QB Ingle Martin practices with the Green Bay Packers in 2007. Sorry, Ingle, that number is taken. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The Broncos signed free agent QB Ingle Martin Wednesday, Jeff Legwold of the Denver Post reports. The move comes in light of the severe high ankle sprain Chris Simms suffered Saturday in Seattle. Simms is expected to miss 2-4 weeks during recovery.

Martin was a 2006 fifth round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers, who has also seen time with the Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs waved the former Florida Gator earlier this month.

Martin attended team meetings and is expected to practice Wednesday, according to the report. He isn’t expected to participate in Sunday’s game against Chicago but should split time during the Broncos’ fourth preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals. No word on who the Broncos waived to make room for their new QB.

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• The Broncos are giving ex-Packer/Titan/Chief QB Ingle Martin a workout. Chris Simms might be out a bit longer than we’d hoped. [The Tennessean] [via]
• Seven players missing from Tuesday practice, including DL Marcus Thomas. [Denver Post]
• Some great quotes from Floyd Little on his nomination. [DenverBroncos.com]
• 44 Reasons to Induct #44 into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. [DB.com]
• McDaniels tells reporters the notion that Marshall is a distraction is “very inaccurate.” [Denver Post]

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There are plenty of Broncos who are unjustly absent from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Randy Gradishar, Louis Wright, and more recently Terrell Davis and Shannon Sharpe have all been denied induction into Canton’s hallowed halls. But in my humble opinion, Floyd Little has always been the grossest error of them all.

Today, a major, major first step was taken toward Little’s enshrinement – #44 has been named by the Pro Football Hall of Fame Seniors Committee as one of their two senior candidates. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

New Denver Broncos OL Russ Hochstein

The wheeling and dealing continues at Dove Valley. Josh McDaniels and company have made another move for a New England Patriot, this time trading a late 2010 draft pick for OL Russ Hochstein, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports via Twitter.

Schefter lists Hochstein as an OT, but Hochstein has no starts at that position. He has played just about everywhere else, though. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

This is the week – the week Jay Cutler returns to INVESCO Field at Mile High wearing the wrong shade of orange and blue. Some Broncos fans are mad, some are sad, most are a little of both. How do you cope with it? Personally, I’m taking Bob Marley‘s advice: “One good thing about music, When it hits you feel no pain.”

Here are five songs to help fans get over Jay Cutler. I didn’t just take any old five songs, either (I’m sure you could Google “top breakup songs” and get plenty of ammo there); I took the time to sift through my own iTunes library and find five jilted Bronco gems. I’m not about to have songs on my own web site I don’t like. (Note: Some NSFW lyrics/maybe content). Enjoy!

5. Sabotage – Beastie Boys

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• Naming the top player in all of pro sports wearing each jersey number 0-99. Ryan Clady nabs #78, while a few other Broncos get honorable mentions. [Rumors and Rants]
• The lack of turnovers on defense is disconcerting. [Denver Post]
• Are the starters seeing too much time in the preseason games? [DPO]
• At the end of the day, The Circus is still just a preseason game. [Colorado Springs Gazette]
• Another Drew Litton classic, after the jump. [DrewLitton.com]

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The Denver Broncos are collecting former New England Patriots. A week after trading for DL Le Kevin Smith, the Broncos claimed DB Antwain Spann off waivers from Buffalo Monday. Wide receiver Travis Shelton was waived to make room for Spann.

Spann (6-0, 200) played in New England from 2006-08 after entering the NFL with the New York Giants in 2005 as a college free agent out of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. He has appeared in 19 regular-season and three playoff games in his career, tallying 14 tackles (13 on special teams).

The DPO tells us this makes six players (plus the coach) who were with the Patriots last year. This isn’t a groundbreaking move by any means – Spann will be lucky to make the roster, but it does make one wonder which Bronco will be cut for a Patriot next week? (EDIT: in a “this is funny, haha” kind of way. Hard to read the subtext.) Press release after the jump. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Seattle Seahawks' Jordan Babineaux, bottom, and Brian Russell, right, tackle Denver Broncos' Peton Hillis (22) in the first half of an NFL preseason football game, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

OFFENSIVE MVP
Ryan Clady – The big left tackle didn’t have his best game (at one point drawing a 15-yard penalty that eliminated a 20-yard Peyton Hillis run), but he was facing one of the league’s best DE’s, Patrick Kerney. At the end of the game, Kerney came up empty – no sacks, no tackles, not a single defensive statistic registered. ‘Nuff said.

DEFENSIVE MVP
D.J. Williams – After the Seahawks marched down the field on their first drive, D.J. simply wasn’t having it. On the first play of the second drive, Williams cut through the pile of blockers to tackle RB T.J. Duckett for only a two-yard gain. Two plays later, he sacked Matt Hasselbeck to force the three-and-out. D.J. led the team with six tackles.

Studs

Kyle Orton – Save for one misguided attempt at ambidexterity, Orton played really well Saturday. The entire offense came out lame in the second half, but overall, a good outing by our starting signal caller. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Kyle Orton's first touchdown as a Bronco came after the QB calmly marched the offense 78 yards down the field. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Breaking down the Denver Broncos‘ opening 12-play, 78-yard drive against the Seattle Seahawks that resulted in the first team offense’s first touchdown this preseason.

Saturday’s live broadcast left pieces of the first drive missing as the NFL Network stuck with the fourth quarter of the Redskins-Steelers game (what were they thinking?), but I was able to record the replay last night and caught the first few plays this morning. The 12-play drive featured nine passes to only three runs. Orton lined up in the shotgun seven times, only taking the snap under center five times.

The first play, Kyle Orton lined up under center and delivered a perfectly executed bullet to Jabar Gaffney on an in-route for a solid 16 yards. The pass protection was good, although RT Ryan Harris struggled with Cory Redding a bit. Redding gave Harris quite a bit of trouble in the early goings; the offense overcoming these struggles would become a theme this drive.

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• Yup, it’s that week. [Boulder Daily Camera]
• Josh McDaniels and Kyle Orton talk about the left-handed lob. And yes, Jay Cutler. [Denver Post]
• CBS’ Mike Freeman has some unkind words for the Broncos. That’s fine, but be objective and back up your criticisms with FACTS, not recycled media garbage. This article is crap. [CBS Sports]
• Now this piece, by the same author, actually has some great camp analysis behind it. [CBS]
• Peter King‘s interview with Brandon Marshall is hardly reassuring. [Sports Illustrated]

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