Broncos Camp: Montee Ball working hard to regain top form
To say that 2014 was a disappointing season for Montee Ball would be probably the understatement of the year for him.
Everyone knows about Ball’s appendectomy around this time last year and the affect it had on his physical condition, play speed, and overall effectiveness as an NFL running back. Then came the groin injury that simply would not go away. Ball’s injury problems — which he never had at Wisconsin — lingered well into the season before the Broncos simply had to shut him down.
Then came the emergence of Ball’s teammate and friend C.J. Anderson, who made the Pro Bowl after a dominant second half of the season.
Ball knows the starting job belongs to Anderson — for now — but he’s not given up on being the guy for the Broncos and says that right now, he’s feeling ‘great’.
“I feel great. My legs feel great. It’s all just about being a professional, taking care of your body, hydrating and cold tubbing. I like the system. I love how we’re all coming together, practicing hard and really competing.”
It’s an environment as healthy as any NFL running back group could hope for. A group of guys who all came into the league at relatively the same time, who know each other well both on and off the field, and who can push each other while also building each other up.
While Ball knows he is going to have to work his tail off to get carries, he and the rest of the team have one goal in mind for this season — to win the Super Bowl.
“Super Bowl or bust. If you don’t win a Super Bowl, it’s a losing season. That’s our goal is to be hoisting that trophy at the end. We’re working extremely hard for it, but most definitely understand that Rome wasn’t built in one day. You have to start from the bottom up, so we’re starting right now in training camp and are ready for preseason games coming up.”
You can tell over the course of the offseason and having had some time to recover, Ball looks like he’s in much better shape. He looks more explosive, and you can tell he hasn’t overlooked what plagued him last year, which was a lack of quickness both out of the backfield and in his footwork last year. He talked about what he’s been working on this season, and said he had even gotten some work in with a player who bolted from Denver this offseason.
“A lot of flexibility stuff like yoga and Pilates to strengthen my core — quick feet. I was out in LA training with Julius Thomas and he was showing me a lot of drills to keep my feet fast, breaking tackles in the backfield, breaking a tackle and restarting my feet. That’s really what I have been working on.”
We’ll all be eager to see the fruits of that labor in the Broncos’ preseason games, where Ball is sure to get work with both the starters and the backups. As a former 2nd round pick, he’ll have every opportunity to prove himself and I think we’ll see the best Montee Ball we’ve seen yet in the NFL this season.