Broncos work out a few prospects, Bailey rejoins practices, Brown should be ready

[SoCalBronco]

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_3003758

broncos notes
Roster needs to be finalized
Mauck can't pass up Titans
By Bill Williamson
Denver Post Staff Writer



With Jerry Rice retired and Matt Mauck on his way to the Tennessee Titans, the Broncos have two holes to fill.

The Broncos likely will finalize their practice squad today and may wait until later in the week to fill the 53rd and final spot on the active roster. The roster spot opened Monday when Rice confirmed what the Broncos expected all weekend, that he would retire from the NFL, ending a 20-year career.

The Broncos had hoped to plug their practice-squad opening with Mauck, a quarterback who was on the squad last year. However, Mauck opted Monday to sign with the Titans to be on their practice squad.

Mauck's agent, Mark Rodgers, said the former LSU star, a seventh-round pick of the Broncos in 2004, chose Tennessee over the Broncos because he thinks there's a good chance the Titans will elevate him to the active roster. Like the Broncos, the Titans have two quarterbacks on their roster. But the Broncos likely will keep only two quarterbacks on their roster unless something unexpected, such as an injury, occurs.

"Matt is looking forward to a fresh start," Rodgers said. "This wasn't about changing practice squads. This was about getting on the active roster, and we think that's just a matter of time in Tennessee."

The Broncos are expected to sign quarterback Kliff Kingsbury to their practice squad. The former Texas Tech star recently was released by New Orleans. He was on the Saints' practice squad last year and was a sixth-round pick of New England in 2003. He spent that season on injured reserve.

The Broncos also brought in former LSU quarterback Rohan Davey for a workout Monday. Davey, who likely won't be signed at this time, doesn't have eligibility remaining for the practice squad.

In addition to Davey, Denver brought in wide receivers Josh Davis and Reggie Newhouse. They were recent cuts, Davis by Miami and Newhouse by Arizona.

Bailey ready to return

Veteran cornerback Champ Bailey and defensive end Courtney Brown, who




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missed the entire preseason because of injuries, practiced as the Broncos began preparations for Sunday's season opener at Miami.
Bailey has been out with a hamstring injury and Brown dislocated his left elbow Aug. 4.

Coach Mike Shanahan said Bailey will play in the opener. Brown will be monitored this week in practice.

"If there are no setbacks, (Brown) has a chance to play (Sunday)," Shanahan said.

If Brown doesn't play, Ebenezer Ekuban likely will start at right end. Ekuban played with the starters in the preseason.

Bailey could have played in the preseason finale at Arizona, but the starters sat out. This will be Bailey's 97th consecutive regular-season game.

"I'm 100 percent, I'm playing," Bailey said. "This will be 97 of hopefully 200 or 300 games."

Numbers game

The Broncos head to Miami 0-6 there and are 2-9 in Florida. The Broncos play in Jacksonville on Oct. 2. While the Broncos have hard times in Florida, they do have some statistics working in their favor. The Broncos have won four straight season openers and are 8-2 in openers under Shanahan.

Call them captains

Denver's offensive captains for the season will be Jake Plummer and Rod Smith, and the defensive captains are Al Wilson and John Lynch. The special- teams captains will change weekly in the first half of the season, with Keith Burns first up.

Bill Williamson can be reached at 303-820-5450 or bwilliamson@denverpost.com.

[SoCalBronco]

Interesting that we worked Josh Davis out. Maybe it will help Watts to have his friend on the team.

[GreatBronco16]

So Engleberger is #4 on the depth chart for DEs?? I'm sure he'll get alot of playing time against the phins.

[footstepsfrom#27]

Interesting that we worked Josh Davis out. Maybe it will help Watts to have his friend on the team.
Why do we need a mediocre possession receiver with average size and speed who couldn't crack Miami's roster? If Rice was leaving anyway, we should have kept Luke. I still say you don't cut 4.3 speed. He showed some pretty good moves against the Cards. The #5 or 6 guy should have return ability.

[SoCalBronco]

Why do we need a mediocre possession receiver with average size and speed who couldn't crack Miami's roster? If Rice was leaving anyway, we should have kept Luke. I still say you don't cut 4.3 speed. He showed some pretty good moves against the Cards. The #5 or 6 guy should have return ability.

We can still pick up Luke at any time if we wish, 27. He is on Houston's PS and we have a spot free now as you point out. If the staff think its worth it, they can sign him onto the active roster. Speed is important but 40 speed has very little value. Its about game speed. How fast can you go in and out of your breaks. If you have trouble getting off the line, it will take you longer to get to the passing lane even with your great speed.

[Clockwork Orange]

Engelberger will be tough to keep off the field because of the balls to the wall effort he gives on every play. That and the fact that Courtney Brown seems to always seems to be half a heartbeat away from IR.

Ekuban looked solid in the preseason, so it'll make for a nice rotation with he and Engelberger on one side and Pryce on the other. I wonder if the Broncos will at any time go with Ekuban & Engelberger on the ends with Pryce & Warren in the middle. Not a bad group to throw out there on passing downs.

[footstepsfrom#27]

We can still pick up Luke at any time if we wish, 27. He is on Houston's PS and we have a spot free now as you point out. If the staff think its worth it, they can sign him onto the active roster. Speed is important but 40 speed has very little value. Its about game speed. How fast can you go in and out of your breaks. If you have trouble getting off the line, it will take you longer to get to the passing lane even with your great speed.
He played well while he was on the field against the Cards. Don't forget he rarely saw the ball at Alabama because their offense wasn't much for passing.

On another note...my man from Arlington Grace Prep Lance Leggett dropped what looked like a TD on that crossing route tonight...the Cane's need a QB who can get it downfield. How many measly 15 yard PI penalties did they cause those FSU corners that might have been big gainers if their QB could get it deep?

[Mr. Trout]

Go Kingsbury!!!

[Drek]

Sign Davey in place of Rice. He's got a lot of gametime experience, has seen how a winning team handles itself, and brings the skills we need in a QB. With someone as young and raw as BVP at #2 we need a #3 option other than signing Kanell back. ;P

[Ballhawk]

Isn't there a good Guard out there that we could trade for? If House ends up starting at Guard Im going Ape****!

[BlitzingDog]

We signed Kliff Kingsbury to the PS. :(

[Crushisback]

"I wonder if the Broncos will at any time go with Ekuban & Engelberger on the ends with Pryce & Warren in the middle. Not a bad group to throw out there on passing downs."[/QUOTE]


I think that is the plan here. Part of the reson we kept so few DT's.

[bloodsunday]

Bailey has been out with a hamstring injury and Brown dislocated his left elbow Aug. 4.

Coach Mike Shanahan said Bailey will play in the opener. Brown will be monitored this week in practice.

"If there are no setbacks, (Brown) has a chance to play (Sunday)," Shanahan said.

If Brown doesn't play, Ebenezer Ekuban likely will start at right end. Ekuban played with the starters in the preseason.
Shanny and his straight forward analysis at work again. Buckle up folks. My bet is that Brown doesn't play for several more weeks. How many times was Trevor a week a way from coming back last year? Shanny must have taken "Clintonees" in college. Can you define what you mean by "probable"?

[bloodsunday]

Sign Davey in place of Rice. He's got a lot of gametime experience, has seen how a winning team handles itself, and brings the skills we need in a QB. With someone as young and raw as BVP at #2 we need a #3 option other than signing Kanell back. ;P
Screw Davey. We need some OL help, badly. Kannell will be sitting out there waiting for us to call.

[fontaine]

Screw Davey. We need some OL help, badly. Kannell will be sitting out there waiting for us to call.

I really don't see the big deal with the OL right now. There's no FA out there that can come in and start immediately for us.

If we do get one or two injuries, then I'm pretty sure they'll cut someone like Nate Jackson and bring back Clement, Watton or whoever. Carswell wasn't just kept on to play G because he looks pretty as a 288lb TE, but because he's better than who we cut. Chances are those cuts at the OL will be hanging around other teams practice squads or walking the streets in Denver until we need them.

[broncosteven]

We can still pick up Luke at any time if we wish, 27. He is on Houston's PS and we have a spot free now as you point out. If the staff think its worth it, they can sign him onto the active roster. Speed is important but 40 speed has very little value. Its about game speed. How fast can you go in and out of your breaks. If you have trouble getting off the line, it will take you longer to get to the passing lane even with your great speed.

I concur, Luke hasn't shown me that he can get open & CATCH the ball consistently. From what little PS I was able to see this year i saw Luke drop as many as he caught. I say HE GONE & bring new Blood in. The goat never had great 40 speed but look at what he did before he hit 41, the only 43 he ran in his life was in his AGE!

Speed is useless unless you can get seperation & catch the ball.

[broncosteven]

I really don't see the big deal with the OL right now. There's no FA out there that can come in and start immediately for us.

If we do get one or two injuries, then I'm pretty sure they'll cut someone like Nate Jackson and bring back Clement, Watton or whoever. Carswell wasn't just kept on to play G because he looks pretty as a 288lb TE, but because he's better than who we cut. Chances are those cuts at the OL will be hanging around other teams practice squads or walking the streets in Denver until we need them.


Thanks fontaine! How often do you see more than 2 O-line guys go down in a year? These are the grunts that play hurt all year. Not like some HB that hurts his pinky & is out for weeks, these guys pop the pinky back in, tape it up & go. if we get to point where we need to call up a PS guy to start or rely on 2nd stringer we are in trouble. There is a reason these guys are on PS, they are not starter material. We got guys to groom on PS already.

Please get off the "Lack of O-line Depth Ledge" & lets see how the 1st couple of games go. So far we have been VERY HEALTHY everywhere Champ & China only real issues & they are close.

[ludo21]

I like the Kingsbury pick up. I agree with bloody we need another OL. Yes yes i know there is no FA starter out there. But im not looking for a starter. Just a backup for a few plays to give some rest for our guys. If we go into the seawson with 7 OL it will be interesting how well we do around week 10 or so when were tired.

But i trust shanny, and just as khan has labeled this off season "just wait and see"

[SoCalBronco]

On another note...my man from Arlington Grace Prep Lance Leggett dropped what looked like a TD on that crossing route tonight...the Cane's need a QB who can get it downfield. How many measly 15 yard PI penalties did they cause those FSU corners that might have been big gainers if their QB could get it deep?

Dont blame Wright for Leggett's mistakes. Leggett didnt show up. Wright did.

[brncs_fan]

Ekuban looked solid in the preseason, so it'll make for a nice rotation with he and Engelberger on one side and Pryce on the other. I wonder if the Broncos will at any time go with Ekuban & Engelberger on the ends with Pryce & Warren in the middle. Not a bad group to throw out there on passing downs.

Pryce moved from DT to DE end so he would last longer in the league. It is extremely hard to last in this league at a high level playing DT.

[Clockwork Orange]

Pryce moved from DT to DE end so he would last longer in the league. It is extremely hard to last in this league at a high level playing DT.

I'm aware of that. I wasn't talking about a permanent move back to DT, I was talking about rotating him into the middle on passing downs.

[Mile High Shack]

I'm aware of that. I wasn't talking about a permanent move back to DT, I was talking about rotating him into the middle on passing downs.

which...as I recall, is exactly what they plan to do, per Mediator

[Kaylore]

Yeah, don't read too much into the D-line depth chart. They will all get a large amount of time to play. We will rotate different packages depending on the offense, down, and even quarter we are playing. There will be a number of different combinations this season on defense.

The nice thing is that we are doing with defense what we have done with offense. We've always adjusted our formations and game plan on offense to match up against the defense we are playing. Now we're trying that on defense. The patriots played a 4-3 in the super bowl. I bet we work out of a few different base packages this year as we adjust to the teams we're playing.

I'm glad to see that Bailey is 100% again. Hopefully he's up to game speed and mentally ready as well. I guess even a rusty Champ Bailey is better than most corners in the league anyway, though. It's alos nice to know thta if Brown is in the tub all year, we are still going to be ok up front.

[footstepsfrom#27]

Dont blame Wright for Leggett's mistakes. Leggett didnt show up. Wright did.
Who said anything about mistakes? I'm just making an observation that Wright can't go deep, which is obvious. What's the point of having all that deep speed if you have a QB that can't throw long? I may have missed something when I dozed off for a while...but I only saw Leggett drop one pass and I only saw them throw his way twice, with the other one a bad pass that was almost picked off. Wright actually gave FSU the game with his INT's. How did he "show up"?