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Published on 08/06/2009 at Thu Aug 06 21:29.
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Broncos’ Orton, Prater Booed at INVESCO Practice

Posted Thu Aug 6th by

Denver Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton, left, talks with wide receiver Jabar Gaffney as they take part in drills during a scrimmage as part of NFL football training camp at Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Denver Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton, left, talks with wide receiver Jabar Gaffney as they take part in drills during a scrimmage as part of NFL football training camp at Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

It was a rough night for Denver Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton and kicker Matt Prater. The two men most responsible for scoring points for the Broncos this year had trouble doing it.

The 13,402 in attendance at INVESCO Field at Mile High – a record crowd for a Broncos practice – weren’t in a forgiving mood.

Orton, the Broncos’ starting quarterback, looked shaky at best, and played terribly at the most inopportune of moments. During the team scrimmage portion of practice, Orton threw several deep, downfield, hold-your-breath throws. Every one of them was off target or to well-covered receivers. Two balls in particular were intercepted by cornerback Andre Goodman, one of which Goodman returned over 50 yards for a touchdown.

Matt Prater’s luck wasn’t any better. At the end of practice, the second-year kicker lined up for several field goal attempts from 43 yards. His first kick? Wide right. His second? Wide left. The crowd’s disapproval was deafening.

Prater’s next three kicks were straight down the middle of the uprights, including one from an even further away 48 yards. But those aren’t going to be the kicks the fans remember.

“We’re just as mad as ourselves for the mistakes we make,” second team quarterback Chris Simms said after practice Thursday. “You gotta take the good with the bad.”

Head Coach Josh McDaniels thought Orton’s struggles were more easily attributed to a playmaking defense. “First of all, the defense made some good plays,” McDaniels said. “But there were a lot of mistakes made tonight, on both sides. Kyle obviously made a couple, but he certainly wasn’t alone.”

The Broncos are now one week into training camp. Mistakes are to be expected this early. But they’re also one week away from their first preseason game in San Francisco on August 14th. After such a tumultuous offseason, Broncos fans aren’t showing any patience.

McDaniels is, though, and the first-year coach stood his ground regarding both players. “Kyle is progressing every day,” he said, and told reporters he was not considering bringing in another kicker. “I have confidence in Matt Prater.”

McDaniels hasn’t shied away from career-defining moments. With an offseason already full of them, he just added sticking with Orton and Prater to his list. If these players don’t make a turn for the better, it’ll be the coach’s turn to be booed.

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  • Vince_Marine

    I’ve been saying this whole offseason that we needed a new kicker. Prater is to inconsistent!

  • broncogeoff81

    I’m not worried. Orton will be fine. Prater is going to be fine. People just need to realize it takes time and they need to get off Orton’s back. Its one practice.

  • http://broncotalk.net Joe

    LOL I was right next to a guy who yelled for Prater to look at him while he was warming up on the sidelines. Prater looks, than the guy next to me screams “Prater you suck! When are they going to cut your ass already? See ya later” Than he left. Hilarious. But Prater didn’t think so. I looked at him and watched him give the guy a mean look than mumble something. Than what happens? Prater goes out and kicks 3 of 5. Too bad that guy couldn’t stick out ten more minutes to see that.
    Everyone had problems. EVERYONE. Prater and Orton were just the ones getting the boo’s. Royal was dropping passes, Jordan and Buckhalter could not get the running game going, Kern started the practice off horrible with a couple of awful punts, etc.
    Some positives were that Moss would have had a sack or two tonight if allowed to hit the quarterback, so he is making progress. Ayers is a beast who causes problems for our right side of our line. He too would have had some sacks tonight. Than we got Andre Goodman. Man oh man, I’m so glad we got rid of Bly. Goodman is waaaaay better. A lot faster, taller, smarter, and better.
    Oh and another quick sidenote, Denver fans don’t like Chris Simms. Period. There was a guy in the row ahead of me (and there were only four rows ahead of me, I happened to get VERY good seats) screaming to Simms that he sucks. Literally, screaming. And after he started, his kids joined in. Next thing I knew, more and more people were screaming this at different times. It doesn’t seem as if any QB in Denver is welcomed. Especially not Simms.

  • Just SomeBroncosfan

    It seems kinda silly to be booing a practice. Seems more raiders like than broncos like pardon the comparison.

  • marv

    yah seem to have forgotten about Brandon marshal where is he Orton needs you

  • Ben

    Joe… how is that Prater comment funny?

    That’s a guy out there one YOUR team busting his ass but making some mistakes.

  • Nicole

    Let me get this straight…Jay Cutler has been hitting his “average receivers” so far and it looks good. Kyle Orton can’t hit his “elite receivers” and the excuse is the defense made too many plays? You gotta be kidding? When you changed qbs you changed ability. No one can believe that you actually traded your qb…This is why people told you to leave it alone and let him come to camp. You can’t teach better velocity in a camp because that’s how he throws. He should’ve gotten better because of the receivers-new system or not. The season is alot closer than people think so it should already be showing signs of getting the game face on.

    P.S. Jay will be on ESPN Sunday. He will be interviewed by Mortenson. The piece should be exciting. Like they say, the qb makes the receiver and if his learns quickly…look out!

    Like him or not, there’s no way the Broncos should’ve made that trade. The franchise has been set back for years.

  • brett

    It was pretty disappointing to see the offense struggle to get into the endzone all night. Even special teams and defense had legitimate touchdowns. On the bright side, some of the rookies (Alphonso Smith in particular) looked great.

  • http://BroncoTalk.net Mr.East

    Nicole,

    Cutler has been hitting his average recievers in menial drills with no contact. He hasn’t played in any scrimmages. So you can’t compare apples to oranges. Wait until the preseason that will be a better gauge of what to expect.

  • gobronx

    Joe, you a season ticket holder? I call BS on your post. I was first row, right behind the bench. I must have somehow missed the Simms fiasco. Prater was further north of me, so I can’t speak to that. The only interaction Simms had with the crowd the whole night was when a guy 5 seats down from me asked him for the “hook em horns.” Simms was warming up on the sideline and just yelled back, “come on now man, you’ll get me in trouble around here!” The first 5 rows got a good laugh.

    Come on Broncos fans… Show some class. How are you going to boo your team at a practice? Patience. I joked with Kern about it after the practice. He told me he was surprised by the boos but it just builds character. I hope these guys have thick skin.

    Maybe the crybaby whiner was right today. Maybe we’re just a 6. From what I saw tonight, I’d give the fans a 3… Biggest disappointment of the evening for me.

  • http://Broncotalk.net Joe

    Gobronx- I am not a season ticket holder but did you have to buy tickets for tonights event? No. And if you were not close enough to hear the prater guy than obviously you would not hear the people that were screaming that simms sucks. I did not say that everyone yelled it at once. I said that there was a lot of people who would scream that periodically throughout the practice. So you are an idiot. I bet you were one of those crybaby bitch fans that went to the bathroom and cried when the booing started to happen. So don’t call bs on anyone elses stuff when you were not even around where I was sitting. Moron

  • bw53

    I was at the Invesco practice…I thought the booing was unnecessary. With that said it was awfully sloppy!

  • http://Broncotalk.net Joe

    And I never said that simms turned around and responded to the crowd. Only people that I saw that looked at the crowd members by me were prater when being told that and bailey when tons of people were screaming his name. Did you hear that Bronx? Or is that bs too just because you were not there to see or hear it? Cause I forgot that you were all over the place listening and observing every single player and fan. Wow, my bad.

  • http://Broncotalk.net Joe

    And ben—–get over it. The NFL is a business. You either get the job done and make he team or you get cut. Just because prater is a bronco does not mean that he will be the best kicker ever. I’m sick of excuses for every single player who can’t get the job done. I agree with what the guy said about prater to some extent. He either shows that he can get the job done this year or it’s time to move on and find someone who can. He has missed an extra point before. What’s your excuse for him on that one?

  • http://birty.blogspot.com mikebirty

    i’m going to exercise my right to boo orton until he takes the broncos to as many playoff wins as cutler.

  • http://myspace.com/paraleipsis jchase8410

    joe…can you name a kicker who has never missed a short chip shot kick in their career? Name 1…go ahead use the wikipedia…i’ll wait

  • http://myspace.com/paraleipsis jchase8410

    lets be fair and make it playoff appearances At least mike.

  • Ben

    Hey Joe… I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve to be cut, nor that he should be. I’m not defending his performance at all. Did I make an excuse?

    All I was pointing out was that saying that kind of thing that is doing the best he can for a team you should support is classless. Anyone who laughs in my opinion is classless…. join the dots.

  • Rhonda

    I feel that booing is unfair so early in practices, but at the sametime with everything that happened in the off season, Bronco fans are expecting alot and if it isnt any better in the regular season WATCH OUT

  • Jim

    WTF is going on Broncos fans?!?! You may not agree with every move that has been made in the offseason but it’s unbelievable how classless and pathetic some of you have become. The team has only played together for a few days and you expect them to look like they’re ready for the Super Bowl. The bottom line is that there’s no way the Broncos would win the Super Bowl this year WITH Shanny and Cutler. Shannahan let Elam get away, he compiled the worst defense in Bronco history and had it not been for a couple of lucky breaks the Broncos would have finished 6-10 last year. I fail to see how we are any worse off then we were a year ago. The fans on the other hand have fallen mightily.

  • flbronc

    so much for being the best fans in football. hope it doesnt happen at an actual game.

  • stav

    wow – i can’t wait to hear the commentary when the actual season starts. Give me a break, its a SCRIMMAGE. There’s so much more training/drilling to do, this is nothing to even comment about. And really, who boos at a scrimmage? This is basically a hyped-up practice, i put no merit into this at all. Now if the rest of the pre-season looks like this, I’m going to start drinking earlier than usual. We’re missing Moreno and Marshall, two of Orton’s four main weapons, let’s criticize when the entire team is together and the starting offense shows itself to be inept.

  • http://mrherculesrockefeller.blogspot.com herc rock

    Prater sucks like a Dyson.

  • http://broncotalk.net (dee)

    Nicole

    What did you think about Cutler’s recent comments? He didnt say anything about the team, just indicated that the Bronco Fans are sub standard compared to Chicago Fans …. You stay classy Jay.

  • Estes2SD

    Chicago fans are better? Cutler just said that with hopes to get into as many corn fed, mojito drinking, knock off Prada wearing skirts.

  • http://ttmt.com T-Money

    When you replace John Elway you better be just as good if not better. If you replace Jason Elam you better be just as good if not better.

    Denver has the bar set so high that no one gets a chance here. That’s why I agree with Cutler.

  • http://mrherculesrockefeller.blogspot.com herc rock

    No, they don’t have to be “just as good if not better”, they just have to be good. They aren’t.

  • http://ttmt.com T-Money

    That’s the point dude. We don’t give them the opportunity to be good. And no matter who has a QB listed next to their name will always attempt to live up to the expectations of Broncos fans to be “the next John Elway”.

  • http://mrherculesrockefeller.blogspot.com herc rock

    We don’t give them the opportunity to be good? These aren’t rooks we’re talking about. Prater has already had one terrible year here and Orton hasn’t done anything over the course of his career to justify calling him “good.”

  • Josh McDaniels

    I believe we have a right to boo…and say whatever we want! We are the ones that make this organization money so if we pay to go see a game and we suck then we have a right to be pissed after all the changes were made. (and I wasn’t referring to the practice…I know it was free) We had a really good offense (still do) and they put orton in there to command it…….we need a qb in this years draft if orton dont come along…..I do like what I hear about the defense tho…I have been wanting Nolan back for a while now….

  • Concerned Fan

    Notes form what I observed at the scrimage last night.

    Kyle Orton: It’s gonig to be a long season with Orton at QB.
    *He is good on short to intermediate routes under 15 yeards.
    *His timing on longer passes is way off. – By the time he sees the open man and throws the ball, the defense already knows what is going on and is in position to intercept.
    *He is behind his receivers on long passes.
    *He take way too long to fire the ball. – Otron will be sacked alot unless he learns to get rid of the ball quicker

    All of these things can be fixed, but it will be done with drills and 7 on 7 practicing timing and execution on deep passes. In regards to getting rid of the ball I would have a stopwtach and every time it got to 3 seconds yell SACK! Maybe that would help

    We will be going back to the dink and dunk ways of the Brian Griese era. Slow release no arm strength, but accurate short passes.

    Defense: The defense looks good, but it is really hard to tell when Orton played so poorly. All in all I notcied some decent push and hustle on the line and fortn seven. The secondary really seems to be quick and swarming for INTs.

    Early Prediction – 5-11

    Buckle up. It’s going to be a long season.

  • http://Broncotalk.net Joe

    I agree 100% with herc. Bronco fans are losing patience very fast for sloppyness some of our players talent, or lack there of. It takes
    Many years to build a great, talented organiAtion butit only takes one call to ruin it: trading cutler.

  • http://BroncoTalk.net Mr.East

    Cutler never knocked Denver fans. He just said city wise that “Denver was a 6 and Chicago was a 9.”

  • Jeff

    The only true factor will be how the TEAM performs during actual game play or actual competition.

  • http://broncotalk.net (dee)

    Jake Plummer was damn good … but then everyone fall in love with whats his face… the feeling wasn’t mutual lol!

  • http://BroncoTalk.net Mr.East

    Joe,

    Loosing patience? It’s a scrimmage man. If you’re really still pissed about the Cutler deal then you need to get over it. How about you wait until the season begins? It’s sad how most Denver fans feel like you need a franchise QB to wins championships. Where Elway only won two in his final year with what? A better TEAM. Teams win games not QBs.

    Anyone notice that Cutler is looking awfully doughy? Once shouldn’t drink that much with type-1 diabetes.

  • http://broncotalk.net Kyle

    This might have been Orton’s worst practice. I’d say that’s both a good and a bad thing.

  • gobronx

    Joe – It was my understanding that contest winners and season ticket holders were the only ones allowed in the reserved rows on the east side behind the bench. Maybe I was wrong. Either way, your post still sucks and you don’t come across as a good fan. Cutler gives you a 6.

    As has been said, “we’re talking bout practice” here. This is just a scrimmage. The whole team isn’t even together yet and camp opened less than a week before last night’s practice. The play book is limited, the coaches are working on specifics, it’s not even really a scrimmage. And there are people out there booing? Yeah, they’ve got the right, but IMO, that makes them downright lousy Broncos fans. Patience.

    And you think it’s funny, “LOL.” Come on man. Where I sit, I’ll give a dumbass fan grief for pulling somethign like that. You might as well have been shouting at Prater and Simms yourself.

    Finally, didn’t leave my seat once. Not for a beer, not for bathroom, not for a dippin dot cone. Call me a crybaby. I’d rather berate the booing “6’s” than berate my team during they’re 10th practice of the season…

  • gobronx

    Mr. East – You’re wrong. Crybaby Cutler was asked specifically about the fans. Go look at the context.

    The immature boozing idiot never fails to surprise me with his arrogance. Former friends in Denver wrote him off as a “DB” – that was prior to him crying for a trade. Dude is a loser. What a waste of talent.

  • gobronx

    Now let’s talk about you Prater Haters. Terrible year? That’s ridiculous – it was good by all kicking standards. You think you’re setting the bar too high after a HOF kicker left town (they’re only one kicker inducted now, so that may be a stretch even). Sure Elam was smooth and we loved the consistency. But he had lost a lot of leg strength and didn’t kick off for his last 6 years here. Wasting a roster spot. Plus, remember that it was the great Sham that let him get away.

    Prater is 24 years old and has a long career ahead of him. And a monster leg to use at altitude. Sure he squandared some chances last year and needs to work on consistency. But the dude is young and sheer talent.

    Still didn’t convince you? Just look at Prater’s first full year versus Elam’s first full year. The similarites are striking.

    Elam was 4-10 from 40-49 yards and 26-35 overall (74.3%). Prater – he was 5-11 from 40-49 yards and 25-34 overall (73.5%).

    Extra points. Surprise know it all Joe – Elam missed one in his first year too! In fact, he’s missed three in his career (damn that’s good). Elam in his first year was 41-42 (97.6%) while Prater was 39-40 (97.5).

    And in a case for the stronger leg. Prater made 5-6 from 50+ while Elam made 4-6. Prater with a long of 56 yards while Elam was a long of 54 yards. Remember, Prater can kick off and doesn’t cost us a roster spot like Elam did. That roster spot might be a Brandon Stokely, Josh Bell, or Josh Barrett this year.

    Eat that up Prater Haters. Give the guy a chance to become the next Elam. The classlessness of you butt hurt Shanny and Crybaby fans amazes me. You want to boo at a practice, go watch in Oakland.

  • roshon2411

    Prater might have the leg, but he doesn’t have it upstairs. He is too much of a head case, just like Vanderjagt. Once he misses his first Field Goal he’ll be a mental case all year. They should at least bring in some competition. This is Denver, they don’t need some one with a leg, they need someone consistent. I still think they should have went after Nugent during the offseason.

  • TD30isMVP

    This team is not going to change into a Superbowl team in one season, there were too many holes to fill. Both Shanny and Cutler forced their way out of here, one by performance and the other by taking an every day occurence and making it a national tragedy (in his own mind). Mike is a great coach (not GM) and was here too long to be effective anymore, Jay has the potential to be a star but neither are here anymore and it is time to get over it. Prater needs to go? My friends he is the least of our worries. Orton sucks? Maybe, but we have not seen enough games, I seem to remember Shanny saying it took a few years (not months) for a QB to become proficient in an NFL offense. In the end fans do indeed have the right to boo, to be upset, to cheer, and drink the Kool-aid, because unlike those players we live for our Broncos, we buy the products, we make this team a part of our lives. So classy or classless this is the hand we have been dealt and we will have to play it out to see if it is any good.

  • http://mrherculesrockefeller.blogspot.com herc rock

    Last year was not Prater’s first in the league. It was his second.

    And hitting less than 74% of your kicks is not “good by all kicking standards.” In fact, it’s downright terrible. Prater finished 34th in the league in FG percentage.

    34th.

  • http://broncotalk.net Joe

    Are you kidding me Gobronx? I dont give a damn if Elam missed any extra points or not. I’m talking about Prater. I don’t give a damn how his stats compare to Elam in his first year. HE IS A KICKER. ALL HE DOES IS PRACTICE ON KICKING THE DAMN BALL. So when it comes to missing extra points, people won’t have patience. Theres no excuse. And why do we not have anyone there for competition for him? Oh ya, he obviously is so good that we don’t need someone there threatening to take over his job. He clearly has this in the bag. If I recall, the fans wern’t booing at him. They were cheering him on as he missed, right?

  • http://mrherculesrockefeller.blogspot.com herc rock

    Looking at those stats again, I didn’t take out the guys that didn’t kick enough to qualify. That reduces the guys finishing ahead of the Deliverance Kid by 3. So he finished at 31st in the league in FG percentage. Only Suisham was worse among guys that qualified.

    Terrible.

  • kerry

    wow i hear a whole lot of bullshit coming from some about how “its only practice”. yet if a guy cant make a couple throws in practice, then how is he gonna make them in a real game when, you know, talented players are coming at him? but what i find even funnier is that if Orton had made key throws, everybody would be proclaiming him as the next great Bronco QB, but he misses them and its because “the defense made too many plays” ive never heard of a defense making “TOO MANY” plays before. was the defense supposed to just stand down and let Orton make throws?? HAHAHAHA.

    and why is everybody worrying about Prater? McDaniels is such a genius and Orton is so great we wont need a kicker remember? we are gonna score TD’s on every drive because McDaniels is a genius and Moreno is gonna have 2000 total yards this year remember? we dont need a kicker so everybody should just stop bashing on Prater. McDaniels is such a genius that we wont ever kick field goals.

  • Broncoholic

    Joe: Why should we waste a roster spot in camp for an extra kicker? You can only have 80 players in camp, so competition for Prater would mean someone else at camp would not be there.

    Kicker is one of the few positins where you do not need to learn the playbook or the scheme. If Prater does not get the job doen he will get cut and we will sign a FA kicker who can get the job done. We don’t need to waste a Training Camp spot just so Prater can have competition. Either he can cut it or not. If not he will be replaced. It’s better to have that 80th roster spot be givin to a player who needs to learn the scheme (whether it’s offense or defense) because that player could be called onto the active roster at some point in the future so it’s best they know what’s going on. Whereas a kicker just needs to kick, not learn a new system.

  • http://merlinofchaos.livejournal.com E. Halsey Miles

    I agree with one thing: Whatever happens, this is going to be a long season.

    My prediction: Kyle Orton will be just good enough to lose close games.

  • Jay Cutler

    WTF Estes, what’s wrong with corn fed, mojito drinking, knock off Prada wearing skirts?

  • Big Daddy

    I believe the team will surprise us in some games and then disappoint in others.

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