Belated Training Camp Pictures

Here are just a handful of the pictures I took from both days I went to see our boys at training camp. Better late than never, right?? ;)

Day 17: Tuesday, August 17, 2010

So as you can see by the number of pictures I have of him (there's more, shocker right?), Tebow had a good practice this day. He was present till the very end. I swear in that one picture, he looked right at me or at least that's the way it looks from the picture. He's looking my way. At the end of practice I was able to get autographs from Zane Beadles, Seth Olsen & Eric Olsen, (it was Oline day). lol

Oh and I got a funny story about this day. I went with my friend Dave to this practice (he lives like 10 minutes away from the TC facilities). Anyway, the boys were getting ready to run a play and I needed to adjust some things with my camera. Well, they had already started and right as I was about to look up their way to maybe take a picture Orton throws this pass towards the sidelines where the fans are sitting. Funny part is... when he threw that pass, of course, we all expected the guy he was throwing it to, to catch it, right?? Psh, the ball flies threw the receivers hands and guess who its headed directly to? ME!!! haha, This whole time I was still playing around with my camera but I knew Orton had thrown the ball near our sidelines. So, while I wasn't paying attention, Dave was and 2 seconds before that ball would have hit me smack in the left eye leaving a pretty big shiner, Dave raises his right hand and stops the ball right as I was about to look up. I looked at him and just started laughing. I kept giving him crap about how he should've let it hit me so I could go home with my first black eye and say I got this from Kyle Orton! LOL But I'll tell you what, had I been paying attention and saw that ball coming, I would've caught that ball in no time. Wish I had seen it coming, that would've been sweet.

Alright I'm done with my short novel here. Enjoy the pics!!
Day 18: Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Tebow spent the majority of this day inside. He left right in the middle of some of the stretching but stayed long enough to "skip" with the other grown men. lol From what I saw the day before, Matthew Willis (#12) had a better day on Wednesday. At the end of the day, I was fortunate to get 2 more autographs from Phonzy (seen in the first picture) and Brandon Lloyd (#84). Lloyd is probably one of the coolest guys I've ever met. Was an awesome day!

Broncos Vs Steelers - Post Game

How is it going guys and gal? Did you enjoy the game? Well the Broncos took on the Steelers today at home and it was a good game. The Broncos were solid on all sides of the ball. I was really impressed with what our guys did today and quite enjoyed watching it. Below are some observations that I took from the game. I saw the first half but didn't see much of the second. Just the highlights and the comments that I read about the second half. So I will ask for some help on the perspective of some of the players that played in the second half.

vs

	1	2	3	4	OT	Final
Den	7	10	3	14	-	34
Pit	3	0	0	14	-	17

First half observations:

Orton looked solid, moved around really well in the pocket and way to put your body on the line.

Royal looked good as did Lloyd. Willis also looked good with Tebow in there.

I like what I saw out of White, does look a little over weight but broke off some nice runs.

Lance Ball looked good and ran well, but he isn't great catching balls out of the backfield.

Quinn is terrible, I think the years playing in Cleveland have messed with his head, he has no sense of timing and can't get rid of the ball quick enough, he always looks like he will get sacked when he drops back.

I like what I saw of Decker, he is a solid blocker as well.

Prater was solid and Colquitt was really good, averaged over 50 yards a kick.

Thompson had a good game, had a good return, and loved the pick six. Cox was solid filling in for Champ and loved the pick. And Goodman was good, got beat by Wallace but came back with the pick six and looked solid. With Thompson's big game I think Smith could be on the way out.

Our kick coverage, Special Teams in general were much better than in previous games.

I thought Ayers looked really good, got two sacks. He used the bull rush a lot, but it was great to see him use the spin move to get a sack. I think he could really be putting it together.

I liked what I saw out of Moss too. He was getting on the outside of Adams a lot and was causing him to jump early. Moss did use some good moves and looked good. But when someone like Adams got their hands on Moss he struggled to get separation. But I thought Moss did ok.

Was good to have Williams back at ILB, I think we tackled a lot better (no Akin) and Williams was very good I think then.

What I saw of Tebow I thought he did some good stuff. Threw some nice plays, not all with a slow release like we had seen. Liked the jump ball to Decker for the TD, way to get the ball off. And I think Tebow may have moved up the depth chart, he has been better than Quinn and I think deserves the spot. He may get the spot after the last game against the Vikings.

I didn't see Mays or Hunter play but heard they were good, what you guys think?

Didn't see any of Phonzy? Any good? Also didn't see much of Quinn but I think he was terrible?

If you have some other observations? Hit us up in the comments ~ Aussie Out!

Broncos vs Steelers and More

Hey guys how is it going? Been very busy for me recently, university is off the charts at the moment, a lot of work to be done. But I managed to get a little spare time and thought I would do a bit of an update on Bronco news as a lots been happening. Also got some other information thrown in and a bit of a preview of this weeks game.

Poll results:

First I would like to start with the result of the poll that has been running for the last few weeks. After Doom signed his new deal I was asking how many sacks Doom would get this year and a week later he got injured. So I have been asking the last few weeks who would sack the QB this year for us. The winner with 5 votes was...Tim Tebow...? Ok so maybe I voted a few to many times for him, (you seen his guns?). The votes for the others where all very similar across Ayers, Haggan and Moss. But it looks like Moss and Ayers will be doing the sacking this year as Haggan has been moved back inside to the 'Mike' linebacker.

Other News:

The 18 game season is picking up a bit of speed in the last few days. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that the league ownership has shown overwhelming support of the change. They didn't approve an 18-game regular season at the Special League Meeting, but opted instead to discuss options to propose to the NFL Players Association and business partners. The "enhanced" schedule would change from 4 pre-season and 16 regular season games to 2 pre-season and 18 regular season contests. They didn't approve the 18 game season as the Owners want to include it in the next collective bargaining agreement and would be ready for the 2012 season. One player that has come out and said he would support it is Terrell Owens, but that isn't saying much.

In other news the league has approved the purchase of the Rams by Stan Kroenke. To comply with the NFL's cross-ownership policy, Kroenke will transfer, by the end of the year, the financial interest of the NHL's Avalanche and the NBA's Nuggets to his son, Josh. The purchase of the Rams is rumoured to be around 750 million dollars.

Signings:

There was only one signing this week, as the Broncos were assigned Tight End Kory Sperry off waivers. The Dolphins released the second-year tight end from Colorado State at the start of the week. The next day the Broncos had picked up the 6-foot-4, 238-pound tight end. He notched three catches for 31 yards and a touchdown in eight games, including one start, as a rookie with the Dolphins last season. He is currently in number 45 for the team but may struggle to make the 53 roster. He will most likely end up on the practice squad.

Cuts:

There were a number of cuts this week as the Broncos start to cut down their roster. They have to get to 75 players on the roster by the 31st of August. The Broncos first waived RB Tony Baker, OL Kirk Barton, and WR Patrick Carter. This was then followed by the surprise cut of Akin Ayodele. The Broncos said that it was so he could catch on with another team and that they had moved Haggan back inside. Also could be that Moss has been playing well and like 80# said our best linebackers are Ayers, Haggan, DJ and Moss. That could be the starting Linebacking corps. I think it was a good cut as Akin misses tackles like anything, Nate Webster like. Then probably the best cut of the five was the release of Tyler Polumbus who had struggled this camp and last year playing LT. Because of this he tumbled down the depth chart and was finally released. He was claimed off waivers by the Lions a few days later.

Injuries:

There was only one injury to report from the last few days of training as Demaryius Thomas who had recently returned to practice re-injured his surgically repaired left foot. X-Rays and an MRI were taken to see if there was a stress fracture in his troublesome left foot but they were clear. Vic Lombardi reports that the Broncos fear one of the screws in Thomas' left foot may have come loose. Further information hopefully to come.

Returning from Injuries:

Now some good news as a lot of injured players made their way back to the practice field the last few days. We got two of our runningbacks as LenDale White and Correll Buckhalter returned to the practice field. We got a few defenders back as Champ Bailey and DJ Williams returned to practice too. Also Tim Tebow returned to practice this week after missing last weeks game. But the biggest name to return back to the practice field (and yes not Tebow) was the return of Ryan Clady to practice. After injuring his knee playing basketball a few months ago Clady returned to the practice field. He was limited and wore a no contact jersey but it is a good sign to see him back out there. For more see DP.com.

Game Preview:

Now onto the Steelers game as it will be an interesting game as the starters are expected to play most of the game, about 3 quarters worth. It could be the first time we see DJ out there and Champ may also play. I think Buckhalter may be rested. Clady will not play. Also Tebow will not, as Brady Quinn will get the last quarter. LenDale White may see some action if he is ready to go.

So some things to watch out for in this game:
The line protection.
The run game.
How our Wide Receivers go and who sees some time with the ones. Would like to see Decker and Willis run a little with Orton.
And I am interested in our pass rush and how the first string linebackers line up.
And can Phonzy improve? Or is Cox got the jump?

Well that is it for me till Sunday ~ Aussie Out!

Preseason Game 2 - Lions Vs Broncos - Post Game Notes

Hey guys was an interesting game, took a few of us a while to see the game. And I only watched the first half as I had to go to the Raiders-Dragons game (rugby league, go Canberra Raiders). And I have watched the highlights and checked the stats. So here is the notes that I had on the stuff I watched.

vs

	1	2	3	4	OT	Final
Den	0	14	3	3	-	20
Det	10	6	0	9	-	25

Game Notes:

Bummer there was no Tebow, the Broncos had him sit out.

I saw that Joe Mays and Marcus Thomas run some with the first team. As did Matthew Willis a bit.

Gaffney was unstoppable, I think him and Orton hooked up well.

Royal and Lloyd only got one catch each though

Ball was ok but our run attack is still not great.

Orton has improved footwork, he stepped up and made defenders miss, looked good.

Ayers got half a sack, would have probably got the sack all by himself, but Bannan was happy to help.

I am still am worried about the linebackers. On more than one occasion the linebackers got caught out on the run or missed a coverage on a WR. Do they really miss DJ that much? I think we will be much better with him there.

Coverage was ok otherwise, but always can be better, might have been because of no Champ.

The First team defense only allowed one TD and managed to hold the other drives to field goals.

Orton throwing an intercept to Bly? Was really a dropped catch by Ball, so no matter.

Branson wasn't to bad, but struggles on yards after catch, liked the effort on the TD.

Other observations:

I didn't see any of Quinn but 11 from 17 for 115 isn't too bad. Did he improve from his 'sucks' category?

Jarvis Moss had a sack, was this a good sack, did he lay a good hit and beat a few guys?

And Cox had a long punt return. Looked good had good speed. I think the Special Teams played much better.

Colquitt improved his average from 29 yards to 43 yards, was much improved.

And Eric Decker had some good stats, did he look good in the second half?

That is it from me ~ Aussie Out!

End of Training Camp, Lions Game Preview and More

Hey guys, been a busy-ish day for me, voting for government and football training but I thought I should do a bit of an update. Also for those wondering The Expendables movie is not bad, is surprisingly funny. Anyway onto today's update and it could get long because the Broncos have been busy over the past few days.

Signings and Cuts:

The Broncos had a number of signings the last few days, three to be exact. The Broncos first resigned Orton to a contract extension for another year on top of this year. He will get about 9 million dollars next season and about 5.5 million of that is guaranteed.

The Broncos signed two other players, both on the defensive side of the ball. First was DE Jason Hunter. Hunter is a 5th year play and has played for two other ball clubs. He was picked up as an undrafted rookie in 2006 by the Green Bay Packers where he played till 2008. Before the draft Hunter at 6-4, 260 pounds ran a 4.88 second 40-yard dash. He mainly contributed as a Special Teams player for them. In 2009 he was released by the Packers and picked up by the Lions. At the Lions Hunter made it on the field for 9 contests and managed to get 5 sacks. Hunter was released on August 16, 2010 and signed by the Broncos a week later. Hunter comes to the Broncos as a DE but he probably will have to move out to OLB. He is listed at 6'4 and 271 lbs. Dustin Fry was released previously so there was a roster spot for Hunter.

The Broncos other signing was LB Worrell Williams. Williams a 6-foot, 250-pound linebacker went unselected in the 2009 NFL Draft and tried out with San Francisco that spring before joining the UFL. The 24-year-old recorded two tackles and a pass break-up with the California Redwoods during their inaugural season. Williams starred collegiately at California, where he started 36 of the 49 games he played. The linebacker finished his Golden Bear career with 246 total tackles, earning honorable mention All-Pac-10 honors for his senior season. Williams is the younger brother of DJ Williams, our starting ILB. Check out some of his highlights below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KUGckc_a0I
To make room for Williams another Linebacker, Devin Bishop was released.

Camp Notes:

Kuper missed the final session after leaving early during Wednesday’s work; he had returned to action Tuesday after missing the previous 11 days with an ankle injury.

The final training-camp attendance was 43,335, including 22,553 for the 16 sessions held at the team’s Dove Valley headquarters. Thus, the team will donate $22,553 to the Rocky Mountain Children’s Health Foundation.

Jarvis Moss looks good in Camp, he managed to beat Ryan Harris for a sack.

Eric Decker looked good running routes and may see some time against the Lions on Saturday.

Tebow missed practice.

Things I hear:

TO, Terrell Owens, will take over the number one spot on the depth chart from Chad Ochocinco.

Former Denver Oakland wash-out receiver Javon Walker is trying out for the Vikings. If the past three seasons are any indication (and they should be), Walker is finished. 

Things I read:

MHR - Identity Crisis on Defense

NFP - The Fantasy Stock watch report

DP - Next up on the bargaining table: Bailey

Lions Game Preview:

One of the Biggest story's about this game that may have been overlooked because of the Tebow injury is the return of Tony Scheffler to Denver. After 4 years with the Broncos this will be his first game against his former team. It will be interesting to see what Tony can do with the Lions.

Against the Detroit Lions tonight, the Broncos figure to give a long look at running backs Lance Ball and Justin Fargas.

Bailey and tight end Daniel Graham will sit out the game tonight to rest their bumps and bruises. Both are expected to return to practice Monday. 

Also it would not surprise me if Tim Tebow plays in this game. The dude has played with a broken leg so some sore ribs won't keep him out for long.

Things to look out for in this game:

Push Rush and run defense, specially on 3rd down.
Quinn, did he just have a bad day or does he really suck.
The Run game, what can Fargas do?
And can our 3rd DB cover, Smith, Jones?
Keep an eye out for Eric Decker.
Special Teams coverage and returns.
And the rookie lineman.

Madden 11 Review:

Time for a little rant as I am greatly disappointed in this game. First off I like the new motion and movement it works well and gives a better control over the players, but that was to be expected. Also the graphics are good for this game and the players they did image look exactly like the real guys, but this is where the rant starts.

First not all if most of the players look like their real selves. McD for one doesn't look anything like himself. Only the main players or big names have been made up to look like themselves. This then leads into the Gameflow addition. It is pointless, not helpful and repetitive, calls the same plays. Pretty much like Doc had said, is exactly an ask madden feature. Then when I do call a play I get a nerdy game designer tell me how to run the play. I want McD to tell me the play not some random. And has anyone else been able to play a 30 min game with 5 minute quarters, I haven't.

Then there is the changes of calling audibles and kicking functions. The question is why make these changes? What is the point of these changes? I think EA struggled with this game and had to make these changes to make it look like they did something this year. I have a feeling that EA wanted to have the new Franchise and Superstar modes done for this year but couldn't. So they had to push those additions back to next years edition. The new commands are easy to use and don't take long to learn it, but again what is the point in these changes. The kicking change also has the same question mark. The kicking function has been changed so that the user selects the power and then the accuracy, which takes as back to the 2005 and 2006 Maddens. The kicking function also has a new crappy ugly graphic to go with it. I have also noticed that there is no in game save feature. So the games that you start you have to finish. Unless I just haven't found it, do you know where it is?

I love the start of this game with Drew Brees, but then goes to the ugly start menus. This game is a very ugly looking game and really could be so much better. Is EA putting out a crap game this year to make Madden 12 look even better? And of course the game modes haven't been changed. So overall, like we thought a crap game without much change. On that bombshell ~ Aussie Out!

Training Camp - Day 18

Hey guys, what has been doing? Been an interesting few days at the Broncos practice. But most of the news is about injuries or about people coming back from injuries or rehabbing injuries. Expect for one, I came across this 'The team announced it waived Dustin Fry. He missed much of training camp with a leg injury and was third string on the depth chart at center'.So I guess lets get into the other news we have.

Injuries:

Well it is some bad news for Broncos fans, as Tim 'The Guns' Tebow went down with an injury. Tebow had to leave practice with sore ribs and was wearing a flak jacket. He was ok-ish on Tuesday but sat out conditioning sprints but it seems the injury has gotten worse today, he lasted only 10 minutes. For more check out DP.com

It will be interesting to see if Denver feels Tebow is healthy enough to play Saturday against Detroit, in the most anticipated home preseason game in Denver in years. The Broncos will be careful with the first-round pick, but they also want him to get game action.

Returning Players:

Now onto some good news, we had some players returning from injury. Jarvis Moss and Eric Decker returned to practice today. Moss returned to practice Wednesday afternoon, 12 days after breaking a bone in his left hand. Moss wore a cast that covered his hand and wrist, and the injury did not appear to limit him in the practice. 

Rookie wide receiver Decker practiced for the first time since injuring his left ankle Aug. 7 in a practice at Invesco Field. He seemed to be ok and not to bad in practice today.

Camp tidbits:

Chris Kuper, who returned Tuesday from an ankle injury, left practice early. He spoke to trainers before walking slowly to the locker room under his own power.

LB JAMMIE KIRLEW:He earned notice with a sack against the Bengals, but what stood out Wednesday was the strength he showed in attacking blockers. One example came during a one-on-one drill, where he plowed into right tackle Ryan Harris and pushed him back five yards, collapsing what would have been a pass pocket. Kirlew and fellow linebacker Kevin Alexander — who played one snap with the first team last Sunday after Robert Ayers was summoned to the sideline following a 15-yard penalty — will be worth watching Saturday night against Detroit, MaxDenver.com.

Things I hear:

The Broncos may get starting running back Knowshon Moreno back next week. He suffered a hamstring injury Aug. 1.

Thats all I have ~ Aussie Out!

Training Camp - Day 17

Guess who's back, back again, Favre is back, tell a friend. Well it has happened, Favre will have another dig at the Superbowl this year, bum ankle or not. Does this surprise us at all? Probably not, no I don't think so. It will be another interesting year with Favre at the Vikings. Ok guys now on to the more important stuff, the camp news and more.

More Injuries:

Yes it happened again, Brandon Stokley left the Broncos' evening practice with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. He did not return to practice, could this be the end of Stokley in Denver?

Camp notes:

In 7-on-7s, Tim Tebow lofted a deep pass down the sideline to Alric Arnett, who adjusted to catch the back-shoulder throw in front of Alphonso Smith. On the very next play, the rookie quarterback fired a pass to Britt Davis in the middle of the field.

Spencer Larsen traveled with the team to Cincinnati, but headed back to Denver before the game — just in time to welcome a new baby girl to the family. Congrats on the new girl Larsen.

Robert Ayers made the play of the day when he picked off an Orton screen pass and returned it for a touchdown. That drew a good ovation, which only increased when Ayers celebrated with a reverse dunk of the football over the goal post.

Rookie WRs Demaryius Thomas (foot) and Eric Decker (ankle/foot) ran routes and caught passes from the Broncos' strength coach Tuesday morning.

Guard Chris Kuper and linebacker D.J. Williams are working their way back to health in Denver.

Things I read:

DenverPost.com has a lot of good articles to read, check out this list:
Broncos' receivers add up to more than Marshall
Broncos' versatile Larsen specializes at fullback
Broncos' special-teamers disappointed with preseason opener
Broncos QB Quinn puts Bengals game behind him
Analysis: Broncos may have some surprises on 53-man roster

Things I hear:

Baltimore Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said he has not talked to the Broncos about trading for any of their cornerbacks.
Mike Klis of the Denver Post believes that Broncos second-year CB Alphonso Smith "has put himself on the roster bubble" with a poor camp.

Don't forget the Broncos play the Lions on Saturday, catch you all soon ~ Aussie Out!