Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale addressed the media after Sunday’s p.m. practice.

 

The Denver Broncos dodged a bullet Sunday morning. Make that two bullets.

MRI’s to running backs Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter revealed no significant structural damage to either player, and both will be out less than one month, the Denver Post reports. Moreno is expected to miss three weeks with a hamstring injury while Buckhalter will miss one week with a back.

Excellent news; both are touchy injuries and could result in longer timelines, but the Broncos need to thank their lucky stars their backfield appear to be ready for week one.

Jarvis Moss hits the sled during the morning session at Broncos training camp. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

As the drizzly PM practice begins absent are the Denver Broncos running back tandem Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter. Also absent are D.J. Williams, Chris Baker and Russ Hochstein. More on that in a bit.

It’s a bit troubling that the Broncos saw their season flash before their eyes a bit when Moreno was ‘carted off’; only to have his reliever Buckhalter follow him off the field, but on his own strength.

According to the Denver Post, (via an NFL source) Buckhalter has been released from the hospital and his injury has been called an upper-back pull.

With Moreno, reports have been all over the place, from training camp, on twitter and online. Reports ranging everywhere from ‘serious’ injury to ‘not as bad as reported’. Right now, what we’re seeing is a slight tear in his hamstring, likely out two-three weeks.

Moreno was overheard by teammates saying that he didn’t think the injury was as bad as it could have been.

We will keep you updated as official word is released (likely post practice).

Back to the other absences for a moment, Hochstein’s absence was planned and is due to him still rehabbing a season-ending knee injury which he suffered during the 2009 season. No word on Williams or Baker, but Williams may be due to him just being given time off.

We got the transcripts up earlier, but here is the actual video from those interviews courtesy of BroncoTalk TV. We’ll continue to provide you with content all throughout the week!

Josh McDaniels post AM practice presser:

Brian Dawkins post AM practice:

Tim Tebow post AM practice:

Morsels of deep-fried football quoteables, dipping sauce not required.

HEAD COACH JOSH McDANIELS

Opening Statement

“It was good to get off to an energetic start. It was a great atmosphere – the fans certainly make it fun to go out there and work and I think the players enjoyed it, but the effort is certainly where you want it to be on the first play, the execution certainly isn’t and that’s what we’ve got to go to work (on). We’ve got to put in a lot of time and that will start with our film sessions this afternoon. I look forward to coming back out tonight and hopefully having some signs of improvement in the first day.”  Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Denver Broncos players stretch in front of a crowd of thousands during the team's opening training camp practice in Dove Valley.

A record 3,103 fans attended the opening practice of Denver Broncos training camp Sunday with, like last year, what seemed like half of them donning #15 jerseys.

This year, though, the nameplates read “Tebow,” not “Marshall.”

Tim Tebow was the talk of the town in Dove Valley Sunday, with a palpable level of excitement from the crowd coming with every throw and innovative scramble. The rookie displayed good arm strength, if a slow wind-up, and was on target for nearly all of his throws.

For the record, all the quarterbacks had good practices, but Tebow drew the cheers from the fans in attendance. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Kolby Smith, welcome to the top of the Denver Broncos‘ running back depth chart.

Broncos running backs Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter both left the team’s first training camp practice Monday morning with unspecified injuries. Moreno was carted off the field before Buckhalter limped off just a few minutes later.

Head Coach Josh McDaniels wouldn’t comment or speculate on either player’s status after practice.

UPDATE: Buckhalter is thought to have suffered a minor hamstring injury. The Broncos are awaiting MRI results for Knowshon, who injured his right knee. CBS 4 reports they are looking at his ACL.

Good thing the Broncos have J.J. Arrington as well… oh, wait.

A GREAT orange and blue morning to you, Broncos fans! The Denver Broncos begin their 2010 training camp practices at 8:30 a.m. this morning, and we’re here at Broncos headquarters in Englewood, CO to take in the action.

We’ll be providing scouting reports, quotes, audio, and (perhaps) video interviews throughout the week. We’ll have in-depth coverage of the quarterback “battle” between Kyle Orton, Brady Quinn, and Tim Tebow, as well as detailed scouting reports across all positions.

Let us know what YOU want out of these reports right here in the comments. We’ll do our best to whet your appetite and definitely address any questions you may have.

In the meantime, be sure to follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/BroncoTalk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/BroncoTalk for up-to-the-second breaking news, exclusive photos, and much, much more!

Fresh cut grass, morning mist, shouting in the distance from someone, the sunlight burning your pupils, the smell of blood, everything blurry and tinted yellow. Then, a crowd, a crowd that got here even earlier than you. They’re here just to see you… And you just got your first glance of them.

Training camp.

This is it, you’re here because you’re about to do what you were born to do; thrive. The borderline hallucinatory hangover one gets from waking up far earlier than they normally do, all of that is punishment. The punishment for living above your means, working too hard, pushing yourself past your limits, achieving your dreams; by any means necessary. Self preservation, survival, doing what it takes to win– whatever it takes.

On this the first day of the Denver Broncos reporting to training camp. I’m in New York working on pre-production of a film, so I won’t be there just yet, but I will be there soon.

Being the case, I’m going to go ahead and make several predictions and send the rest of my BroncoTalk brethren into the fire to defend this site’s honor. Good luck guys, I’ll be here in the comment section.

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Demaryius Thomas (#8) catches a touchdown pass against Duke. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

And it’s a wrap!

All of the Denver Broncos rookies will be in camp tomorrow for the team’s first full squad practice.

Demaryius Thomas today signed a five year contract with the club worth a max value of $15.5 million (with escalators), $12.16 without, and a guarantee of $9.35 million.

Thomas comes to camp just in time to compete with veterans: Jabar Gaffney, Eddie Royal, Brandon Stokley, Brandon Lloyd, Kenny McKinley, Matthew Willis and fellow rookies Eric Decker, Patrick Honeycutt and Alric Arnett.

Thomas is expected to start immediately in the Broncos three receiver rotation and could even take a shot at becoming the number one starter if he’s able to pull off an upset in the training camp battle with Gaffney.

Just keep this in mind for future seasons, Thomas is guaranteed more money then Tebow, though with escalators Tebow’s contract is worth more.

Early Receiver Battles:

Though the starting line up is Thomas’s to lose (he figures to start either X or Z with Gaffney and Royal likely to take over the Y slot) he will have to hold off second year receiver McKinley and veteran Lloyd (who exploded in his two games playing last season). Lloyd followed quarterback Kyle Orton over last season from the Chicago Bears and the two had great chemistry in the absence of Brandon Marshall (due to suspension in week 17 in 2009).

Rookie Decker will likely take on Royal for the slot receiver position, but could also be tried in either the strong or weak side rotation often in camp. Second year player Matthew Willis has looked very good in mini camp and could also be a surprise member of the final 53 in Denver.