Broncos Don’t Want To See Preseason End Yet

Many say you need to play the hand your dealt. Well, what if you traded your cards to get the hand you’re playing with? Then what do you do? That’s the position the Broncos are in this season.

We couldn’t foresee the preseason injuries sustained to Kyle Orton or Chris Simms. One or even both of them may be ready to go in time for the regular season opener against the Bengals, but until we can confirm that, maybe Denver area malls should start holding tryouts near the food court. I would think about it considering temporary starting QB and rookie, Tom Brandstater, threw for 1 yard and was sacked 4 times against Seattle. He did, however, have a better outing against the Bears throwing 8 for 12 and 110 yards. Something tells me he’s going to have trouble against the Cardinals at least at the beginning of the game.  

The good news is LaMont Jordan and Knowshon Moreno are back on the practice field. It looks like they’ll be ready to go against Cincinnati. All of a sudden “Patriots West” may look more like the Baltimore Ravens of last year, running the ball on nearly every play. Is this going to be the opposite of last year where we lost all our backs to injury while our QBs remained healthy? 

The team made some cuts yesterday sending among others, TE Jeb Putzier, to the locker room to gather his belongings. Putzier is a solid tight end, but when you have Tony Scheffler, Daniel Graham, and emerging rookie, Richard Quinn ahead of you, there’s not much that can be done. I hope he finds work elsewhere because he had a good 4 year run with the team. I was surprised that they let punter Britton Colquitt go this early. I thought McD would want to see the competition between the two punters go a little further. It seems McD isn’t so interested in competition at the kicking level as Matt Prater was the sole kicker throughout camp. Against the Bears, Colquitt got the ball down to the 1 yard line and the 2 yard line. Like I said, I think that competition ended a bit early.

Compared to all the Cutler hype on Sunday, tomorrow’s game feels like a funeral procession. Game 4 of the preseason is typically reserved as the backups’ game. Many starters either won’t see action at all or they’ll get in for 1-2 series. Then, the backups and guys still vying for a roster spot make their case for the rest of the game. Remember, the roster needs to be trimmed to 53 by Saturday. McD favors the versatile players, guys that can contribute on special teams as well as at their respective offensive and defensive positions.

With the injuries and the overall paparazzi like atmosphere that was endured at Dove Valley last week, things have gotten back to normal. I think it helps with Brandon Marshall being suspended. Less media attention on a daily basis is good for this team right now. Aside from the constant rumors about Marshall on the trade block, the team can focus on fixing those things that need to be fixed. They better hurry though. There’s a Tiger, er, Bengal on their heels.