TRAINING CAMP: DAY 6

NOTES AND NEWS FROM DAY SIX OF TRAINING CAMP:

Well the news today was all about the VERY thin depth we have at WR. In fact, with Brandon Stokley held out with a minor right thigh injury and Javon Walker pulled up short with some muscle cramping, we were left with only five functioning receivers (Quincy Morgan, Domenik Hixon, David Terrell, Brian Clark and David Kircus).

That was so few that at times Shanahan had to use TE’s to fill in the receiver slots so all the plays could be run. Nate Jackson worked well in this capacity as the tightend was a receiver only two seasons ago.

“(Nate’s) been very consistent and he’s gotten better in the blocking game and obviously he’s made some big-time catches — He’s looked very good.” — Mike Shanahan 8/3/07

Jackson wasn’t the only receiver to do well today. There were great catches by all of our remaining wideouts. Here’s a look at a few of them…

Cutler’s 50 yard pass to Walker (before he left with cramping)!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeMDZIU-UWM]

Cutler moves in the pocket to allow enough time for a pass to Nate Jackson.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02OAOvseX4w]

Quincy Morgan grabs this ball pass Bly.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNmqwl6OFvk]

And now some other notes…

INJURIES & ATTENDANCE:

Good news on Holdman, as he was released from the hospital on Friday — no news on long-term status for the linebacker.

As for other injuries, Ben Hamilton was in uniform, but did not practice Friday. Shanahan said he got “dinged up,” and should be back on Saturday morning. FB Paul Smith sat out today with a groin injury. TE Chad Mustard was held out again with his right hamstring injury. Tony Scheffler, Rod Smith, Lamont Reid and Doug Niehuis were all still on the PUP list. However, Sam Adams and Marcus Thomas were back to work today.

Wide receivers that missed some (or all) of practice included: Brandon Stokley was held out with a right thigh injury — thought to be minor. WR Marquay McDaniel was held out again due to his hamstring injury (that’s a total of 3 days out). Glenn Martinez was out for another day with a right thigh injury. Brandon Marshall and Rod Smith remain on the PUP list and today Javon Walker was even sidelined with cramping.

““He got a little tightness. I wasn’t sure if he cramped up, but he didn’t pull anything. It just got a little tight, so we kept him out.”

— Mike Shanahan 8/3/07

OFFENSIVE LINE UPS: FRIDAY

Wide Outs:
Walker and Brandon Stokley ran with the 1st Team.
Tight Ends:
No real change from the last few days.
Running Backs:
Again, no change. Travis Henry with Cecil Sapp running second. Mike Bell, Andre Hall and Young following behind.
O-line:
1st Team O-line saw Chris Myers fill in for Ben Hamilton, but the rest stayed the same: LT Matt Lepsis, C Tom Nalen, RG Chris Kuper and RT Erik Pears.

DEFENSIVE LINE UPS: FRIDAY

D-line:
* 1st Team D-line returned to it’s standard camp line-up with Adam’s return. Jimmy Kennedy spelled Warren for some of the day: DE’s Ebenezer Ekuban and John Engelberger, DT’s Gerard Warren and Sam Adams.

* 2nd Team D-line was made up of rookie’s Tim Crowder, Jarvis Moss and Marcus Thomas with Amon Gordon to finish the lineup.

DIME PACKAGE NOTE: Unchanged: Ekuban and Warren were the tackles with ends Jarvis Moss and Elvis Dumervil.

Linebackers:
* 1st Team LB’s were: Nate Webster took his turn at SAM today, D.J. Williams still impressing at MIKE and Ian Gold at WILL.

Secondary:
No changes here as CB’s Champ Bailey and Dre’ Bly and Safeties Nick Ferguson and John Lynch played on the 1st Team. Foxworth spelled Bly occasionally, and was their Nickel back. Cox joined the 1st Team during work on the Dime Package.

SPECIAL TEAMS LINE UPS: FRIDAY

Kick-Off Return Team:
No changes.

We have reports from both Kaylore and SoCal from Orange Mane, so I’ll dive right into the highlights from those…

RUNNING BACKS:
Generally another great day for running backs in Denver. SoCal also noted something of interest in the playing calling for our ground assault today.

“One thing about the running game that I found surprising this morning was the diversity of run plays chosen. The staples of Denver’s run offense are of course, the wide zone, tight zone and counter, but we ran some pitch plays and also some draws as well today. “

— SoCal 8/3/07

That would be an interesting point to continue to watch, I’ve always thought that since we normally run the ball so well we never really messed around with may pitches and draw plays. If we’re running some in camp, I wonder if we’ll see more in the season… it’s worth watching for.

Travis Henry looked really great again today — no surprise there. Cecil Sapp continued to impress the guys with not only his strength, but also his speed. He runs similar to Henry’s ‘bruising bowling ball’ style, so he would be well suited to spell Henry when needed without giving the defense a rest.

Another impressive day for Andre Hall. He is making a serious play for Mike Bell’s current #3 spot. Hall would make a very good change of speed back, as he is a crafty running with explosive speed.

“Man he is fun to watch. Great speed. Explosive. Good hands, good vision and very elusive… He’s the kind of guy that you could throw the ball to in the flat and things will happen. He’s more effective in space than in traffic, but he can run between the tackles very well. He is the player I most want to see in a preseason game. I suspect he’ll make some plays.”

— Kaylore 8/3/07

Coach Turner remains a perfectionist, as he called out both Mike Bell for running the wrong route and Travis Henry for causing a false start… more laps I guess! :)
DEFENSIVE LINE:
On the D-line the rookies all were working on the 2nd Team Defense today. Jarvis Moss continues to improve — heck, today he beat Lepsis cleanly on one play. Tim Crowder also had a solid day. Jimmy Kennedy stepped in for Warren today and did a good job. But the man of the day, was Sam Adams.

“You really notice when he is on the field and when he isn’t. He’s disruptive, he’s penetrating, he is fast and is enormous. It’s a lot to handle. He got winded later on, so I still see him as a guy you need to rotate in, but he’s definitely someone that is going to help us immediately.”

— Kaylore 8/3/07

LINEBACKERS:
SoCal reports that the LB’s had a bit of trouble in the passing game today. He notes that Nate Webster looked good and stacked up nicely against TE Stephen Alexander. That’s good news because with Sam Brandon out, we’ll need our backs to handle more of the TE’s this year. I’m not sure we’ve been practicing our Big Nickel package this camp, but Brandon was our tightend coverage in that package, and his ability to match up against the great TE’s in our division will be sorely missed.

OFFENSIVE LINE:
We had Chris Myers come in for Ben Hamilton today instead of Montrae Holland. He did pretty well filling in. Adam Meadows still seems to be struggling quite a bit.

The great news is that the 1st Team O-line seems to be gelling. Chris Kuper and Erik Pears seem to be building a good chemistry together on that side and it’s showing in the running game. Their only trouble seems to come when facing our 1st Team Defense and some of Jim Bate’s safety blitzes. I don’t see a huge issue with this as I believe we are building a top three D-line this year, so it’s reasonable to struggle for rushing yards against them.

WIDE RECEIVERS AND TIGHT ENDS:

Javon Walker was impressive until he was sidelined with some cramping — nothing serious we’re told. Hixon, Morgan and Kircus all did well today also.

SoCal was very impressed with our tightends today. I reports that Daniel Graham seemed to beat the defensive secondary well and made a great catch on a play-action bootleg play. However, as I mentioned above, the day belonged to Nate Jackson…

“Probably the best tight end today in the passing game was Nate Jackson. He really was all over the place. In his post practice press conference, Coach Shanahan praised his consistency and said he is becoming a better blocker too.”

— SoCal 8/3/07

QUARTERBACKS:
Another good outing for Jay Cutler. He’s been doing a better job looking off LB’s and selling the playaction passes. He had that GREAT +50 yard pass to Walker while scrambling away from DJ (see video). He was also connected well with his TE’s again.

Patrick Ramsey had a good day as well. Kaylore reports that he seems to be trusting his line more and has begun making better reads and passes.

“I think a year under Shanahan will really help groom him into a solid backup and teach him to take advantage of the talent that got him drafted in the first round.” — Kaylore 8/3/07

Preston Parsons is very accurate, but has the weakest arm of the group. However, he had the most experience in our system, and he uses well. His reads are fast and he looks comfortable behind center.

SECONDARY:
Kaylore provides us a great overview of our strongest units this year. The starters are well set. Champ, Bly, Lynch and Ferguson with Foxworth and Cox coming in with certain packages. That being said, we still have some serious talent in our secondary. Most notably are Safeties Hamzah Abdullah and Karl Paymah. Abdullah is looking very good this camp and is a sure lock for the team this year. Karl Paymah has been hitting harder than anyone but Lynch this camp. Jeff Shoates is also quietly having a good camp. Today he almost had two interception as he anticipated the throw and broke on the ball well.

Kaylore and SoCal were both interviewed on Cecil Lammey’s podcast show The Audible. Check it out when you get a chance!