McDaniels and Hillis Post-Practice Interviews 8/3

Highlights:

• Peyton Hillis doesn’t know if he’s a fullback or tailback, and neither does the coach.
• The guys that were held out were a coaching decision which could repeat moving forward. Some of these guys might participate this afternoon.

Opening comments

“I don’t know anything about (ILB) Nick Greisen (injury status). I am not going to talk about (OLB/DE) Jarvis Moss. Everybody that was held out of practice today was basically a coach’s decision. Some of those guys will be out here this afternoon, and that is kind of how it is going to be going forward. I don’t have any update on the rookies in terms of (OLB/DE) Robert (Ayers) and (RB) Knowshon (Moreno) signing. Again, we are hopeful and eager to get them in here very shortly.

On if he has heard from OLB/DE Jarvis Moss about the linebacker’s status

“It is a personal situation. We granted Jarvis permission to take the time to do what he needed to do. Again, I am not going to talk about that based on the personal situation and the personal matter that it is.”

On WR Eddie Royal’s performance early in training camp

“I really like Eddie Royal a lot. He does a lot of good things. He can move around. Eddie is very smart (and is) one of the smartest receivers I have been around, and we have quite a few smart ones here. He understands defenses, he runs great routes and he has great hands although he did drop one today in the red zone. He is catching on. He is really excited. He learns more and more every day, gets better every day, works hard every day, has a great attitude and (is a) great team player, great teammate and a great guy to coach.”

On if he plans to use RB Peyton Hills more as a running back or a fullback

“Peyton could be a lot of things. We don’t even name our backs, really. You are going to see a heck of a lot more one-back sets than two-back sets. If you want to say that he would be in the game more as a one-back, I don’t know if that is fair or not. We will have to see how it kind of all unfolds. He does both and he does them pretty well. He continues to get better, and that is not easy either because you are learning two different positions in two different spots. (It is a) credit to him that he can handle multiple roles and try to improve in both of those each day, because he is not just coming out here and working at one spot.”

On if he enjoyed Hillis’ music playlist while the Broncos were warming up

“I knew some of those songs. I don’t think many of the teammates knew them. That is something fun that we do for the guys that were the offseason award winners. We kind of rotate the playlists, and that was Peyton’s day today.”

On Hillis’ physical running style

“He has a very tough, physical style of play. It is the kind of style that we love and appreciate.”

On if there are any updates on WR Brandon Marshall’s status

“No, nothing. Just a coaching decision based on… There are multiple guys that are not out here and some of them will be today, later today, I mean, and some will probably be out here back tomorrow.”

On evaluating the defense’s ability to adopt the new scheme

“I don’t want to say (I’m) happy or unhappy. They are making progress. I think the one thing that they are all starting to really understand is how physical we want to play. There are a lot of drills that we are doing and a lot of team work that we are doing that puts a lot of emphasis on being physical, winning the line of scrimmage and those kinds of things. Our defense is accepting every challenge that the offense gives to it. The offense obviously has a little bit more cohesiveness than the defense does, because we don’t have nearly as many new faces on there, but the defense is holding their own and getting better every day. They understand the style that we are trying to establish.”

On Defensive Coordinator Mike Nolan’s defensive philosophy

“He is aggressive. He calls his defense aggressive(ly). He wants the players to play aggressively. I think they all respond to him and his teaching style. He pushes every position group. He can coach anywhere on the field. He can coach, obviously, the secondary, the linebackers, the front (line), the special teams (or) whatever you want him to do. (He is) multifaceted. The players have really responded to the way that he pushes and challenges them every day. He is very aggressive, and we like that.”

On OLB/DE Elvis Dumervil’s transition to outside linebacker

“He is doing fine. Elvis is playing a little bit of a different position, but it just might be the perfect position for Elvis. That is what we are hoping for all of those outside linebackers that have made that transition because most of the outside linebackers in the National Football League were defensive ends at one point in their life. Most of them were defensive ends in college. Elvis is no different than those guys. He has just been in the league a little longer, which probably gives him a little bit of an advantage in terms of making the adjustment because he understands some of what is going on the other side of the ball.”

On evaluating the nose tackles

“They are doing fine. We have got a lot of guys rolling in there not just (DL Ronald) Fields. (DL Chris) Baker is obviously getting a little work in there (as well as DL Carlton) Powell and (DL) Marcus Thomas.

“(The nose tackle) is important. That guy can’t evacuate the middle of the defense. You can’t let the (offensive) linemen get up to the linebackers too fast. You have got to be able to absorb two blockers sometimes. It happens so much faster inside than it does outside that they have to be able to react quickly to whatever the blocking scheme may be. They are doing a respectable job and getting better every day. I think physically, they are fine. They can handle the physical punishment. They are all 315 (pounds) or more, and they are all strong men. They come to work every day and try to get better. You are right. It is an important part of the defense.”

On if DL Marcus Thomas will play more at defensive end or nose tackle

“We are kind of playing with both. There are a few of those guys that are going back and forth. When you play the 3-4 system, you may only take five (defensive) linemen to the game, sometimes six linemen to the game, so somebody has got to have some versatility to be able to do both. You may not have a backup at every spot, so somebody is going to have to come in there and be the fourth linemen and play nose or end if somebody goes down. We have to try to develop some depth there and some versatility, which is always valuable to us.”

On the difficulty learning to play nose tackle and defensive end simultaneously

“It happens faster inside than it does outside, so there is definitely a different mode that you go into when you go inside when you have been outside most of the time. It is not necessarily the easiest thing, which is why it is a challenge, but they are all going to get through it, and they are all going to get plenty of reps to start to develop at both spots.”