It was a sloppy day of OTA’s for the Broncos as the team missed some key players and struggled to help young talent catch up. After the drills ended, head coach Gary Kubiak and tight end Owen Daniels met with the media to talk about Monday’s practice, the offensive outlook of the team, and how the young players are learning at a fast pace.
Here are some key things to take away from the presser:
Kubiak: “Let me be honest with you, we didn’t practice well today. We were kind of sloppy and we were down some people. We did get going and practiced better at the end of practice but we’ve got to push through. It wasn’t our best day, that’s for sure.”
Kubiak: “We’re going to be young. If I told you the lineup today or if I tell you in August, that’s a fact. But I think one of the good things is we’ve had a lot of work, a lot of reps with the group and one of the good things about if you are young and you make it work, then you’ve got a chance to be good for a long time. So, I feel like we’ve got some good, young players and it’s our job to get them going and if we can hit it right, this can be a group that can play together and stay together for a long time.”
Daniels: “Guys ask questions. They’ve done an awesome job of learning it and they’ve picked it up really, really quickly and really, really well. Sometimes they’ll be a little, ‘Hey, what do we got on this?’ as we’re breaking the huddle, but guys have been doing an awesome job, and I like that. We’re able to kind of bridge the gap between what they were doing here before and what we’ve always done with Coach Kubiak’s offense. I know it’s tough; it’s got to be tough to learn something totally different than they’ve been doing the last few years. I’m happy to be in that teacher role.”
Kubiak: (on the offensive line) “I think we’re going to line up just like we are right now until we go to camp. But I don’t think there’s anything etched in stone. It’s going to be very competitive. The biggest thing at tackle is it’s really hard because you’re trying to settle Ty (Sambrailo) down and those things, but yet, somebody’s got to be a swing player too. So, they’re still moving around and I think we are very competitive all the way across the front. Louis (Vasquez) is the one guy who has been a steady guy in what he’s done. I think really after that we’re going to be very competitive all the way across.”
Daniels: “We’re working right now. We just finished all of our installs of our entire playbook. Speaking in general, we just like to stay balanced. Coach Kubiak’s offense likes to stay balanced. Running the ball has always been a strong play of our offense and being physical and running play-action pass off those runs. We’ll try to continue to do that. It’s always been a big, big part of our offense. We’ve gotten big plays off of it and (have) been very successful, so I think it’s going to be a really good mash up of what we’ve done and being able to change tempo with what Peyton has done in the past.”
Kubiak: “We’re right where we’re at (at running back). Obviously C.J. (Anderson), that’s in a lot of ways his spot to hang on to. I think that Montee (Ball) has had a great offseason. I think Ronnie (Hillman) has had a really good offseason. I think it’s very competitive. You never know about the backs until you put the pads on. I think C.J. has worked extremely hard. Coming off of last year he deserves that opportunity and I think he’s getting ready for that opportunity. But he knows he’s being pushed very hard.”
Daniels: “I think he’s (Cody Latimer) maturing. He’s just a second-year guy. Obviously we would love to have D.T. (Demaryius Thomas), but not having him around has meant a ton of more reps with Peyton (Manning) for Cody, so that’s been great for him. He’s a heck of an athlete. I think he’s learning. He’s starting to get it and it’s starting to click for him. I’m excited to see how he develops during training camp and on the season.”
Kubiak: “I think he’s (Manning) throwing the ball really well. Obviously we got in some two-minute (drills) today. He struggled one period and he took them right down the next period. But I think he’s getting real comfortable with what we are doing and then there are times we’re turning loose with what he’s done and obviously that’s an easy comfort zone for him. But he’s been steady with what he’s doing. And he’s had to work with some really young players, especially if you look at the receivers today, the six guys that were working. Other than Emmanuel (Sanders), it’s a bunch of guys that haven’t played much football. And (Andre) Caldwell a little bit. So, that makes it tough on a quarterback but I think that makes everybody better in the long haul.”
Daniels: “(Manning and I) have been putting in a lot of work together. Whether it’s on the field or just being around each other, lifting or conditioning—he throws little tidbits my way even when we’re not on the field. (For example), this is also a signal this or this is also what we’ve done in the past. I think it’s been good. It’s kind of hard not to create chemistry right away with that guy. The ball is always in the right spot and if I do something wrong he’s a great coach about giving good tips and how to improve on that. I love it so far, I’m looking forward to more.”
Jordan Gillmore, a Mile High Sports intern and a student at CU-Boulder, contributed to this report