Broncos Bid Denver Farewell With One Last Practice

And with one final practice under their belts, the Broncos are off to San Francisco for their first preseason game on Friday. Mike Nolan and Ronald Fields’ old stomping ground will provide the backdrop for numerous things to come to light, but most importantly, how our team compares to another NFL team before the season starts. Granted, the final score of the game won’t reveal a lot, but we’re going to get to see how our defense stacks up against another’s team’s offense, and we’re going to see just how deadly our offense can be. The Broncos are tired of playing against themselves as evident by a few squabbles this week in practice, so it’s exciting for the team to be able to open up that Golden Gate of the NFL season with their first preseason game.

Here are some notes from today’s afternoon practice:

– The team took the field in shoulder pads and helmets. With the temperature well into the 90s, I don’t know how some guys were out there in sweatpants when they were given the option to wear shorts.

– Ryan Torain was a no show because he was placed on the waived injured reserve which basically ends his time here in Denver. That’s such a huge disappointment, but if a guy can’t stay healthy, he’s got to go.

– Kenny McKinley has been getting in on the kick return action aside Eddie Royal and Alphonso Smith. Despite his speed and solid hands, he’s still got a lot to learn. After Kenny Peterson set up a nice block, he told McKinley, “you gotta read that better,” referring to the line he chose.

– Speaking of returns, Alphonso Smith dropped a few punts today. The rookie just needs to focus a bit more and he should be fine in that area. He did redeem himself by intercepting Chris Simms and Tom Brandstater.

– Penalties on special teams are something that every team works to avoid. They’ll come back and bite you in the ass late in the game and late in the season. After Ryan Harris held a guy on the kickoff, an assistant coach yelled, “that’s the easy way out, Ryan Harris! Get it together.”  

– There’s nothing like a guitar riff from Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” to make your ears ring. And that’s one of the songs that was blasted from the sound system at practice today as the offense was running plays against the defense. The coaching staff decided to do that to simulate playing in front of 75,000 people. It becomes too easy when you’re calling and executing plays with birds chirping in the background. After all, those Chiefs fans at Arrowhead are a crazy bunch!

Here are a few clips of our offense executing with some distraction:

With all three QBs throwing picks today, I thought these were good videos to include as well. Kyle Orton (8), Chris Simms (2), and Tom Brandstater (3) dropping back and throwing:

For anyone that can’t make it to training camp this year, drop me a line if you want me to keep an eye out for anything in particular to report on.