Promising reports from Denver Broncos OTA’s
By John Livingston | May 19, 2010
The Denver Broncos kicked off organized team activities this week with a passing camp and on Monday–the only day of the camp that was open to the media–reports were circling highlighting the multiple promising signs from the players and the team’s direction under second year head coach Josh McDaniels.
More than 60 media members were on hand at Dove Valley for the first and only open practice session during this week’s passing camp and, other than the obvious Tim Tebow craze, the biggest story was that of Elvis Dumervil.
Dumervil, who set the Broncos franchise sack record a year ago, is currently in the process of working out a long term contract with the team and has yet to sign his tender. However, on Monday, he set aside his current contract talks with the team and signed an injury waiver allowing him to take the field and participate in drills.
“I didn’t have to, but at the end of the day I’m going to be a Bronco in 2010 and I wanted to come out and support the organization and teammates and get acclimated with the new guys,” Dumervil told the media after the practice session. “We have a couple tweaks terminology-wise as far as defense so I don’t want to fall behind mentally.”
Said McDaniels: “It says a lot about Elvis and what kind of professional he is.”
While a contract extension is reported to only be in the beginning stages, it certainly is a positive sign the Dumervil wants to be back and working to improve with his team under new defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale.
Dumervil showing up to practice without a contract undoubtedly caught the attention and the respect of his fellow teammates. Although Darrell Reid was sidelined with an injury and was forced to sit inside undergoing rehab, he acknowledged the sign of good faith by Dumervil via his twitter page.
Wit All Da Tebow Talk Da HighLight Of My Day Had 2 B Seein My Dawg Dume (@EKD92) 2Day. Such A Humble Guy. Shows Up 4 Voluntary Ish..
Prior to Monday’s OTA’s, Dumervil had opted to work out away from Denver in Miami, just as Broncos lineback D.J. Williams chose to do.
Williams was not present for the first day of OTA’s as well as new nose tackle Jamal Williams. However, McDaniels said that both players had been previously excused and they have since reported to the camp.
However, with all of these stories circling around the defensive side of the ball, this weeks passing camp has put a significant emphasis on improving under McDaniels’ offensive system and clearly the biggest story, as it will be all season was the play of the quarterbacks.
The Broncos depth chart currently has Kyle Orton starting, Brady Quinn second string, Tom Brandstater at third and Tebow rounding out the chart as the fourth string guy.
McDaniels said Tebow will have to earn everything just like every other rookie, despite the fact he was a first round pick.
Tebow even stood up in front of the team to tell them he expects to be treated like a rookie even with all of the media buzz he has behind him.
Keeping true to his word, Tebow backed up what he said by offering to pick up books for the rest of the quarterbacks and demonstrated his heart and determination by continually finishing first among the offense in team conditioning sprints.
In passing drills, Tebow also showed some intelligence in checking down to his running backs when his receivers down the field were covered and he went 3-3 with two check down passes in his first attempts against a defense. When he wasn’t taking repetitions, Tebow was said to be behind the play and went through all the same motions that the quarterback in the play would do.
It is clear Tebow has been studying his playbook the past few weeks to as he was able to jump right in and do whatever coaches asked of him without missing a beat. “I am not a novice,” Tebow told reporters after practice.
Tebow wasn’t the only new Broncos QB to show how hard he is willing to work to be the starter as Quinn also lived up to his hype and was reportedly the last player to leave the field after the first day.
With all of the buzz around Tebow and Quinn, one can only imagine that Orton will find himself battling for his job and he may even hit the trading block, as there are already rumors that the Broncos would consider a trade for Orton.
However, Orton impressed the media on Monday too. Apparently he was hitting his receivers on deep out routes and showed that he does have the arm to make all the throws in McDaniels system, which he said he hopes to expand upon this year with more down-field passing.
Along with Orton, Brandstater was said to have looked the best while throwing deep routes and while many believe he may be the odd man looking in on the Broncos QB situation, it is likely he will retain his job if a new home can be found for Orton.
Hoping to cash in with his ability to stretch the field is wide receiver Eddie Royal.
Royal is sporting a new dark visor this year and he has already demonstrated that he is trying to add to his toughness on the field, even during simple OTA’s.
here is a snippet on Royal from the Broncos official twitter page:
“After a pass was tipped by Nate Jones, Eddie Royal and David Bruton both had their hands on it as the fell to the ground. They battled for it on the ground until the whistle blew and teammates pulled the scrum apart. In the end, Royal came out with the ball.”
Royal is already showing he will battle in practice, just imagine what he is hoping to do to opponents this year to prove hsi rookie season was no fluke and that last year was just a minor hiccup in what should be a promising career.
Royal was also first to take return reps as second year corner back Alphonso Smith backed him up.
Overall, the key to the OTA’s is the fact that this team has had a hard work ethic instilled in them by McDaniels, the rest of the coaches and the leaders of the team. With promising reports of players willing to do whatever it takes to be with the team, fighting for their jobs and looking to prove they have what it takes, fans can come away encouraged by the direction this team is heading in.
“We’re very excited about the work ethic on this team,” McDaniels said but, “Activity and achievement are two different things.”
By the time training camp rolls around later this summer the media frenzy will only be heightened, but one can expect the level of play will match the excitement that everyone has about this team moving forward.
John Livingston is an alumnus of the University of Colorado at Boulder and the Chief Staff Writer of Colorado Sports Desk. He is also a Colorado Mixed Martial Arts Examiner for Examiner.com. Follow him on twitter, or become a fan on Facebook.
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Comment from BenchWarmers Tavern & Grill
Time: May 20, 2010, 11:59 am
Glad Doom is handling the situation the way he his, Broncos, pay the man, he deserves it and he’s a beast. Excited about this year. McD has molded the team the way he wants it, & I think it will work out. Have faith Broncos Fans!
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Time: May 21, 2010, 5:18 pm
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