Broncos add punter Colquitt to roster, Berger will punt sunday
By Bert Jan Brands | December 31, 2009
Colquitt kicking off during training camp (summer 2009) (John Leyba/Denver Post)
After placing guard Russ Hochstein and wide receiver Kenny McKinley on the injured reserve list following the Eagles game, the Broncos yesterday filled the last spot on the 53 man roster by signing rookie punter Britton Colquitt from the Miami Dolphins practice squad. Earlier in the week the Broncos brought back tackle Herb Taylor, who was signed after Ryan Harris went down, but the Broncos waived him to make room on the roster for Tony Carter on December 19th.
Despite rumors going around of punter Mitch Berger being cut by the Broncos when Colquitt was signed, head coach Josh McDaniels has confirmed during yesterday’s press conference that Berger will punt sunday against the Chiefs, and that Colquitt was signed for depth: “No move at punter. Berger is still punting. We never stop trying to improve the team or, as we move forward, look for depth as we move forward. He was a guy we are familiar with, so we felt it was a good time to do that with the roster spot open, and we did not really have another guy we felt like we could bring in at this point in time and send to the game, so we felt like we improved our team there.”
Colquitt joined the Broncos after the 2009 NFL Draft as an undrafted free agent, and punted for the team during the preseason, before being cut as the team decided to give Brett Kern the job. Colquitt appeared in three preseason games this year, punting six times for 246 yards. He also converted a 39 yard fieldgoal against the Seahawks. His brother Dustin Colquitt is currently punter of the Kansas City Chiefs, and his father Craig won two Super Bowls as punter for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
With Berger still handling the punting duties this Sunday, it looks like the Broncos signed Colquitt so that they could make sure he would be in Denver for the offseason workouts, and are hoping for him to contribute to the team in 2010. Had they not signed him to the active roster this week week, he would most likely have received a ‘future contract’ from one of the other teams around the league once the regular season ends. To sign a player because of depth purposes for the offseason indicates that the coaching staff expects the team to miss the play-offs, which is very likely with so many different outcomes involved in the Broncos joining the playoffs.
In other Broncos news:
Brian Dawkins has been voted the recipiant of the 2009 Denver Broncos Ed Block Courage Award by his teammates. It was the first time Dawkins received the award, which is voted on by every player on the team. One player from each team who in the “eyes of his fellow teammates, is a source of inspiration and courage,” receives the award each year. The 32 finalists (one from each NFL team) will be honored at the Ed Block Courage Awards, which is helt in Baltimore, MD in March. The Ed Block Foundation promotes the prevention of child abuse by raising awareness for agencies that can assist and provide care for abused children.
Brandon Marshall injured his hamstring during the Wednesday afternoon practice, according to CBS4 Denver. Though the injury looked quite serious, a team source told NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi that Marshall is expected to play in the final regular season game against the Kansas City Chiefs this Sunday, but this has not been confirmed by the team.
Absent from practice were Daniel Graham (knee) and Eddie Royal (head/neck). Spencer Larsen, Brandon Marshall, Darrell Reid and Ty Law were all limited in practice.
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