Mike Adams (20) warms up before the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. (John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports)

Nine year veteran safety Mike Adams spent five seasons with the Cleveland Browns before signing a two-year contract with the Denver Broncos in mid-March.

This week, Adams will get to take on his former team.

“I’m definitely looking forward to it,” Adams said after practice Wednesday. “I still know some guys over there, so it will be fun.”

In fact, Adams has already received plenty of texts from his former teammates this week.

“Absolutely, talking smack,” Adams said. “You have guys talking about they want tickets, they want this. I got them tickets though—in the nosebleeds (laughing).”

Adams is on pace to set a new personal record for tackles in a year. He had 74 tackles with the San Francisco 49ers in 2005, and he has 73 through 14 games this year. He also has 1 sack, 1 safety, 8 passes defended, and 2 forced fumbles on the year.

The Browns are coming to Denver this year as the youngest team in the league with 17 rookies on their active roster. Adams says that this team can’t be taken lightly, however.

“They beat three teams in our division,” Adams said of the Browns’ three wins in the AFC West. “They play hard, that’s one thing I can say about the Browns. The defense, they play hard. Their numbers show it, they get a lot of turnovers; they make a lot of tackles with [LB] D’Qwell Jackson in the middle. [They have] Joe Haden in the corner, an elite corner. They make a lot of plays, so you just can’t take these guys lightly.”

Adams coming to Denver has strengthened the Broncos’ secondary directly and indirectly. Second year safety Rahim Moore has improved dramatically this year thanks in large part to Adams’ arrival.

“It’s been great. He’s helped me out so much,” Moore said of Adams. “It’s funny, because we watch film a lot and we’re so interchangeable. In practice, Mike could do this all week and I’ll do this. But on gameday, it’s like I’ll take his position and he’ll take mine. We have fun, he made me feel comfortable, he simplifies the game for me. I couldn’t ask for anybody else better to play with.”

No. 20 isn’t an easy number to replace in Denver. Brian Dawkins brought three years of leadership, buckets of intensity, and plenty of passion to the Broncos’ secondary. Adams, the new No. 20, knows that the bar is set, and he’s ready surpass it.

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Rahim Moore reacts to a defensive stop late in the second quarter against the San Diego Chargers. (Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE)

With Brian Dawkins retiring, second-year safety Rahim Moore is getting his shot, a second shot.

Moore began the 2011 season as a starter, but was inactive by the end of the season thanks to a slew of missed tackles, missed assignments, and untimely penalties.

“Experience is the big key,” Moore said after Monday’s practice. “That’s what I had last year, good and bad, so this year I’m ready, I’m hungry.”

Moore has been inserted back into the starting lineup in camp, playing starting safety with veteran Mike Adams. He had a big hit on Lance Ball during Monday’s practice, letting people know that this second round draft pick (No. 45 overall) out of UCLA is just waiting to break out.

“A lot of times with tackling, it comes with experience of knowing which back you’re playing against, the team you’re playing against, the film,” Moore said.

Moore rounded out his rookie year with 31 tackles and an interception. His total would have been much higher had the learning curve not been so great.

“Just knowing how to relax and calm down,” Moore said of the benefit of being a second year player. “I think when you’re a rookie, you’re trying to make some plays, you want to get some respect. You’re too fast for your own good and that’s when missed tackles come in, missed opportunities, missed picks…No matter how many tackles you make, you’re going to miss some. It’s like a receiver dropping the pick, a quarterback missing a play, dropping  a pick. Nobody is perfect, but how you work on it is just work on it. Simple as that.”

Moore will miss more tackles. That’s just the nature of the game. They key is how he recovers from those mistakes. That’s when it becomes mind over matter. For Moore, who will be the Broncos last line of defense, developing his mind is just as important as developing his skill.

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The Denver Broncos will get training camp started at Dove Valley on July 26th. (Credit: Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE)

The release of the 2012 Denver Broncos Training Camp schedule means the final countdown to football season is officially on.

Camp will begin on Thursday, July 26th and runs through Friday, August 17th. Preseason games start on August 9th, and the date we all have circled on our calendars is the nationally televised Sunday night regular season opener against the Steelers on September 9th.

It’s going to be one of the most exciting preseasons in the history of the franchise and there will be no shortage of storylines. Dove Valley will once again be the unofficial home for a large continent of the national media in 2012. Every Broncos storyline will of course center on Peyton Manning, but there are plenty of other things I’m going to be watching very closely during camp.

Here are my top storylines (aside from Manning) to watch for during the 2012 preseason, in no particular order:

•  Knowshon Moreno and the running back situation. This may be the last chance Moreno has to make it in Denver, let alone the NFL. He’s largely underachieved during his time with the Broncos and he’s struggled to stay healthy. With Willis McGahee establishing himself as the starter and the rookie Ronnie Hillman looking to be a difference maker this season, this is the biggest training camp of Moreno’s career.
• The growth of Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker. Thomas introduced himself to the nation in a big way during the 2011 playoffs, and with Manning coming aboard this should be the season where he vaults himself into the elite group of NFL wide receivers. Decker should also make a much bigger impact, and this underappreciated wide receiver group has a good chance of proving a lot of doubters wrong in 2012.
• The new tight ends Joel Dreessen and Jacob Tamme. I can’t wait to see a Denver tight end making a big impact on the field once again, and we have a good chance of seeing both of these guys become prolific members of the offense. It will also be very interesting to see how production is split between these two.
• Von Miller’s return from injury. The reigning defensive rookie of the year should be an absolute terror once again this season, and now he has two healthy hands to work with. Philip Rivers, Matt Cassel, and Carson Palmer will be having nightmares about Miller in a few short months.
• The revamped secondary. The defensive backfield has quickly become one of the deepest groups on the team with the additions of Tracy Porter, Mike Adams, and Drayton Florence. But they will also have to deal with the loss of team leader Brian Dawkins.
• Derek Wolfe. The Broncos need someone to come in and make a big impact in the interior of the defensive line. If Wolfe turns into a big time playmaker, he could be the missing piece of the puzzle to the roster overhaul that has greatly improved almost every other position.
• How the defense deals with the D.J. Williams suspension. I’m curious to see how Jack Del Rio will adjust the lineup during the time that Williams misses. Hopefully someone steps up and makes a name for himself.

I’m going to take some time off prior to the start of the preseason, but I will be back and better than ever for training camp. Go Broncos!

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