OrangeMane Camp Report; 8-13-08 PM Practice [Archive] - The Orange Mane

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Broncoman13

08-13-2008, 10:48 PM

Afternoon Practice:

The Broncos Blog has been a lot better this year. Impressive that they notice and report so much. Good work!

This afternoon I decided to watch our Defense and see how they matched up against the TO-less Cowboys offense. On a side note, I sat down with one of the Cowboys.com guys and he was able to help me out with the Cowboys players so it was easy to keep track of each play. He said both of the Cowboys rookie first round picks were looking good in camp so far (Mike Jenkins and Felix Jones). I had a chance to watch Jenkins this morning and while he looks the part, Colbert was getting the best of him all morning long! I watched Felix Jones pretty closely this afternoon and the Broncos D got the best of him as well! IMO, the best rookie on the field today... our very own Eddie Royal!

I had a chance to chat with a few of the Broncos staff members. X-Ray who has been with the Broncos for a few years was a cool guy and we talked for the first 15 minutes (warm-ups) of practice. He had some neat stories and fond memories of Elway, Lynch, and Shannon Sharpe.

I also met the Broncos Yoga instructor/trainer. This is the first year we've had a Yoga Instructor on staff. He was at CU with guys like Gurode (Cowboys Center) and Daniel Graham. I asked how much Yoga the guys would be doing once the season began, "Don't know, first year" was the response! I guess we'll play this one by ear.

So on to the practice itself. From the far field, where we fans normally sit I was able to see our punt return team.

-Eddie Royal, Glenn Martinez, and McDaniel fielded the punts.

-I'll be honest; this morning Pacman Jones looked special returning punts. He sees the hole and explodes through it. Good vision and good burst.

-Eddie Royal looked very comfortable and I think we'll see some good returns from him, but he's not in Pacman's league, at least not at this point. I hate to admit it b/c Pacman is 100% about "ME" and Eddie Royal is so much like Rod is eye opening! Eddie did a great job fielding the punts even running 15 yards up field to fair catch a short one. It would have gave us good field position and later on Glenn let a similar one bounce to him and McDaniel bobbled one and pushed it out of bounds.

-I couldn't tell who was punting the ball, I assume it was McBriar, but it could have been Ottovegio I guess. Either way, the ball was traveling between 40 and 60 yards in the air. They didn't get off a punt like Kern bombed this morning, but they were more consistent too.

Broncoman13

08-13-2008, 10:50 PM

11 on 11s

Our Defense vs. Their Offense
I was in much better position to see what was going on here this afternoon. I took a bunch of notes and will share them shortly, but first some general observations. We are still doing a lot of the 8 men up thing. McCree sat back about 15 yards behind the LOS. Seriously, it looks like if he moved 10 yards back he'd be ready to field a punt. So the observation I made was as follows, the LBs are expecting his help over the top in the middle of the field. On one play in particular he tried to jump a route (Romo looked him into the coverage) and then Romo found the open receiver who beat DJ. He connected with Bennett and it was the exact spot McCree started at. DJ was yelling, "Where's my safety!?!" Romo made the play happen by baiting McCree in, good on him!

Notes:-The first few plays the Cowboys ran were run plays. Our defense was AWESOME vs. the run today allowing very little, especially up the middle.

-Rookie Mark Bradford beat Tyrone Poole cleanly on a deep curl along the left sideline. Good route and an on time pass from Brad Johnson who has a noodle arm.

-Wesley Woodyard is making it tough on the coaches. Based on his play vs. the Texans and again today, I think he's making a strong push to make this team. I think the Broncos will try and stash him on the PS but it will be a risky move. My guess is they'll try to keep him on for the first week so that teams set their rosters first, then make the move.

-Felix Jones ran up the middle two times in a row. Marcus Thomas and company shut him down two times in a row! Marcus was very active today and made a lot of plays. He would have had a sack a little bit later as well.

-My boy Crowder finally showed up today! He beat RT Pat McQuistan cleanly for a sack on a nice power rush.

-Jack Williams had good coverage on a number of plays, but still his man was able to make the plays on a few occasions. #18 Danny Amendola who seems to be some of the Dallas Media's 'fav' did well to beat him as did #19 Miles Austin. His coverage was good but good throws/catches were able to beat him.

-Alvin McKinley had a good practice and did well in the 11 on 11s. #30 Alonzo Coleman ran one up the middle and was eaten alive by Alvin. Did I mention they didn't have ANY success running up the middle during the afternoon scrimmage?

-I noted that Spencer Larsen did a very good job plugging the middle. I didn't note what RB it was, but they met just past the LOS and Larsen was able to stand his ground well. At the POA he is very strong. I thought he showed good improvement from the last time we saw him in camp. He showed pretty well vs. Houston too.

-I think Stanback is a player. Foxworth had tight coverage on him but he was able to go up strong for a Tony Romo pass and haul it in. It was similar to the play DJack made during the morning practice. Good coverage, very good catch on a high throw.

-Miles Austin beat Paymah along the sidelines but the play took forever to develop. I think it would have been a sack but I was watching Paymah's coverage. He is so hot/cold it is frustrating.

-Once again, I noted Marcus Thomas was a beast shutting down the middle vs. the run.

-Paul Carrington (#95 and our tallest player) made a great play on a Patrick Crayton End Around. He would have ruined him for about a 10 yard loss. Carrington had a would be sack as well. At 6-7 270# he has the size, but I don't think he's done enough to stick.

-Nate Webster made a nice play. I didn't see the whole play as I was watching a long Cutler to Eddie Royal pass on the far field. But, Nate was able to strip the ball out of the receiver’s hands right as he caught it. Probably would be ruled an INT in a game as the receiver didn't really have possession of the ball. I later read that there would have been a sack on the play as well!

-Alonzo Coleman made a very nice one handed catch and was able to get to the sideline. It would have easily went for 20+ yards and was a nice play for the Cowboys but really made by Coleman's grab and some good downfield blocking.

-Dre Bly is still playing the swatting/slapping at the ball game instead of tackling. He's smart about it though and he's still able to get his man down. He'll make some plays this year...FOR SURE!

-They ran a couple successive 3rd down and 7 plays. The first one went for about 3 yards on a HB toss to the left by Keon Lattimore (4th on the depth chart). The next one was a completion to Martellus Bennett that would have gone for 15-20 yards. I noted that Brad Johnson would have been sacked though.

During the 11 on 11s I kept peeking over at the offense. Jay was on fire today and was very much on target. Every time I looked up he was completing a nice pass and his target more often than not was Eddie Royal. I'll admit that I wear Orange Colored Glasses, but this dude is the real deal. Even the Cowboys media dudes were commenting on him. I mentioned #19 during the kick returns and its like, "Oh yeah, that's Eddie Royal!" He's quickly building a name for himself. Sorry, I can't contain my excitement for him and yes I was big on Darrius Watts too!

Interviews:
Brandon Marshall:
Brandon Marshall was coming over to interview and the receivers were all huddled up, they gave him a rash of crap and made him get back over in the group so they could break for the day. He then came back over for his interview.

-The guy is easy to like. Nice smile and you clearly get the feeling that he enjoys the game. Yes he likes the money and he'll want more very soon, but he truly plays for the fun of it.

-When asked about going back and forth with Pacman he kind of laughed it off at first saying that it was all in good fun and that he has a lot of respect for Pacman. When baited though he opened up a little more. Saying that he did mean that he felt he could beat Pacman and that he was getting the better of him today. He talked about playing against Champ every day and said that he was about 50/50 so far this preseason when facing Champ. He said if he can beat Champ more than Champ beats him, he'll go to the Pro-bowl. He said he keeps a tally of how many times he beats Champ. When asked about his tally for today, his answered, "I'm 5 of 6 and the other one was b/c I dropped the ball."
- When asked directly if Pacman could cover him, he answered "Absolutely Not!"
-He also talked about how much he enjoys being out here and how he was really looking forward to competing against the Cowboys. He treated today like a game. He also said that he's still like a little kid out there on the field, "l'm looking for Cool-aid and Pop-tarts during halftime like in the Pop Warner days."
-Someone asked if Pacman saw the tape on his back that said "21s No Champ", BMarsh said (with a big smile) "Yeah he saw it after about an hour! He was like man that's wrong. I was like, man you're slow!"
-He was careful afterward to compliment and respect Pacman's game but its clear Brandon has a ton of confidence. He said it was easy to get up for and motivated against the Cowboys today.

In case anybody is wondering, there was no huge chunk missing from his arm. He has a lot of ink so it's difficult to even see a scar, but I didn't see a big chunk of arm missing... you can rest easy now! ;D

Eddie Royal:
I caught the tail end of an interview with Eddie Royal. He's not real tall but he's pretty well built and fast like nobody's business. The question I caught was about getting some live action returning punts. He commented that it was nice to get some returns since he didn't get a chance vs. the Texans. He said he was trying to get used to the speed and that it was faster as expected, but he felt good. (He looked good returning punts too!)

That's it folks. I have some pictures but I do not have time to download them and get them up on the Mane tonight. I'm dog tired, but more coming tomorrow and I look forward to it!

OUT

Jason7730

08-13-2008, 11:00 PM

Thanks, Oskie!!

theAPAOps5

08-13-2008, 11:00 PM

Nice report Oskie. Drop the OUT though. Thats Jim Rome gayness! You are better than that...... ;D

Broncoman13

08-13-2008, 11:01 PM

Nice report Oskie. Drop the OUT though. Thats Jim Rome gayness! You are better than that...... ;D

That's a SO/military/DoD out not a Jim Rome out!!! :thumbsup:

theAPAOps5

08-13-2008, 11:04 PM

That's a SO/military/DoD out not a Jim Rome out!!! :thumbsup:

I know I am just giving you ****.

Over and Out, Roger Wilco, Tally ho on the Bogie.

Sassy

08-13-2008, 11:09 PM

Wait...did you say AWESOME and Bronco D in the same sentence? Yikes! ;D

24champ

08-13-2008, 11:10 PM

Thanks Oskie!

summerdenver

08-13-2008, 11:14 PM

Thanks

DukeWoody

08-13-2008, 11:15 PM

That's awsome OSKIE!!!....TYVM ^5

thumpc

08-13-2008, 11:17 PM

Marcus Thomas.....Marcus Thomas

broncofan2438

08-13-2008, 11:37 PM

NIce, thanks man, this is awesome stuff

BlaK-Argentina

08-13-2008, 11:48 PM

LOVING the Marcus Thomas and Royal goodies.

Today was a great day on the Mane, thanks Oskie!!!

UltimateHoboW/Shotgun

08-14-2008, 12:12 AM

Thanks. Is practice open tomorrow morning?

McDman

08-14-2008, 12:50 AM

I was big on Watts too. It's a shame his hand was hurt, he could have been really good.

Broncoman13

08-14-2008, 01:38 AM

elsid13

08-14-2008, 06:37 AM

Larson filling the hole. Nice I expect that now that things have calmed down, he will be able to concentrate on football

maher_tyler

08-14-2008, 07:24 AM

Wait...did you say AWESOME and Bronco D in the same sentence? Yikes! ;D

Not to be a "Debbie Downer" but i'll believe it when i see it in the regular season...but its good to hear seeing how the Boys are suppose to be a Super Bowl or bust team!! That's awesome news about Marshall to btw!!

Broncoman13

08-14-2008, 07:35 AM

Not to be a "Debbie Downer" but i'll believe it when i see it in the regular season...but its good to hear seeing how the Boys are suppose to be a Super Bowl or bust team!! That's awesome news about Marshall to btw!!

I agree and I'm really trying to contain my enthusiasm for this team. The entire Broncos team is really playing the underdog role well at this point. Even Jay was talking about how good they were and talented and how we're young and have a bright future... but then you see them on the field and it's a real eye opener. Truly. Jay Culter to Eddie Royal is suprisingly good and I would have never guessed they'd get on the same page this quickly. The first few days of camp I saw a lot of plays that looked like the deep INC vs. the Texans. They connect on 75% of Culter's looks to Eddie Royal... in practice.

Somewhere along the way I read that these drills favor the offense. In passing they do. The QBs know they aren't going to get hit and they play through so some of the completions would have never been. But the running plays are run at 90% and even Marion Barber was getting popped good yesterday and held to small gains. There is something interesting about this team.

Dukes

08-14-2008, 07:48 AM

maher_tyler

08-14-2008, 08:04 AM

I have HIGH hopes for Marcus Thomas this year. I just have that feeling he's going to be a huge player for us.

Right now, I'm more concerned about the DE's than the DT's. If Robertson can stay healthy he and Thomas will be a force.

I agree...of all the DE's i think Crowder really needs to step it up this year, he's got the size and speed to be an everydown DE.

oubronco

08-14-2008, 08:46 AM

-I noted that Spencer Larsen did a very good job plugging the middle. I didn't note what RB it was, but they met just past the LOS and Larsen was able to stand his ground well. At the POA he is very strong. I thought he showed good improvement from the last time we saw him in camp. He showed pretty well vs. Houston too.

so how did he fair as a fullback ?

socalorado

08-14-2008, 08:55 AM

Thanks Oskie!

Broncoman13

08-14-2008, 08:56 AM

Broncoman13

08-14-2008, 08:59 AM

Jay, Brandon and Coach look over to the Cowboys during warm ups. Knowing these guy's competitive spirit, they're saying they may be big but we can take 'em!

socalorado

08-14-2008, 09:00 AM

He hasn't played FB at all, atleast not that I've seen. They did switch him to # 46 and he is listed as the #4 FB, but no action.

I just wish they would LEAVE him at MLB, and let's see what hes got! For crying out loud!!!

oubronco

08-14-2008, 09:01 AM

He hasn't played FB at all, atleast not that I've seen. They did switch him to # 46 and he is listed as the #4 FB, but no action.

good they need to keep him at LB and quit with the experiment and killer camp notes thanx

Broncoman13

08-14-2008, 09:03 AM

Glenn in action...

Sorry folks, I'm having some issues again this morning and I need to head out. I'll get more pictures up as soon as I can.

2KBack

08-14-2008, 09:42 AM

MABroncoFan

08-14-2008, 09:48 AM

I've read some good things about Cliff Russell. What are his chances of making the team?

That would give us a Russell, Marshall and Jackson at WR like in the early 90s (Derek Russell, Arthur Marshall, Mark Jackson).

Lolad

08-14-2008, 09:55 AM

I fine it hilarious that last year was the year of "We have our DE's, but we are soft at DT." Now this year I keep reading, "I'm really concerned about the DE's now that we have DT's." It's practically the same Goddamn D-line.

The only DE that showed up last year was Doom... Crowder had 4 sacks but I don't think he had any in the last 5-6 games (rookie wall). There is some concern there.

TheChamp24

08-14-2008, 11:11 AM

There was another piece to the Marshall interview that I didn't write down and forgot about until now. When asked if he agreed with Pacman's assessment that T.O. was 10 times faster and 10 times stronger, Marshall smiled (as he always does) and said, "I don't know about that." He went on to say something along the lines of, I know I'm 24 and he's 34 and if he's 10 times stronger, then I better stop talking and get to work!

One thing TO has on BMarsh, like the guys on the Fan mentioned... Touchdowns. Say what you like about TO, the dude gets in the endzone. I think Brandon will get in the endzone plenty, but until he does he's just trying to be like TO. This is the year. 12 TD's for Brandon!

I've been saying, once he breaks the 10 TD mark in a season, he'll get serious Pro Bowl consideration. He needs to do that first though.

I fine it hilarious that last year was the year of "We have our DE's, but we are soft at DT." Now this year I keep reading, "I'm really concerned about the DE's now that we have DT's." It's practically the same Goddamn D-line.

Except the rookies are a year older and more experienced. It isn't the same line. Plus, we have a healthy Ekuban and now Dewayne Robertson.

cmhargrove

08-14-2008, 11:12 AM

I fine it hilarious that last year was the year of "We have our DE's, but we are soft at DT." Now this year I keep reading, "I'm really concerned about the DE's now that we have DT's." It's practically the same Goddamn D-line.

Most D-line will suffer without one key plugger in the middle. Even teams like Jacksonville don't do nearly as well when you take away one of their powerful D-tackles.

Indy doesn't do quite as well without Freeney (although Mathis is pretty good). The Chiefs will probably suck more without Allen, yada, yada...

Robertson looks to be a more powerful Gerard Warren type of guy. If he can help us hold the middle and command a double team - its a whole new ball game for us.

DenverBroncosJM

08-14-2008, 11:24 AM

Most D-line will suffer without one key plugger in the middle. Even teams like Jacksonville don't do nearly as well when you take away one of their powerful D-tackles.

Indy doesn't do quite as well without Freeney (although Mathis is pretty good). The Chiefs will probably suck more without Allen, yada, yada...

Robertson looks to be a more powerful Gerard Warren type of guy. If he can help us hold the middle and command a double team - its a whole new ball game for us.

God I wish we had Warren back :(