with three sacks Sunday, but he didn't dwell on his big day for long with a game coming Thursday. "It's all about being a professional, and that's what a great one does. You have to put this game behind and look forward," Dumervil said.
Elvis Dumervil zipped his coat and was preparing to head out the locker room door Sunday night.
But he wasn't leaving to celebrate the Broncos' most convincing win this season.
He already had the Houston Texans on the brain.
"I'm going home right now to get some film to watch and get ready for those guys," Dumervil said.
With only a three-day window (including a travel day) between games to prepare for Thursday night's matchup at Houston (6:15 MST, KWGN-Channel 2, NFL Network), the defensive end and the rest of his teammates will be forced this week to sneak glances of the Texans whenever possible.
"It's all about being a professional, and that's what a great one does," Dumervil said. "You have to put this game behind and look forward."
Some of the current Broncos have experience with such a short window. The Broncos have played the Dallas Cowboys twice on Thanksgiving (2001 and 2005), winning both times. And the Broncos lost at Kansas City in 2006 also on Thanksgiving.
"Physically in this league, from Monday night to Sunday is a quick turnaround. This is real quick," safety John Lynch said of the Sunday-to-Thursday turnaround. "The good thing about it is if you win, it's like another bye week and you get to refresh yourself. But it can be tough on the body. Usually during the work week you start feeling good around Thursday. So it's all about a mind-set. And Mike does a good job of preparing us."
Mike Shanahan and Co. began the process of scouting Houston on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The coaching staff began mapping out a preliminary game plan that was to be finalized Monday, when Broncos players watched film of their 41-7 pounding of Kansas City and ran through a special-teams practice.
The normal Wednesday and Thursday workouts will be condensed into a single session today. The team then will embark to Houston on Wednesday after going through about a one-hour walk-through.
"Trying to get a grasp of our game plan in such a short time is one of the hardest things because this late in the season, you don't really need to go out and beat each other up on the practice field as much," left tackle Matt Lepsis said. "But you do need to go out there and know what you're doing. Everybody's got to study a little more than they would in other weeks."
And while the Broncos came out of the Chiefs game with relatively few injuries - receiver Brandon Stokley might be the most iffy because of a sore knee - the ability to bounce back might depend some on Father Time.
"I'm 23, that's a good thing," Dumervil said. "Youth is good."
Added defensive end Domonique Foxworth: "It's difficult. I'm not going to say it's easy. But I'm young. I recover fast. I'm good."
Lynch's message to the neophytes nevertheless is to get plenty of rest.
How about when the lights go out in the meeting room?
"If you have to," Lynch said with a laugh. "That's a good excuse."
Still, the opponent or, more specifically, the Texans coach, might make the transition from Week 14 to Week 15 smoother. Gary Kubiak was an assistant with the Broncos for 11 seasons, and his schemes in some respects aren't foreign.
"We're similar offenses," Lepsis said. "We do a lot of similar things. So their defense sees our defense a lot, and likewise with our defense."
The Broncos have played the Texans in four of the past five preseasons and in the 2004 regular season - that one game marks the Broncos' fewest against any NFL opponent - so the personnel are familiar.
This week's matchup will be the Texans' first on a Thursday night and will mark the first time the Broncos have played a Thursday night game in three straight seasons. So even with a heavy roster turnover, many Broncos players have had some experience with the scenario.
"This team has never been through something like this. We've got to turn right around here," Kubiak said after the Texans' upset of Tampa Bay on Sunday helped them match the Broncos' 6-7 record. "I've got to take a shower, then head up to the office with the rest of the coaches and come up with something between now and 9 in the morning because theses kids will be right back.
"But for us to continue to take steps forward, we have to learn to do all these things."
Kubiak played once in a Thursday game during his stint from 1983 to 1991 as a Broncos backup quarterback. That Thursday appearance came during a period, before Shanahan's arrival as coach, in which the Broncos played eight times on Thursdays and won only once.
Regardless of the day, the result of this week's meeting likely will mark the official end of one team's slim playoff hopes.
"It's real tough," tight end Daniel Graham said of the task ahead. "We lose some days and we have to throw in a game plan in about two days. Guys are going to be sore. But it's what we do for a living. So we have to get ready for it."
rasizerl@RockyMountainNews.com
Broncos on Thursdays
The Broncos are 3-8 in the midweek game
Date Result
Nov 22, 1962 New York Titans 46, DENVER 45
Nov. 28, 1963 Oakland 26, DENVER 10
Nov. 23 1967 SAN DIEGO 24, Denver 20
Nov. 27, 1969 KANSAS CITY 31, Denver 17
Nov. 28, 1974 Denver 31, DETROIT 27
Nov. 23, 1978 DETROIT 17, Denver 14
*Sept. 6, 1979 Los Angeles Rams 13, DENVER 9
Nov. 22, 1990 DETROIT 40, Denver 27
Nov. 22, 2001 Denver 26, DALLAS 24
Nov. 24, 2005 Denver 24, DALLAS 21 (OT)
Nov. 23, 2006 KANSAS CITY 19, Denver 10
Long odds
Broncos coach Mike Shanahan is unlikely to appeal the $25,000 fine he received from the league regarding comments he made in defense of running back Travis Henry in recent weeks.
The league fined Shanahan for talking about Henry's case outside of the appeals process, for comments the NFL said were critical of the league's drug-testing program, as well as for citing tests (hair-sample and lie-detector tests) that aren't part of the program.
Shanahan wouldn't definitely rule out an appeal but said: "Let me put it this way, if I was driving down the street and an officer pulled me over for speeding, say 20 miles per hour over, and I disagreed with it and decided to go to court and I went to court and the officer was the judge, I wouldn't feel very good about it. So let's just say the chances aren't very good."
He then cited an episode of the Andy Griffith Show when the title character acted as sheriff and judge for one disgruntled driver.
New deal
Receiver Brandon Stokley's three-year extension formally has been filed with the league.
Stokley signed a one-year deal before this season that included a $720,000 base salary to go with a $780,000 roster bonus.
His extension covers the 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons and he is scheduled to earn base salaries of $830,000, $1.47 million and $1.4 million in those years. It also includes a $5 million roster bonus for next season, but that bonus is split over several payments in 2008 and 2009.
The roster bonus also is guaranteed if Stokley can't play because of injury for the remainder of this season.
Stokley also has roster bonuses of $500,000 in 2009 and 2010 to go with $100,000 workout bonuses in each of those years. He also has a $130,000 bonus if the team wins a playoff game or gets a playoff bye during the deal.
"This guy's a winner," Shanahan said. "You could see it from Day 1. He loves to compete."
Etc.
* Broncos safety Hamza Abdullah, who left Sunday's game after being poked in the eye, initially had some double vision, but Shanahan said he expected Abdullah to be available to play Thursday night.
* Shanahan said the Broncos would continue to monitor receiver Javon Walker's right knee. Walker has missed eight games in the wake of pain in the joint as well as arthroscopic surgery. "He looked better Friday in practice but still wasn't full speed," Shanahan said.
* The Broncos had a special teams only practice.
Quick turnaround is sore subject
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Skin
