DenverBrit
05-27-2007, 11:20 AM
Broncos Players Get Homework For The Weekend
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by Andrew Mason, DenverBroncos.com
(CBS4/DenverBroncos.com) DENVER Coming to team headquarters for organized team activities wasn't enough for Broncos defenders.
This weekend, they took a slice of OTAs home with them.
"(Assistant head coach Jim Bates) told us to take those playbooks home and make sure we stay polished up for the next camp," defensive tackle Gerard Warren said.
"We're putting in quite a few defenses. Coach (Bates) expects us to pick them up fast and keep it moving."
And to pay attention. You can stick your nose in the playbook when you're at home or studying on your own, but that nose had better be up and those eyes focused when Bates convenes a defensive meeting.
For the Broncos' defenders, Bates' classroom sessions are like college all over again. When the professor calls your name to contribute to the discussion in mid-lecture, you'd better have the right answer.
"He asks you questions," safety Nick Ferguson said. "'Explain to me exactly how this goes,' or 'What type of running formation is this? What are the run gaps?'
"Maybe in the past, guys weren't responsible for answering those type of questions and knowing the run gaps. Now everybody's responsible, so you have to know what every person on the field is doing."
Welcome to Dove Valley -- where Friday Night Lights meets The Paper Chase.
"Everybody's attentive," Ferguson said. "If anybody dozes off at any moment, he makes sure his presence is known, so you have to like that."
For some players, Bates' classroom methods take them back to their undergraduate days. For others, the college-age flashback comes on the field.
"It reminds me of college, where the defensive linemen were able to use our athletic ability," said defensive end Kenard Lang, who matriculated at the University of Miami. "Most of all, we can line up wider this year. I don't get to be on top of a tackle, smelling his mouthpiece, which is great.
"I can go, line up wide and make plays ... We can line up wide and just go."
On the field, Bates can continue his classroom lessons. The organized team activity sessions are designed for instruction above all else. There are no pads, and more often than not, no helmets. The time for hitting will come in July and August; for now, Bates can instruct and impart on the field without a dry-erase board and some markers at his disposal.
"You go to (training) camp and you're moving 100 miles an hour, trying to dot the i's and cross the t's," Head Coach Mike Shanahan said. "In this situation, it's a little bit more of a teaching environment than it is a hectic environment, trying to get guys in shape, so it's been real positive."
And while Bates has given his defenders a fair amount of new material to absorb, it's not overwhelming. His scheme sees beauty in simplicity.
"You get to this level and people think it's about tricking people and it's about schemes and things," safety John Lynch said. "We're going to have a fine scheme, but much like we did in Tampa, it's not about trying to trick people. It's doing what you do very well and doing it so well that it doesn't matter what the opponent's doing."
"They give you stuff to retain information, but with this defense, it's not complicated for the D-ends," Lang added. "The majority of the time, you're outside (the offensive tackle), and that's really it. We don't have to worry about dropping into zones or this and that.
"That's why it takes me back to college. It's real fundamental and simple. You don't have to be a Brainiac or an Einstein to learn this defense. Billy from Joe's Crab Shack can come down and know this defense by the next day."
But it's doubtful Billy could come in and execute the work as well as Lynch, Lang, Warren, Ferguson, Champ Bailey and the rest of Denver's defenders.
"It's about us," Lynch said, "and I like that approach."
http://cbs4denver.com/broncos/local_story_146130319.html
Sign Up For CBS4 Broncos Insiders Emails
by Andrew Mason, DenverBroncos.com
(CBS4/DenverBroncos.com) DENVER Coming to team headquarters for organized team activities wasn't enough for Broncos defenders.
This weekend, they took a slice of OTAs home with them.
"(Assistant head coach Jim Bates) told us to take those playbooks home and make sure we stay polished up for the next camp," defensive tackle Gerard Warren said.
"We're putting in quite a few defenses. Coach (Bates) expects us to pick them up fast and keep it moving."
And to pay attention. You can stick your nose in the playbook when you're at home or studying on your own, but that nose had better be up and those eyes focused when Bates convenes a defensive meeting.
For the Broncos' defenders, Bates' classroom sessions are like college all over again. When the professor calls your name to contribute to the discussion in mid-lecture, you'd better have the right answer.
"He asks you questions," safety Nick Ferguson said. "'Explain to me exactly how this goes,' or 'What type of running formation is this? What are the run gaps?'
"Maybe in the past, guys weren't responsible for answering those type of questions and knowing the run gaps. Now everybody's responsible, so you have to know what every person on the field is doing."
Welcome to Dove Valley -- where Friday Night Lights meets The Paper Chase.
"Everybody's attentive," Ferguson said. "If anybody dozes off at any moment, he makes sure his presence is known, so you have to like that."
For some players, Bates' classroom methods take them back to their undergraduate days. For others, the college-age flashback comes on the field.
"It reminds me of college, where the defensive linemen were able to use our athletic ability," said defensive end Kenard Lang, who matriculated at the University of Miami. "Most of all, we can line up wider this year. I don't get to be on top of a tackle, smelling his mouthpiece, which is great.
"I can go, line up wide and make plays ... We can line up wide and just go."
On the field, Bates can continue his classroom lessons. The organized team activity sessions are designed for instruction above all else. There are no pads, and more often than not, no helmets. The time for hitting will come in July and August; for now, Bates can instruct and impart on the field without a dry-erase board and some markers at his disposal.
"You go to (training) camp and you're moving 100 miles an hour, trying to dot the i's and cross the t's," Head Coach Mike Shanahan said. "In this situation, it's a little bit more of a teaching environment than it is a hectic environment, trying to get guys in shape, so it's been real positive."
And while Bates has given his defenders a fair amount of new material to absorb, it's not overwhelming. His scheme sees beauty in simplicity.
"You get to this level and people think it's about tricking people and it's about schemes and things," safety John Lynch said. "We're going to have a fine scheme, but much like we did in Tampa, it's not about trying to trick people. It's doing what you do very well and doing it so well that it doesn't matter what the opponent's doing."
"They give you stuff to retain information, but with this defense, it's not complicated for the D-ends," Lang added. "The majority of the time, you're outside (the offensive tackle), and that's really it. We don't have to worry about dropping into zones or this and that.
"That's why it takes me back to college. It's real fundamental and simple. You don't have to be a Brainiac or an Einstein to learn this defense. Billy from Joe's Crab Shack can come down and know this defense by the next day."
But it's doubtful Billy could come in and execute the work as well as Lynch, Lang, Warren, Ferguson, Champ Bailey and the rest of Denver's defenders.
"It's about us," Lynch said, "and I like that approach."
http://cbs4denver.com/broncos/local_story_146130319.html