Horse Droppings: Broncos TE Jeff Heuerman Finally Sees Huddle

Welcome to the first installment of ‘Horse Droppings’, a new series here at Predominantly Orange where we’ll be telling you a bunch of ‘crap’ from around the web you might want to know about the Denver Broncos.

Let’s start with the fact that Jeff Heuerman experienced something for the first time at Broncos rookie minicamp…

Of course, with Urban Meyer running the show at Ohio State, Heuerman and the Buckeyes had really no reason to huddle and they didn’t. So, being in the huddle at rookie camp was a first for him, and it’s just part of the major culture shock for many of these guys going from college to the NFL.

Peyton Manning (Doesn’t) Comment on Deflate-gate “I’ll speak it as clearly and slowly as I can. He’s my friend, he’ll always be my friend. I don’t know what happened, I don’t have much more than that for you.” Manning was kind enough not to ignore the question at an event in which it had really no place being asked.

The Broncos quarterback was making an appearance at a fundraiser for an Indianapolis children’s hospital.

Karl Schmitz a Player to Watch? The Broncos picked up Karl Schmitz as a vastly underrated free agent pickup this offseason. Chad Jensen, our old pal at Mile High Huddle, says he is a candidate to possibly replace Britton Colquitt. That would make sense, since Colquitt’s cap number is far too high for his current level of production.

Shane Ray Letting Injury Heal Rookie linebacker and top draft pick Shane Ray is taking some time to let things heal from the toe injury he suffered in the Missouri Tigers’ bowl game this past January. Ray decided to continue preparations for the 2015 NFL Draft instead of letting the injury heal, but now that he’s with the Broncos, he’s going to get the time he needs to let it get back to 100 percent.

The Broncos don’t want to rush him back, though the competitive Ray is having a tough time sitting around, even after just one day of practice. PS: Ray looks good in a Broncos uniform…

In fact, the rest of this camp just looks good.

C.J. Anderson Chubby?

We passed this along on Friday, but former Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase called Pro Bowl running back C.J. Anderson a ‘little chubby’ and said that he wore down late in games.

We’ll see you week 11, Adam.

Starting to Like Trevor Siemian…

This article by Mike Klis combined with some film study and interviews with Siemian have me really liking the young signal caller. The Broncos put Siemian through a pre-draft ringer, and decided he was the best fit for their system.

He showed a really nice arm in the video I saw of rookie camp, and he’ll be an exciting player to watch this pre-season after he returns in training camp from his ACL injury/recovery.

Odds and Ends

– 4th round pick Max Garcia out of Florida is working at guard to start camp. He says the plan is that he will eventually move to center.

– Shaq Barrett gave his number (56) to Shane Ray. He’s now wearing 48, which he wore last year at some points too.

– The Broncos were reportedly the only team at the Air Force Falcons pro day this offseason. They have long snapper Harrison Elliott in for a tryout, and he’ll serve his duty with the Air Force before an NFL career gets going. The Broncos saw that happen with Ben Garland as well way back in 2009.

Garland is still with the team and competing for a starting left guard position.

– Here’s a parting shot of Shane Ray converting speed to power.

(h/t to Mile High Report for this .gif)