My Week at Summer Camp – Day Three, Part Two

Note: This week, after realizing that planned (and desperately needed) vacation time coincided with the opening week of Bronco training camp, I decided to head down to Dove Valley for several days this week. I will be providing nightly updates on what we have learned about your 2008 Denver Broncos.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

We are back with our final posting from Bronco training camp. After attending the morning session and taking a lunch break we picked up Turner’s son Jacob and headed back for the afternoon session.

o        We are immediately struck by the differences between the morning sessions and the afternoon session. First (and most important) the grassy berm where we are herded is in the shade, making it feel probably 15 degrees cooler than this morning. Second, the players seem ready for a nice siesta in the shade too. The shoulder pads from this morning are gone and the players are in jerseys and shorts. Looks like Darrell Jackson is safe from getting blasted again.

o        The other thing that we notice is that there are a group of guys who are apparently learning the proper technique for calling a fair catch. Seriously, they are practicing waving their arms while a ball is in the air on the way to them. I don’t know about you, but I learned this highly complex skill about my sophomore year of high school.

o        The punt drill does provide some entertainment in that Jacob has found a new favorite Bronco during the drill. That’s right, Jacob is now a huge fan of the Jugs machine sending the balls skyward.

o        As the players stretch even more casually than in the morning session (if that’s possible), we notice Champ Bailey hanging out in a grey t-shirt talking to Dre Bly while Dre chews on sunflower seeds. Champ is on the sidelines and Dre thinks he is hanging out in the Rockies dugout. Yes, this is going to be a tense practice.

o        Thanks to their status as long-time veterans and Pro-Bowlers both Champ and John Lynch are excused from practice. In fact, I don’t even remember seeing Lynch, hmmm.

o        Well, here you go. For the second time in a week we are posting some breaking news at profootballblogger. That’s right, John Lynch has left Bronco training camp. Apparently unsatisfied with being a part-time starter (the part time when the other team isn’t expected to pass), Lynch is debating about hanging up the cleats.

§         It is hard to have anything but admiration for Lynch. He was the consummate professional; a smart, tough player who made every team he played on better. With the Broncos losing Rod Smith and (possibly) Lynch in the span of one week, there is a huge gaping hole in this team at the position of ‘leader’. It is time for D.J. Williams, Champ Bailey and Jay Cutler to take over or a 0-3 start (a distinct possibility if you ask me) could end this team.

o        Back to the actual action on the field….oh wait, even during practice there wasn’t much action on the field.

o        After stretching, the offense heads to the far field (a perennial PR gripe of mine. Why wouldn’t you have the offense near fans? Turner hypothesizes it is to keep Cutler away from the groupies stalking him from the berm). We are left to watch the defense do walk-throughs against a scout offense.

§         As riveting as this sounds, let me tell you, it isn’t. Basically the players line up in their positions and get yelled at by their coach. The ball is then snapped by the scout team and everyone takes about 5 half-jog, half-walking steps to where the would go based on the play run. We watched this for an hour. Thank goodness for the shade, this would have been torture in the sun.

§         The only thing I learned is that Jarvis Moss is even skinnier than he appears in pads (seriously, he might be less built than LeBron James) and he could be the starting defensive end this year. Even if he is a pass rush specialist, if I am an offense I would just run straight at him every time he comes in and let my tackle barrel over him, regardless of down and distance.

§         The only thing Turner learned was that his boy Larry Birdine playing an offensive lineman through the whole practice didn’t get him much closer to making the team as a defensive lineman.

·         Though the CFL scout sitting near us may have been very impressed. Pack your mukluks Larry.

·         Seriously, how sad is that? The man is a professional football scout and he couldn’t get a better seat than about 10 feet from us?

§         The only things that Jacob learned was that Diet Coke tastes good and makes you feel happy and that none of these guys throw as well as the jugs machine.  

o        The highlight of the practice, for me at least, was when the punt team came out and practiced their blocking assignments. Seriously, this was fascinating. I guess I never really spent a lot (or any) time thinking about it but the up-backs really have to read how the receiving team is going to rush and dictate out the blocking assignments. As with everything in the NFL, these calls are very complex and in code. I spent much of the practice trying to decipher how the code words aligned with the rush patterns. I failed. I guess, I can scrap that job with the New England Patriots.

§         At least I have CFL scouting to fall back on.

o        After the riveting punt practice interlude (a phrase I would have been 94.3% sure that I would never type), we returned to the defensive walk-throughs. Thankfully at this point, Jacob had grown a little tired of the walk-throughs and challenged me to tic-tac-toe. Much like Joshua learned, there are no winners in Tic-Tac-Toe.

o        Suddenly after a short hour and twenty minutes the defense came together, gave a team “Broncos” and headed to the locker room. That was apparently the end of my week at camp with the Broncos. Not exactly going out with a bang.

So, that’s it for me. I hope this has been as fun and informative for you as it has been for me. And you didn’t have to risk skin cancer. Anyway, I am taking the next week off and getting away to enjoy the best thing about living in the west (outside of 10 am college football of course) – the wilderness.

Have a good week and I will check in right around the time we get to see these Broncos play another team. If they are playing at 25% speed in no pads, I would put my money on the Broncos.

There is a chance that we could have a guest poster or two in my absence. Remember, even if something is posted under the name ‘David’ it isn’t me unless I use the secret password: ‘new England clam chowder’.