Tweet
And on the final day of training camp, John Fox showed mercy.
The Broncos coach was a tough son of a gun throughout, ordering his players to practice in pads nearly every morning workout for the past 2½ weeks.
All along, Fox knew where the finish line was. And only he knew it was placed a little shorter than scheduled. Fox canceled the Thursday evening walk-through.
Go home, guys. Players were able to check out of the team hotel by early Thursday afternoon and sleep in their own beds Thursday night.
"It has been a physical camp," said Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, who has been going to NFL training camps since his boss, John Elway, was a quarterback in 1998. "We are in full pads just about every day, which certainly can take a toll physically on players, but guys have pushed and worked through that. It's the only way to really get a real idea of what kind of team you are going to have and how guys hold up in full contact."
There were some consequences. Dan Koppen, called in to replace the injured J.D. Walton at starting center, suffered a season-ending torn anterior cruciate ligament.
"That was a kick in the stomach," Fox said. "You occasionally have those."
Indeed, in the final camp practice Thursday, running back C.J. Anderson went down with a right knee injury. One of the camp surprises who likely had earned a spot on the 53-man roster, Anderson will be out four to six weeks with a sprained medial collateral ligament.
To replace Koppen, the Broncos called in veteran offensive lineman Ryan Lilja, from retirement. Although Anderson's injury was not as serious as feared, the timing of it might allow the ever-dependable Lance Ball to become the No. 5 back behind Ronnie Hillman, Montee Ball, Knowshon Moreno and Jacob Hester.
"It's been a good camp," said Elway, the Broncos' executive vice president of football operations. "It will be a good test for us this weekend in Seattle. I think we got better."
All that pad popping in practice had its benefits. Specifically, the physicality helped reveal an undrafted second-year strong safety named Duke Ihenacho.
The good and the bad of the Broncos' training camp:
The good: "Highlight of training camp?" cornerback Champ Bailey said in repeating the question. "It's hard not to say something about this guy."
Sitting in front of him was Ihenacho. As a rookie last year, the San Jose State product spent 13 weeks on the Broncos' practice squad. Two weeks into his second professional camp, Ihenacho replaced veteran Mike Adams as Rahim Moore's starting safety partner.
Adams remains the Broncos' top backup safety, and he will come in on nickel situations. But Ihenacho will stay in, too.
"Duke surprised most people. Not me, really," Bailey said. "Even last year, you could see this guy could play, but he's young, trying to find his way. But once OTAs (organized team activities) hit? You could see his confidence. Aggression. Playmaking."
Camp also might have elevated No. 3 quarterback Zac Dysert, a seventh-round rookie, from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, and second-year defensive tackle Malik Jackson from seldom-used to the No. 1 nickel package. And don't count out undrafted rookie linebacker Lerentee McCray.
In the final week of camp, Manning and a new slot receiver named Wes Welker connected for several nice completions.
The bad: There were a high ankle sprain to cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and knee injuries to tight end Joel Dreessen, safety Quinton Carter and running back Moreno.
More worrisome was how a double dose of off-field trouble for star linebacker Von Miller might leak into on-field problems. Disciplined by the league for violating its drug policy, Miller will appeal his four-game suspension Tuesday.
His recent arrest on a warrant for failing to appear in court regarding traffic violations does not figure to bring additional punishment from the NFL, but it won't help gain sympathy points in his appeal process.
There is hope Miller's suspension could be reduced, but the Broncos understand they might well have to play the Baltimore Ravens, New York Giants, Oakland Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles without their best pass rusher. And their former second-best pass rusher, Elvis Dumervil, is now playing for the Ravens.
"It's bad enough losing Elvis, but you've got to get past that and we've got some guys who can play," Bailey said. "The thought of losing Von scares me, but we've got to find a way."
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055, [email protected] or twitter.com/mikeklis
he states we might keep Ball now that Anderson went down. Mike Adams is now the #1 Safety to come in on nickel package, as well Malik. He also states we might keep Dysert on the 53 man roster as the #3 QB.
This is interesting to me. If we keep 4 RB and 1Fb and a 3rd QB, there will be many players we like cut.
Comment