Day five of Broncos training camp saw all four of the primary coaching staff speak to the media.
Head coach Gary Kubiak, defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, offensive coordinator Rick Dennison and special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis spoke on topics including injuries, player progress and red zone tactics. Perhaps most importantly, the underlying theme of communication between units was discussed.
Here are the highlights…
Gary Kubiak: “(Virgil Green)’s okay. We had a few guys nicked up today. (Michael) Schofield left practice. His back is bothering him a little bit. Kapri (Bibbs) got an ankle. And there’s one more. Who was it? I can’t remember exactly what. We’re at that stage. We have a lot of nicks—nothing that shouldn’t have everybody back out here Thursday. We had a couple guys still out from yesterday; Marvin (Austin, Jr.) and Lorentee (McCray) were out today. You all saw that. Yeah, we’re nicked up, but it’s that part of camp. We get a little break tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll get everybody as close to back on field Thursday as we possibly can.”
Kubiak: “That was our longest practice so far and (Derek Wolfe) had a lot of stuff (going on). We went to the red zone today. (We) had a lot of new teaching, and with that came a lot of mistakes.”
Wade Phillips: “I’m concerned (about depth at defensive line). The other day we only had six defensive lineman. We were down to six practicing. That’s certainly a concern just with the numbers themselves. I think that we some talent there. Everybody is saying that Sly (Sylvester Williams) is doing really (well), Vance Walker is also doing really well and actually Derek Wolfe is doing really well. I think that front right there is really strong and they really help against the run, but we have to keep improving and hopefully we’ll have more people out there.”
Kubiak: “I think if you can make people play eight guys in a box in the red zone and you’re not throwing against an eight-man drop or a three-man rush, it sure is a lot easier to run the ball, too. The only way you’re going to get people to do that is to be able to run the football well down there. We’ll stay committed to our offense one way or another. (Peyton Manning) does a lot of great things in the red zone. The thing I was really pleased (with) at practice today was at the end of the day, when the team was dragging, the quarterbacks made plays. All three of them made big plays. It’s what they have to do. That’s their job. That’s their responsibility.”
Phillips: “We just started the red zone stuff today and we really have not worked it much, even in OTAs. There are a lot of things that we need to clean up. One of the things and one of our goals this year, the team last year certainly played well overall yardage-wise, but I think 22nd in scoring defense. It’s really imperative that we improve that area, especially in the red zone.”
Phillips: “(The secondary is) really smart and they’re really competitive. I think that those two things, besides the ability that they have, has made them as good as they are. You can have 10 Pro Bowlers coming back, but you all have to know what you’re doing and communicate well. That’s what we’re in the process of doing. I really like those guys, but I think that our backup guys—we have some guys there that are good football players or can be really good football players.”
Joe DeCamillis: “We have a saying called ‘EBDs,’ which is Evidenced Based Decisions. Every day they walk out here, they’re giving us some evidence. We’re getting a good feel for a lot of the guys that are going to be here. They’re busting it. Some guys are busting it better than others, so those are the guys that are going to have a chance.”
Rick Dennison: “Well I’ll tell you what, I have been a lot of places, but this is kind of unusual. The DBs have all been helping our guys saying, ‘This is what we’re seeing from you guys,’ and ‘This is why we’re doing this.’ They have been really good—the defense has been great trying to help us out. That’s all that (DeMarcus Ware) is trying to do. Ty (Sambrailo) is a young guy and (Ware) can tell him how he is going to attack him, what he sees and what he feels. Anything that they can add to us to help us for September because we’re just practicing right and getting ready. I’ve overheard DBs tell us, ‘This is how you’re running this route. That’s why I know that’s coming.’ It’s been awesome.”
Marcus Flowers, a Mile High Sports intern and Claflin University student, contributed to this report