SoCalBronco
05-18-2005, 12:10 AM
broncos notes
Camp calls for more production in red zone
By Patrick Saunders
Denver Post Staff Writer
Time after time last season, the Broncos squandered prime opportunities.
Once they moved inside their opponent's 20-yard line, they scored a touchdown 45.3 percent of the time, ranking 28th in the league in red-zone production.
Wide receiver Rod Smith and quarterback Jake Plummer are acutely aware of that statistic.
"Our red zone, honestly, was horrible," Smith said Tuesday after finishing up the second day of the team's eight-day quarterback camp. "We need to be more efficient and take care of the ball. If we do that, we can go back to having high 400-point seasons."
The Broncos gained 6,332 yards of total offense last season, the second most in team history, topped only by 6,554 yards gained by the 2000 team. Yet the Broncos scored just 381 points in 2004, which was a long way from the 501 the Broncos scored in their 1998 Super Bowl championship season.
Plummer said the Broncos are working to fix the problem.
"We're spending half of the day down in the red zone working on plays," Plummer said. "A lot of times the red zone is just a frame of mind. You've got to do down there and be real stubborn and say were coming out of there with points."
Plummer has faith in his three main targets: Ashley Lelie, Darius Watts and Smith.
"We've got everybody back from the second-most prolific offense in Broncos history yardage-wise, so I really don't see why we had to go out and bring in some new guy," Plummer said.
"Ashley had a great year, Rod is going to continue to play well and do what he does and Darius, who had some inconsistencies, is working hard to eliminate
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those."
Brown's recovery
Although he's recovering from torn ligaments in his foot and is not participating in the this camp, Broncos defensive end Courtney Brown has no doubt he will be ready for training camp July 28.
"It's just a process right now where I have to be careful," he said. "It's just about listening to the trainers and listening to their evaluations."
Brown, the No. 1 pick of the 2000 draft, was released by Cleveland this year.
"I'm running and working on my strength and conditioning," he said. "The only thing I'm not doing is the on-the-field stuff."
Happy returns
Smith, who described last season's special-teams play as "horrible," is not quite sure who cornerback Darrent Williams is, but he wouldn't mind if the rookie replaced him as Denver's primary punt returner.
"I don't look at the draft. He's one of those return guys?" Smith said.
Informed that the second- round pick from Oklahoma State was drafted to bolster Denver's sagging special teams, Smith said: "Hopefully he's my replacement. We just need somebody who is going to be explosive."
Camp calls for more production in red zone
By Patrick Saunders
Denver Post Staff Writer
Time after time last season, the Broncos squandered prime opportunities.
Once they moved inside their opponent's 20-yard line, they scored a touchdown 45.3 percent of the time, ranking 28th in the league in red-zone production.
Wide receiver Rod Smith and quarterback Jake Plummer are acutely aware of that statistic.
"Our red zone, honestly, was horrible," Smith said Tuesday after finishing up the second day of the team's eight-day quarterback camp. "We need to be more efficient and take care of the ball. If we do that, we can go back to having high 400-point seasons."
The Broncos gained 6,332 yards of total offense last season, the second most in team history, topped only by 6,554 yards gained by the 2000 team. Yet the Broncos scored just 381 points in 2004, which was a long way from the 501 the Broncos scored in their 1998 Super Bowl championship season.
Plummer said the Broncos are working to fix the problem.
"We're spending half of the day down in the red zone working on plays," Plummer said. "A lot of times the red zone is just a frame of mind. You've got to do down there and be real stubborn and say were coming out of there with points."
Plummer has faith in his three main targets: Ashley Lelie, Darius Watts and Smith.
"We've got everybody back from the second-most prolific offense in Broncos history yardage-wise, so I really don't see why we had to go out and bring in some new guy," Plummer said.
"Ashley had a great year, Rod is going to continue to play well and do what he does and Darius, who had some inconsistencies, is working hard to eliminate
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
those."
Brown's recovery
Although he's recovering from torn ligaments in his foot and is not participating in the this camp, Broncos defensive end Courtney Brown has no doubt he will be ready for training camp July 28.
"It's just a process right now where I have to be careful," he said. "It's just about listening to the trainers and listening to their evaluations."
Brown, the No. 1 pick of the 2000 draft, was released by Cleveland this year.
"I'm running and working on my strength and conditioning," he said. "The only thing I'm not doing is the on-the-field stuff."
Happy returns
Smith, who described last season's special-teams play as "horrible," is not quite sure who cornerback Darrent Williams is, but he wouldn't mind if the rookie replaced him as Denver's primary punt returner.
"I don't look at the draft. He's one of those return guys?" Smith said.
Informed that the second- round pick from Oklahoma State was drafted to bolster Denver's sagging special teams, Smith said: "Hopefully he's my replacement. We just need somebody who is going to be explosive."