Denver Broncos mini-camp starts Tuesday

Denver Broncos defensive back Champ Bailey runs with the football during NFL football practice at the team's training facility in Englewood, Colo., on Monday, June 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

The Denver Broncos are a day away from their first full-team, mandatory workouts this 2012 offseason. The team’s 2012 Mini-Camp opens tomorrow, with each session open to the media in its entirety. Among the storylines we’ll be watching:

Will Matt Prater be present? The franchise-tagged kicker has been missing the voluntary OTA’s while he and the Broncos negotiate a long-term deal, but if he misses mandatory workouts, it would signal an elevation in his discord. The Broncos and Prater have one more day to try and finalize a deal and avoid Prater either unhappily reporting to camp, or unhappily holding out.

Derek Wolfe debuts. The Broncos’ top draft pick was absent from OTA’s due to Collective Bargaining Agreement rules. He was present at rookie mini-camp, but this will be his first appearance with the Broncos’ entire defensive line present. It’s time to see how the rook compares to his teammates (including recently-made happy camper Ty Warren).

The D.J. Williams fallout. Most fans are up-in-arms about D.J. Williams tweeting a play from the Broncos playbook, and some media reports suggest the Broncos may be, too. While we don’t expect to see any on-the-field consequences for D.J. at this point, coach John Fox and a host of players will be available for media questions after each practice, and maybe Williams himself will be too. You can bet that tweet will be a hot topic of conversation.

The Peyton Manning Effect. It’s been all Manning, all the time from the voluntary OTA reports, and we like that very much. Manning even commented how he’s never had to explain incompletes in practice in his entire football career before now. Expect that to continue; fans want to hear how Manning’s arm looks, how the receivers are adjusting, and so the MSM will surely give the fans what we want.