Denver Broncos vs. Dallas Cowboys Practice Day 2 Quotes – Shanny, Marshall, and D.J.

HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN

On the morning practice —
“I felt we had a great practice today, an extension of what we had yesterday. We got a chance to evaluate a lot of our people. We got a chance to evaluate them under different conditions, (and) we are very pleased.”

On practice being more intense than Wednesday’s sessions —
“Usually, the second day is always that way. It was the same way last year. I’ve probably practiced with a different team seven or eight times since I’ve been in the National Football League, and it never changes. That second day is usually a bit more competitive and we had some great work.”

On Cowboys LB Zach Thomas —
“Zach is a great football player. I think we all know Zach Thomas. He practices at a certain level, and that’s why he plays at a certain level every time he hits that football field. He’s an experienced pro, a guy I have always admired and he had a good practice today.”

On WR Brandon’s Marshall’s messages on the back of his shoulder pads —
“I think both of those guys (Marshall and Cowboys CB Adam Jones) are just having fun. There is a lot of respect level there by both guys just going out and competing. Brandon has a hard time staying quiet though after someone takes a shot at him, I do know that.”

On tempers flaring during practice —
“It wasn’t a fight. That’s was just a little pushing. That happens all the time, but they kept their composure and they didn’t swing. That’s what you want. Tempers are going to flare up a little bit. That’s the nature of this profession. But (they were) professional enough to back off and players laugh at it and smile. That’s part of practicing against another team. But there were no swings and that’s what I appreciated. Two teams acted in a professional manner, and hopefully we will have another good (practice) this afternoon.”

On the purpose of practicing with the Cowboys before playing them in a preseason game —
“They get a chance to see what we are doing and we get a chance to see what they are doing. There isn’t a gameplan involved, but you still want to go out and do a good job. You still want to evaluate players as well. If we were playing them in a regular season game, obviously we wouldn’t be practicing against them, but that’s not they key at this time of year, it’s to try to find your best 53-man squad and also put your system in against other people. I think we have had a productive day-and-a-half.”

On WR Darrell Jackson (ankle) missing practice —
“I can’t tell you if he’s going to play on Saturday, but it’s not serious.”

On comparing the maturation processes of Broncos QB Jay Cutler and Cowboys QB Tony Romo —
“I think it’s a lot different. Romo was in a backup role, I believe, for four years if I’m not mistaken. He’s a student of the game. When you run the scout team or if you are on a team as a quarterback and you have four years looking at different defenses, it’s a little easier to go behind that center and read defenses. Jay is a little bit different. He wasn’t thrown in the fire right away in the first year. It was a growing experience, but there are a little bit more growing pains the quicker you get in. Romo is reading coverages unbelievably. I admire how quickly he reads coverages and gets the ball to the right spot. He is going to have a heck of a year. You could see it out here today and yesterday.”

On Cowboys QB Tony Romo’s improvement from last season —
“I see a difference just watching (Romo) play last year. He plays with a lot of confidence, he knows where the ball is going and if something breaks down he has the ability to make a play on his own. He can throw the ball at all different angles and he is a heck of a weapon.”

BRONCOS WR BRANDON MARSHALL

On the Broncos’ morning practice —
“As a team we had a little drop off, but you know that’s part of playing in the National Football League. We just got to be more consistent.”

On competing against Dallas CB Adam Jones —
“Man, I won today.”

On his message to CB Adam Jones on the back of his pads during morning practice —
“Basically, I said yesterday that ‘21 is no Champ (Bailey).’ I thought about it for a moment today that since he’s changed his name back to Adam he’s not even Pac man. He’s not even as good as Pac man used to be, but it’s all in fun. I explained to him that he needed to spice it up because I’m winning right now.”

On his intensity during practice against Dallas —
“I’m aiming for perfection, and today I had a little drop off. I had a few dropped balls and that’s not like me. I was kind of upset with myself. I’m always trying to have a Pro Bowl day every day, and today is not one of those days.”

On the high intensity overall from both sides of the ball —
“Yesterday was a little buddy-buddy system going on, but today was more intense and more physical. We got after it today and it was pretty even.”

On doing one on one drills during practice —
“Well when you see Peyton Manning come out and he sees different coverages whether it’s press or off coverage, he changes it up. As a defensive back in the NFL, you make your money doing press coverage. So I said, ‘Let’s go deep.’ We went deep. We went 100 percent going deep against Pac man Jones – I mean Adam – Sorry. And we won.”

On competing against Dallas CB Adam Jones —
“It’s exciting to be able to go against someone else and to be able to go out and compete against another team. You got to motivate yourself a little more when you wake up every day going against the same guy. Today felt like game day a little bit.”

BRONCOS LINEBACKER D.J. WILLIAMS

On if the intensity picked up Thursday morning compared to yesterday’s practice with the Cowboys —
“Definitely. When you are going against other guys, guys that you are not friends with, sometimes tempers flare.”

On the squabble that broke out during practice between teams —
“I really can’t say what happened. I guess two guys got into it a little extra at the end of the play. Once that happens, your friends come and their friends come and pile on, just grabbing, pushing and tugging away.”

More on the intensity of today’s practice —
“I guess yesterday, people were feeling each other out. We felt that we had the upper hand early in the morning yesterday, and we knew they were going to come out with a higher intensity level and they did that. We all came out and practiced hard today.”

On if there is competition to win each practice —
“Definitely, we do that with our own team. Sometimes when we go against our own team, the defense will win and the offense will come out extra motivated because the coaches in the meetings are yelling at you and things like that. It makes us want to come out and give that extra effort the next practice.”

On the difference between competing against Broncos QB Jay Cutler and Cowboys QB Tony Romo —
“It’s kind of hard to tell. I am not a DB, so I am not staring at the quarterback most of the time. Most of the time I am on man coverage on somebody, so I really can’t tell you.”

On Cowboys RB Marion Barber —
“He is a very strong runner. His speed is a little bit deceptive, he is a lot faster than people give him credit for. He runs well inside the tackles and outside.”

On being moved back to weak side linebacker —
“I am just happy to be out there. I’m playing WILL some downs and MIKE on others. Once you start to play linebacker, it is really not that big of a difference.”

On his confidence for the Broncos stopping the run —
“I think the scheme that we have is better and the guys that we have. Our inside scheme, I think, is a lot better than what we had last year. With the players, you can have the best scheme in the world but if you don’t have the talent it is not going to mean anything.”