dragondawg
08-11-2007, 10:12 PM
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- With some memorable and not-so-memorable performances in the morning "breakdown" acts over the last two weeks, linebacker D.J. Williams made sure that the last day of camp provided a fitting finale.
Williams called up one of the young ball boys and on his signal, hip-hop music blasted out of speakers that had been set up as the youngster broke out into a dance, and many of the players joined in as well.
"We just added a little spice to it," cornerback Champ Bailey said. "We let the little guy break us down."
Linebacker Nate Webster said he enjoyed the show.
"I loved it. He knew what he was doing," Webster said. "He was doing it better than some of the guys on the team. D.J. just called him up and I think that was real nice of him. It went down real good. It got everybody amped. Nice way to end camp."
BAD NEWS: The team learned that linebacker Warrick Holdman, who suffered a spinal cord concussion last Thursday, will miss at least three months, certainly a disappointment after Holdman had said he felt fine and expressed his desire to play sooner rather than later.
"Right now it's a little hard to say what we are going to do," Head Coach Mike Shanahan said. "We're talking to his agent, we're talking to his doctors.
"When they go in there and evaluate players, they give them a bunch of tests and (the doctor's) recommendation was for him not to play or do anything for three months," Shanahan said.
PRESEASON OPENER: Even though preseason games don't count in the standings, many of the Broncos felt there was still plenty to gain from squaring off against the 49ers on Monday night.
Webster said he might have an issue with the number of preseason games each team plays, but felt they are beneficial nonetheless.
"I'm cool with the preseason games. It's kind of like a tune-up, a warm-up before we actually get started," Webster said. "Now whether it's four games or three or two, that's a different story. But preseason is fairly good I think. It gets you ready for the real thing."
Tight end Daniel Graham said the first preseason game held extra meaning for him, since it was the first time he'd get to strap on the pads and his Broncos helmet in a game situation.
"I'm going to be excited just to put on that Bronco helmet for the first time, go out there with my new teammates and just have a good showing on Monday," Graham said.
Bailey said he was more interested in seeing how some of his younger teammates performed.
"I'll go out there and get a feel for my teammates, really, and look at these young guys and see who’s going to step up and make this team," Bailey said. "I've been around and I know what we're capable of and what I'm capable of. I want to see what some of these young guys got."
Safety John Lynch said the key to a preseason game was to maintain a high level of play, even it meant only being on the field for a short time.
"However many plays you play, whether it's three, if it's 10, if it's 12, if it's 40, you've got to go out and play to our standard," Lynch said.
Shanahan said preseason games afford the coaching staff a more realistic evaluation tool than a practice situation.
"That's what it's (the preseason) for, a chance to evaluate your players and that's what they've been looking for, this opportunity to show what they can do in a game situation," Shanahan said. "It's hard to tell all the time when they're just practicing against each other. You get a feel, but some guys really step up when the lights go on and other guys go the other direction. You're always hoping to find guys that enjoy the spotlight and enjoy the opportunity to prove themselves, and that's what these preseason games are for."
Webster said the players feel similarly.
"We haven't played a game yet. Practice is one thing and you're able to show the coaches what you're able to do in practice but game time is a whole different story," Webster said. "The lights are on, and some guys are practice players and some guys come out when the lights are on. You want the guys that shine when the lights come on that help your chances of winning."
ON THE ROAD: Although the official end of training camp was today, after Monday's game in San Francisco the team faces a trip to Dallas next week that will see the team scrimmage and practice against the Cowboys before squaring off in a preseason game on August 18.
The heat and humidity, combined with the increased intensity of practicing against another team, had some of the Broncos feeling like training camp wasn't over just yet.
"It's going to be a long week for us next week," Graham said. "Camp's not over yet. We still have next week to look forward to, so until then, we're still in camp.
"We all know what's really going on. We have a long week next week getting ready for Dallas after this game on Monday so we're not looking ahead to anything right now," Graham said.
Lynch said he'd been around long enough to know that there was still much work to be done.
"We play a game in San (Francisco) and then turn around and go to Dallas and I know from experience when you scrimmage against another team the intensity’s always up," Lynch said. "In all our players' minds who've been around understand this talk of a two-week camp -- it’s (really) a three-week camp."
Bailey said he wasn't too excited about practicing in Dallas' heat and humidity.
"I was looking at the weather today, it's 102 (degrees) down there," Bailey said. "It's going to be tough, practicing twice a day like that. That's tough."
Bailey said practicing against another team means more scrutiny and less room for mistakes.
"You don't want to get beat by another team. You can get beat by your players all day but not by another team," Bailey said.
CAMP VISITOR: Detroit Pistons guard Chauncey Billups, a Colorado native and former University of Colorado standout, was on hand for Saturday's practice.
http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=334&storyID=7039
Williams called up one of the young ball boys and on his signal, hip-hop music blasted out of speakers that had been set up as the youngster broke out into a dance, and many of the players joined in as well.
"We just added a little spice to it," cornerback Champ Bailey said. "We let the little guy break us down."
Linebacker Nate Webster said he enjoyed the show.
"I loved it. He knew what he was doing," Webster said. "He was doing it better than some of the guys on the team. D.J. just called him up and I think that was real nice of him. It went down real good. It got everybody amped. Nice way to end camp."
BAD NEWS: The team learned that linebacker Warrick Holdman, who suffered a spinal cord concussion last Thursday, will miss at least three months, certainly a disappointment after Holdman had said he felt fine and expressed his desire to play sooner rather than later.
"Right now it's a little hard to say what we are going to do," Head Coach Mike Shanahan said. "We're talking to his agent, we're talking to his doctors.
"When they go in there and evaluate players, they give them a bunch of tests and (the doctor's) recommendation was for him not to play or do anything for three months," Shanahan said.
PRESEASON OPENER: Even though preseason games don't count in the standings, many of the Broncos felt there was still plenty to gain from squaring off against the 49ers on Monday night.
Webster said he might have an issue with the number of preseason games each team plays, but felt they are beneficial nonetheless.
"I'm cool with the preseason games. It's kind of like a tune-up, a warm-up before we actually get started," Webster said. "Now whether it's four games or three or two, that's a different story. But preseason is fairly good I think. It gets you ready for the real thing."
Tight end Daniel Graham said the first preseason game held extra meaning for him, since it was the first time he'd get to strap on the pads and his Broncos helmet in a game situation.
"I'm going to be excited just to put on that Bronco helmet for the first time, go out there with my new teammates and just have a good showing on Monday," Graham said.
Bailey said he was more interested in seeing how some of his younger teammates performed.
"I'll go out there and get a feel for my teammates, really, and look at these young guys and see who’s going to step up and make this team," Bailey said. "I've been around and I know what we're capable of and what I'm capable of. I want to see what some of these young guys got."
Safety John Lynch said the key to a preseason game was to maintain a high level of play, even it meant only being on the field for a short time.
"However many plays you play, whether it's three, if it's 10, if it's 12, if it's 40, you've got to go out and play to our standard," Lynch said.
Shanahan said preseason games afford the coaching staff a more realistic evaluation tool than a practice situation.
"That's what it's (the preseason) for, a chance to evaluate your players and that's what they've been looking for, this opportunity to show what they can do in a game situation," Shanahan said. "It's hard to tell all the time when they're just practicing against each other. You get a feel, but some guys really step up when the lights go on and other guys go the other direction. You're always hoping to find guys that enjoy the spotlight and enjoy the opportunity to prove themselves, and that's what these preseason games are for."
Webster said the players feel similarly.
"We haven't played a game yet. Practice is one thing and you're able to show the coaches what you're able to do in practice but game time is a whole different story," Webster said. "The lights are on, and some guys are practice players and some guys come out when the lights are on. You want the guys that shine when the lights come on that help your chances of winning."
ON THE ROAD: Although the official end of training camp was today, after Monday's game in San Francisco the team faces a trip to Dallas next week that will see the team scrimmage and practice against the Cowboys before squaring off in a preseason game on August 18.
The heat and humidity, combined with the increased intensity of practicing against another team, had some of the Broncos feeling like training camp wasn't over just yet.
"It's going to be a long week for us next week," Graham said. "Camp's not over yet. We still have next week to look forward to, so until then, we're still in camp.
"We all know what's really going on. We have a long week next week getting ready for Dallas after this game on Monday so we're not looking ahead to anything right now," Graham said.
Lynch said he'd been around long enough to know that there was still much work to be done.
"We play a game in San (Francisco) and then turn around and go to Dallas and I know from experience when you scrimmage against another team the intensity’s always up," Lynch said. "In all our players' minds who've been around understand this talk of a two-week camp -- it’s (really) a three-week camp."
Bailey said he wasn't too excited about practicing in Dallas' heat and humidity.
"I was looking at the weather today, it's 102 (degrees) down there," Bailey said. "It's going to be tough, practicing twice a day like that. That's tough."
Bailey said practicing against another team means more scrutiny and less room for mistakes.
"You don't want to get beat by another team. You can get beat by your players all day but not by another team," Bailey said.
CAMP VISITOR: Detroit Pistons guard Chauncey Billups, a Colorado native and former University of Colorado standout, was on hand for Saturday's practice.
http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=334&storyID=7039