Mile High Sports

Broncos Training Camp Takeaways: The offense has work to do

Casey Light

The Denver Broncos were back at work for the first time since their 22-0 dismantling of the Chicago Bears in their preseason opener on Thursday night.

Denver dominated and displayed depth on defense, but head coach Gary Kubiak wasn’t taking things easy on his team at Saturday’s training camp practice.

Here are the top takeaways from the first practice following the preseason opener.

The quarterbacks remain even

Mile High Sports readers and Kubiak are apparently on the same page. Readers gave Mark Sanchez only a slight edge in the QB competition after Thursday’s game. As such, Kubiak decided to split reps evenly between he and Trevor Siemian on Thursday.

Siemian showed off his arm strength on Thursday night and again on Saturday, hitting DeVier Posey (sic, below) on the most impressive play of the day.

The turnover issues that have plagued Sanchez through his career continued against the Bears and again on Saturday.

Kubiak said after practice he was mostly happy with Thursday’s performance, although MHS writer Zac Stevens suggests Saturday was a step back for the QBs.

Jared Crick wants Malik Jackson’s spot

Throughout the second and third quarters it seemed like the only name Ron Zappolo was calling on defense was Jared Crick. The former Texan signed with Denver in the offseason and appears to be in the lead of taking over the starting DE spot vacated by Malik Jackson.

Aqib Talib is preparing like a Week 1 starter

The NFL suspended safety Shiloh Keo two games on Friday for a February DUI arrest. No charges have been filed against cornerback Aqib Talib in conjunction with his June shooting incident, but it was recently reported that Talib could miss half the season or more as a result. That isn’t keeping him from preparing like he’s going to start in the first game.

Talib was one of several veteran starters who did not play in Chicago, but it appears the injury and time off have not slowed the three-time Pro Bowler.

Von Miller will be at full speed soon

Miller was another of the veteran starters who didn’t participate in Thursday’s game. Last week Miller told the media he’s not back at “Von Miller” speed quite yet, but Saturday’s practice showed he’s close.

Miller lined up opposite new left tackle Russell Okung and beat the Pro Bowl-caliber blind side protector in a one-on-one.

The kicking unit and offense need extra reps

Brandon McManus was perfect in the postseason, but missed two kicks in the preseason opener. The first was blocked and the second hit the upright.

McManus is adjusting to a new long snapper after Aaron Brewer was released in the offseason. He’s also caught in the middle of a holder battle between veteran Britton Colquitt and seventh-round draft pick Riley Dixon. Colquitt was holding on the block, Dixon on the miss.

Dixon was spotted taking extra snaps during practice.

The entire offense produced one touchdown and two field goals, all in the first half. The defense proved it hasn’t lost a step from last year’s championship run, but the offense is putting in extra work to catch up.

Cody Latimer has a big opportunity

Bennie Fowler was in a sling (sic, below) during practice. Kubiak announced after practice that Fowler suffered a small fracture in his elbow and will miss a few weeks. No specific timeline was set for his return.

That sets up a big opportunity for Cody Latimer, who is in competition with Fowler for the No. 3 receiver spot and key roles on special teams.

Fowler was impressive against Chicago, so this should give him an even bigger opportunity to snatch the job away from Fowler.

 

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