Tebow, Willis highlight first Broncos practice

Denver Broncos players stretch in front of a crowd of thousands during the team's opening training camp practice in Dove Valley.

A record 3,103 fans attended the opening practice of Denver Broncos training camp Sunday with, like last year, what seemed like half of them donning #15 jerseys.

This year, though, the nameplates read “Tebow,” not “Marshall.”

Tim Tebow was the talk of the town in Dove Valley Sunday, with a palpable level of excitement from the crowd coming with every throw and innovative scramble. The rookie displayed good arm strength, if a slow wind-up, and was on target for nearly all of his throws.

For the record, all the quarterbacks had good practices, but Tebow drew the cheers from the fans in attendance.

But although today was Tebow’s day, a relative unknown almost stole the show. Wide receiver Matthew Willis outshone his fellow receivers and every player at any position with his big plays in team drills to end practice. Willis hauled in two deep passes, one from Kyle Orton and another from Tim Tebow, in the early minutes of the Broncos’ team scrimmages, and both were tough catches under tight coverage. He completed the quarterback trifecta later with a nice 20-yarder from Brady Quinn.

Overall the Broncos came to play, giving good effort and showing crispness unexpected for a first practice. Not that the Head Coach was satisfied: “The effort is certainly where you want it to be on the first day; the execution certainly isn’t,” Josh McDaniels said.

Of course, the excitement of Day One was marred by the injuries to running backs Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter. Both are expected to undergo MRI’s this afternoon.

Heading out for now… More updates, quotes, and video this afternoon and evening!