In response to the notion of the "SI cover jinx," SI's Jim Trotter said "Tebow and the Broncos were on the cover a few weeks ago and have won (since then)."

• The Denver Broncos on Tuesday signed cornerback Tony Carter to their active roster and waived safety Kyle McCarthy, it was announced.  Also on Tuesday, the Broncos waived/injured linebacker Derek Domino, who was previously on Denver’s injured reserve list.  [Teams Official Blog]

• USA Football has selected Broncos wide receiver Eric Decker to its third annual USA Football All-Fundamentals Team, which honors 26 NFL players – 11 offense, 11 defense, four special teams – who exhibit exemplary football techniques for youth players to emulate.  [Mile High Report]

• Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow is featured on this week’s cover of Sports Illustrated, marking the seventh time in his football career that he’s been on the cover of the magazine.  [Team's Official Blog]

• The Chiefs season has not gone the way they would have liked it to.  It’s gotten to the point to where KC fans want quarterback Kyle Orton to start on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.  [SB Nation]

• According to Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick, Broncos’ rookie linebacker Von Miller is “as good as anyone we’ve faced all year.”  [@PostBroncos]

• Former Broncos tight end Nate Jackson is a freelance writer who has done pieces for the New York Times.  His latest article notes that NFL teams hide injuries from the league and ultimately lie to players about the side-effects of drugs to keep them on the field.  [New York Times]

• Broncos linebacker and special teams player Wesley Woodyard has been a team caption for four consecutive seasons, and has had a big impact this year. [Denver Post]

• CBS4′s Vic Lombardi believes that Bronco players are more community-minded today than they were before Tebow arrived.  [CBS Denver]

For the first time since the end of the NFL Lockout, the Denver Broncos had 100% of their roster healthy and participating in practice on Wednesday.  [Arnie Stapleton/AP]

In three career games against the Dolphins, McCaffrey caught 14 passes for 208 yards and three touchdowns. (Image courtesy of Bill Frakes/Sports Illustrated)

• That means safety Brian Dawkins (neck) and wide receiver Demaryius Thomas (finger) were back at practice.  [MaxBroncos/PostBroncos]

• Meanwhile, former Broncos receiver Ed McCaffrey is predicting a “party in Miami,” saying it should be a big win for Denver.  [CBS4]

• Hopefully the players on Denver’s roster don’t share McCaffrey’s thinking, because we all know what overconfidence following a bye week can lead to — a humiliating loss.  [Previously on BroncoTalk]

• In Vegas, the 0-5 Miami Dolphins are 3-point favorites over the 1-4 Broncos this week. [First-And-Orange]

• Cornerback Champ Bailey is among the players that will be joining linebacker Wesley Woodyard at Woodyard’s MVP Dinner on November 1st benefiting his 16Ways Foundation.  [@ChampBailey/Broncos Zone]

• Former Broncos tight end Nate Jackson recently shared his take on Denver’s quarterback situation for the Denver Post.  [DPO]

• Sunday’s game will mark the first time Dolphins’ receiver Brandon Marshall has played against the Broncos since being traded to Miami.  [Previously on BT]

• Thanks to “Gator Day” and Miami’s somewhat close proximity to Gainesville, this weekend’s game will have a lot of Broncos fans in attendance (or at least quarterback Tim Tebow fans anyway).  [Denver Broncos Official Blog]

Former Broncos wide receiver Ed McCaffrey knows a thing or two about playing in Super Bowls.  In his latest blog post he talks about handling the media blitz on Super Bowl week. [Ed McCaffrey Blog]

Ed McCaffrey went to three Super Bowls in the '90's. (Photo Josh Merwin/Getty Images

• Former Broncos Tight End Nate Jackson caught up with CBS4′s Vic Lombardi on Monday to discuss Jay Cutler, Tim Tebow and a few NFL myths. [CBS4]

• With their new coaching staff completed, the Broncos are now entering the evaluation stage. [BT], [Pro Football Weekly]

• The NFL had stated teams would be able to franchise tag players, even if there’s no new collective bargaining agreement to replace the one that ends March 3. The union sent a letter to agents Thursday to tell them the NFL is wrong about that. [NFL.com]

• Elway has shown a lot of maturity in dealing with Broncos quarterback situation. [Denver Post]

• Broncos rookie wide receiver Eric Decker discusses his rookie season and offseason plans in this week’s edition of ‘Helmets Off’ on the team’s official site. [Denver Broncos Official Site]

In a phenomenal piece in the New York Times‘ Fifth Down Blog, former Denver Broncos tight end Nate Jackson (who was on the team from 2003-2008) breaks down what it’s like to participate in training camp at football’s highest level.

As one might expect, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Jackson breaks down the daily grind, the verbal abuse from the coaches, and how players spend their precious downtime (“however they can: napping, video games, reading, crying.”).

Okay, none of it is sunshine and rainbows.

The verbal haranguing (from the coaches) isn’t exclusive to the field. In meetings every day and night, it continues. The decibel level decreases, but it’s no less biting. Every play of every practice is watched on film by the whole team that same day. Morning practice is watched in the afternoon before the afternoon practice, and the afternoon practice is watched at night before going home. Practices are watched on huge screens with high quality projectors. When a player makes a mistake, it is pointed out and discussed.

Nothing slips through the cracks. Depending on the severity of the mistake, and the frequency of mistakes being made by the player, the reaction from the coaches will vary, but the feeling for the player is always horrible. Being called out in meetings and having everyone in the room watching you fail in slow motion — often with a laser pointer on your two-dimensional body — is demoralizing, and only intensifies the pain. This scrutiny is well intentioned, but often falls flat from overkill, the message trampled by the messenger.

If there’s one prevailing theme in Jackson’s piece — which is a terrific read from top to bottom, do yourself a favor and soak it all in — it’s that the physical toll of training camp, while significant, is nothing compared to the mental pounding the blue collar NFL player will endure this month. It’s the middle of the afternoon on Day 12 of camp as we write this; somewhere in Dove Valley, a Bronco is crying.

What an N.F.L Training Camp is Really Like [The Fifth Down Blog]

Click to enlarge (DrewLitton.com)

• Tom Nalen: offensive line coach. [DPO]
• Nice write-up on Ring of Famer Louis Wright. [DPO]
• Rookie nose tackle Chris Baker shared his sobering story with his former high school. [CSG]

NFL/Other

• Philip Rivers is $93 million richer. The contract extension keeps Marmalard in the AFC West through 2015. [Boston Globe]
• Raider Javon Walker returned to practice Monday. [San Francisco Chronicle]
• Some former Broncos make headlines in Cleveland.  Browns release OT George Foster, sign Jack Nasty (TE Nate Jackson).  [ProFootballTalk]
• ROCKIES ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!?! [ESPN]
• Can Jason Giambi‘s bat make the difference for the Rockies in October? [CSG]

Kyle Orton attempts to hit Eddie Royal on a slant route. (Photo: Eric Lars Bakke DenverBroncos.com)

With Kyle and Josh at Dove Valley (and currently eating dinner), I’m maintaining the head quarters and manning the thirty-three  plus flat screens we have here at BroncoTalk Blog Central (East has a thing for the Oxygen Network and JKJ’s obsessed with Lifetime, do not ask!)… They’ve been busy.

Here’s what we’ve learned so far:

• Kyle Orton is not guaranteed the starting position at quarterback.
• Matter of fact none of the Denver Broncos are guaranteed starting spots.
• Ryan Torain came out bucking, stealing the spotlight amongst the overly talented running back stable.
• Brandon Marshall blew everyone’s minds.
• There are no clear answers as to whether Denver’s defensive line has improved.
• Both Jarvis Moss and Elvis Dumervil lined up (and only) at outside linebacker today.

Things you may not have known after the break…

Things you may not have known:

• LaMont Jordan looked good too!
• Chad OchoCinco will uStream his game planning against Champ Bailey tomorrow.
• Both Mike Shanahan and Bob Slowick will be visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers tomorrow.
• Jay Cutler jerseys are on sale in the Broncos store for $19.99.
• Former Broncos tight end Nate Jackson called Josh McDaniels, “Josh McDouche”.
• Everything that you’re worried about, stop. It’s the McDaniel’s Era and you would be hard pressed to find a person who had a bad thing to say about practice today.
• As I said on the Broncos Nation podcast on Monday, Jabar Gaffney could mess around and pass Brandon Marshall on the depth chart (or at least importance chart).
• The Broncos closed out practice with music, including Ice Cube’s- Check Yourself, which features the lyric, “… check yourself, before you wreck yourself…” prominently in the chorus. Wonder if one-five was paying attention?

Things I’m going to go ahead and just guess:

• Correll Buckhalter will emerge as the lead running back, especially if Knowshon Moreno talks take longer.
• Robert Ayers will be the most hyped person coming out of training camp, the man has the entire defense on his shoulders more-so than even Champ Bailey does.
• Bailey failing his physical is most likely McDaniels giving the man a break.
• Peyton Hillis will fit in interestingly somewhere on the offense.
• The Broncos will be once again top five offensively in the NFL.

What do you think Nation? Off my rocker? Yeah, but I’m not often wrong. Looking forward to the rest of camp and wishing everyone a healthy one!

Dewayne Robertson takes down Philip Rivers. Dec. 28, 2008.(AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

The Denver Broncos announced the departure of six more players this evening: defensive end John Engelberger, tight end Nate Jackson, linebacker Niko Koutouvides, safety Marquand Manuel, defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson and linebacker Jamie Winborn.

Several of these cuts were expected, though it may be earlier than we thought for others. Amongst the most surprising may be Winborn who was a decent backup and played well on special teams. Analysts have not hesitated this off-season to point out that head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Brian Xanders have absolutely no loyalty to any players on the current roster. This couldn’t be more true for Jackson, who although he has underachieved his entire career, was held onto by Mike Shanahan presumably due to his dedication in the off-season.

Robertson alone was scheduled to count $16-million against the salary cap, Koutouvides ($3.062 million), Engelberger ($2.185 million), Manuel ($1.333 million), Winborn ($2.25 million) and Jackson ($557,000). Overall the Broncos saved nearly $25 million dollars with the cuts, coupled with the cuts from earlier last week, they have freed close to $30 million.

The worst news, as I mentioned Xanders earlier, is that at his first press conference this afternoon he referred to this season as a, “Transition.” Though not all bad news, he did state that the Broncos may add more draft picks (they currently have eight) and should be busy in free agency, which is scheduled to start soon.

More analysis to come, stay tuned…

I am personally a fan of Nate Jackson, but I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Jackson has been plagued with injuries during his career here in Denver. Starting with this visit overseas in the now-defunct NFL Europe where he missed time injured and including games off for injury in each of his years as a Bronco.

Although he’s one of Mike Shanahan’s favorites, I just don’t know how many more injury effected seasons he can make it through without losing his roster spot to someone with a better streak of luck.

To replace Jackson, the Broncos have signed TE Chad Mustard. Mustard’s name is nothing new to this blog as Chad has been dropped and signed more times than any other player in the history of the team (And, no, I didn’t actually check that fact).

While Mustard is a decent blocker, he doesn’t have the hands or speed that Jackson possesses – which makes Tony’s health an even bigger issue. We’re now operating without a TE safety net when it comes to quality receiving options. Tony needs to get and stay health the rest of the year or we’re going to be hurting.

Official Broncos Press Release after the jump.

BRONCOS SIGN TE CHAD MUSTARD;
PLACE TE NATE JACKSON ON INJURED RESERVE

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos on Thursday signed free-agent tight end Chad Mustard, Head Coach Mike Shanahan announced.

Born on Oct. 8, 1977, Mustard attended Scotus Central Catholic High School in Columbus, Neb.

As much as we all love our quarterback with a rocket arm and our giant wide receiver that leads the league in yards after the catch, the position that will make or break this team’s season can be described in one word: Backup.

This week was a stellar examination of Denver’s depth at the ‘backup position’. It is also a revealing look at Mike Shanahan’s ability to find and sign talent deep into our practice squad.

Let’s take a look at a few backup playmakers from our game against Atlanta…

1. FB/RB Peyton Hillis.
Here is a rookie that was supposed to start behind Michael Pittman at Fullback. However, he’s been asked to carry the rock in a more traditional tailback role and this week he put up 70 all purpose yards. He pushed piles, scored two touchdowns and caught passes like a wide out.

2. LB Jamie Winborn.
Winborn was a special teams player and professional backup until this season. With Boss Bailey often out with injury, Jamie has stepped up and played SO well that he was given the headset communicator for this game! To think that we would be handing an NFL journeyman this level of responsibility is unthinkable unless you have serious faith in your backups. Jamie proved his worth this weekend by posting a team best 8 solo tackles.

3. FB/LB Spencer Larsen.
What can I say… this rookie pulled iron-man duty on Sunday. And he rocked! He played FB in some sets on offense and then finished second behind fellow LB backup Winborn with 6 solo tackles for the defense.

4. LB Wesley Woodyard.
Rounding out our complete set of backup Linebackers was rookie Wesley Woodyard. We here at BroncoTalk are not surprised by his success yesterday afternoon as we’ve been big fans of his since he showed off his skills and drive this preseason. However, for a rookie to come in and play with THIS level of passion and success… well, it gives us new hope for our defense.

5. RB P.J. Pope.
This undrafted free agent spent time on the practice squads of Chicago and Green Bay before getting signed to Denver’s practice squad at the beginning of September. Now, two months later he got his first NFL regular season action… and did pretty well. This practice squad player that got cut by two other clubs racked up 35 yards on 4 carries (including a nice 15 yarder).

6. CB Josh Bell.
Here’s another rookie backup that’s was sent out onto the field in place of Pro Bowl CB Champ Bailey. He did very good for a rookie (and a backup). He lead Denver’s corners with 5 solo tackles.

7. TE/WR Nate Jackson.
Ok, Nate is no rookie. But he is usually the backup for #88. Yesterday Jackson filled in and made a couple nice catches for 32 yards.

8. RB Tatum Bell.
And last, (and probably least)… Tatum Bell. Out of football entirely and now he’s out there gaining 34 yards. And most importantly — NO FUMBLES! :)

I’m not sure if we’ve seen this type of dramatic depletion by injury in two separate positions since 2001. At one point that year we had our third string QB throwing to our 5th string wideouts (we lost to KC in overtime on week 14).

This year it’s our linebackers and running backs that have been devastated. And what will make the difference between the 8-8 season of 2001 and our current season will be our backups at those missing spots. If our backups can come in and play at (or above) the level of our starters then we have a chance to make it to the playoff and be ‘something special.’

Let’s all hope that those boys out there with the jersey numbers they don’t sell in the gift shop continue to make the difference and keep our playoff dreams alive!

Go Backups!

Sunday’s 16-13 victory over Tampa Bay came with a price for the Broncos – several offensive playmakers were left on crutches. 36 hours later, it’s still unknown how serious these injuries are, or how they’ll shape the rest of the 2008 season.

First, the good news – wide receiver Eddie Royal‘s (ankle) X-rays were negative. Royal told reporters after the game that he hoped to play at Jacksonville on Sunday, but that sounds like a tall task at this point. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Broncos take it easy on Royal this week, but thankfully we don’t have to worry about Royal missing an extended period of time.

Next, the bad news – or, more accurately, the unknown. Tight end Tony Scheffler has suffered a strained groin. We’ve caught wind that it could be a serious injury – even season-threatening, but that’s only speculation at this point and is unconfirmed. Scheffler told reporters on Monday that he doesn’t think he’ll be ready for Sunday against Jacksonville, but doesn’t believe his injury to be serious. Meanwhile, running back Selvin Young also suffered a strained groin in Sunday’s win. The team gave no updates to either player’s status during the team press conference on Monday, so expect news on both guys to come down Wednesday.

If Scheffler can’t go, it puts the Broncos in an extremely tough spot. Scheffler is arguably Jay Cutler‘s second favorite target, and the proverbial “X-factor” when attacking opposing secondaries.

Expect Nate Jackson to have an increased role in the short term whether Scheffler goes or not, and particularly in the long term if Scheffler’s injury is more serious. The Broncos signed Chad Mustard on Monday as well, adding depth to the tight end position that still includes the versatile Daniel Graham.

Meanwhile, Young is the starting tailback. While the Broncos have yet to designate a single back as “the guy,” he brings a speed element to the running game that complements the power running style of Michael Pittman. He’s not getting the bulk of the carries, but his injury is still significant.

Head Coach Mike Shanahan did drop this nugget in his Monday presser – rookie running back Ryan Torain, whom many speculate could become the feature back later in the season, could return to practice as early as next week. That would put him in a great position to achieve active status after the bye week, which has been his unofficial target date all along.

The Broncos have been relatively healthy this season up to this point – it’s looking like they’ll have a good test at their depth and character in the weeks ahead as they try to get this offense healthy again. Losing Tony would be a big blow, so we’re crossing our fingers – but I have confidence that Jackson and Graham can get the job done if Scheffler can’t.