dragondawg
08-03-2008, 01:04 AM
By FRANK SCHWAB
THE GAZETTE
ENGLEWOOD • In a few months, Denver Broncos kicker Matt Prater's performance on Saturday will be long forgotten. His kicks in preseason and regular-season games will determine if he's a successful replacement to Broncos all-time leading scorer Jason Elam.
But Prater couldn't have had a better day as he tries to prove himself to teammates and fans.
Prater made all eight of his field goals in the usual live field-goal portion of practice. Then he moved back to 59 yards and hit one. With the crowd starting to buzz and teammates taking extra notice, he stepped back to 68 yards. And he nailed the 68-yarder without a problem.
"That would have been good at 73 or 74," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said.
Shanahan was more impressed with a kick later in practice. The Broncos had a 2-minute drill, and the situation was the offense trailed by two points. Once the offense drove to the defense's 40-yard line, Shanahan set it up for Prater to kick. After one run gained a few yards, the clock ran down to a few seconds, a time-out was called and Prater was sent on for a game-ending, 54-yard field goal. He hit it down the middle.
There's no way to match the pressure of kicking with a regular-season game on the line, but there was some pressure in that final kick of Saturday's practice. Some players were concerned about letting Elam go to Atlanta, so Prater might have proven something with his fantastic day.
"It felt good to just show the team that I can do it and give them some confidence in me so in the game when I do have a chance to have a game-winner they expect me to make it and they are not thinking ‘flip a coin,'" Prater said. "I maybe got a little bit more confidence out of the team and a little more confidence in myself."
Cornerback Champ Bailey expressed his concern in March about Elam leaving, saying he would be even more bothered if no kicker impressed him in camp. After Saturday's show, Bailey said Prater looked good.
"That's impressive, but I've been around this game a long time, and I know not to evaluate people until they're in game-time situations," Bailey said.
Odds and ends
Rookie linebacker Spencer Larsen was excused from practice because his wife went into labor. ... Shanahan on giving the team off for the rest of the weekend after Saturday morning's practice: "I think we got a lot done. The players now have about a day-and-a-half off. Well deserved."
http://www.gazette.com/sports/kicking_38890___article.html/prater_broncos.html
THE GAZETTE
ENGLEWOOD • In a few months, Denver Broncos kicker Matt Prater's performance on Saturday will be long forgotten. His kicks in preseason and regular-season games will determine if he's a successful replacement to Broncos all-time leading scorer Jason Elam.
But Prater couldn't have had a better day as he tries to prove himself to teammates and fans.
Prater made all eight of his field goals in the usual live field-goal portion of practice. Then he moved back to 59 yards and hit one. With the crowd starting to buzz and teammates taking extra notice, he stepped back to 68 yards. And he nailed the 68-yarder without a problem.
"That would have been good at 73 or 74," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said.
Shanahan was more impressed with a kick later in practice. The Broncos had a 2-minute drill, and the situation was the offense trailed by two points. Once the offense drove to the defense's 40-yard line, Shanahan set it up for Prater to kick. After one run gained a few yards, the clock ran down to a few seconds, a time-out was called and Prater was sent on for a game-ending, 54-yard field goal. He hit it down the middle.
There's no way to match the pressure of kicking with a regular-season game on the line, but there was some pressure in that final kick of Saturday's practice. Some players were concerned about letting Elam go to Atlanta, so Prater might have proven something with his fantastic day.
"It felt good to just show the team that I can do it and give them some confidence in me so in the game when I do have a chance to have a game-winner they expect me to make it and they are not thinking ‘flip a coin,'" Prater said. "I maybe got a little bit more confidence out of the team and a little more confidence in myself."
Cornerback Champ Bailey expressed his concern in March about Elam leaving, saying he would be even more bothered if no kicker impressed him in camp. After Saturday's show, Bailey said Prater looked good.
"That's impressive, but I've been around this game a long time, and I know not to evaluate people until they're in game-time situations," Bailey said.
Odds and ends
Rookie linebacker Spencer Larsen was excused from practice because his wife went into labor. ... Shanahan on giving the team off for the rest of the weekend after Saturday morning's practice: "I think we got a lot done. The players now have about a day-and-a-half off. Well deserved."
http://www.gazette.com/sports/kicking_38890___article.html/prater_broncos.html