During Tuesday’s veteran minicamp, head coach Gary Kubiak and outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware met with the media to get us caught up on all things Broncos. The two discussed new terminology used and the progress of rookies and other young players.
Here’s what you need to know:
Kubiak: [On overworking veteran players] “No, we worked hard, I’m trying to stick to our plan. As a coach, before you get to camp, you try to get everybody pretty close to exactly on the same page, or I should say, at the same level. So we’re continuing this process with these young players on our football team… we’re doing a lot of teaching and a lot of walk throughs. We’re doing some big time individual work and a lot of conditioning work, and then we’re leaving the young guys out here to do some team work…”
Ware: “Mini camp, when you talk about duration of practice, yeah it’s the lightest but I would say the most intense, getting the most done in the short period that you have. I’m still breathing hard right now from going from the practice field to working out to here.”
Kubiak: “…They’re getting better. It’s really exciting to watch. It’s not like we’re young in a spot; we’re young as a group, so it’s very competitive. Guys are getting a ton of reps. It’s just exciting to watch them grow. There are some young players on this football team right now and obviously those guys have got to grow up really fast.”
Ware: “When the younger guys come in, they usually have a lot of mistakes but they’re starting to get a lot more reps in and the mistakes aren’t there. The technique stuff, that’s give and take. But the mental reps and the mental things that you see out of the younger guys, you don’t see that; they’re maturing really fast.”
Kubiak: “I think what they’ve been doing, terminology wise, and a little bit of the change we’re doing; probably the toughest spot has been receiver. We talk a lot and our verbiage, and they’ve worked a lot at the line of scrimmage and on their verbiage. There’s a lot of huddle talk that [WR] Emmanuel [Sanders] and those guys have to get used to. But at the same time, they are using a lot of line of scrimmage talk so probably they’ve had the biggest adjustment, I would think…I don’t know if it’s the most complicated, it’s just whatever is different takes time. There are some different things defensively and offensively and they take time, I think we’ve responded pretty well to them.”
Ware: “With Shane, he’s like a sponge right now. Him being a rookie, just figuring out where he fits in the defense, how and what position he’s going to play, but also learning from [OLB] Von [Miller]—two different type of mentalities of rushing. I’m more of a technique guy that’s been here for a while and just really teaching him more film work, more of learning how to read the tackles. And then Von, both of us working on technique work with him. So he’s getting the best of both worlds.”
Kubiak: [On LB Todd Davis] “Well, he flashed with his time playing last year. Our guys inside right now to me have played really well and it’s because they kind of got forced into a tough situation with two injuries, with [LBs] Danny [Trevathan] and [Brandon] Marshall not working. But those guys have responded and I think it’s just going to help them. That’s just going to be—they may be as competitive as spotters as we’ll have probably going into camp.”
Ware: “I think with [LB] Todd Davis it goes back all the way to the season, the end of the season with him playing a little bit and him taking on that role now. You’re used to seeing him in the huddle now, calling the plays, calling the defense and being confident. He’s gotten that confidence and that swagger that he needs to be that role player for us.”
Kubiak: “Bill Kollar [defensive line coach] works the heck out of them. That’s his belief—when you play hard upfront, you’re going to play good. That’s why he coaches and guys have responded to him very well. I think we’re all excited and it’s time to put the pads on that’s part of the NFL offseason, everybody’s working but you’re in a controlled environment, so you really don’t find out until we hit early August.”
Ware: [On Sylvester Williams] “…He’s getting that confidence of being that guy in the middle you’re going to have to count on. I can see that confidence, especially in the pass rush. Also, with coach teaching him so many things—and the whole defensive line—those guys are really coming together as a conglomerate group.”
Mike Tolbert, a Mile High Sports intern and student at MSU-Denver contributed to this report