Denver Broncos – Page 21 – North Platte Post Archive

Harris, Thomas Return to Limited Action

Posted on July 30, 2014

DENVER (AP) — Demaryius Thomas and Chris Harris Jr. are participating in limited drills as the Denver Broncos practice in a steady cool rain at Sports Authority Field.

Harris passed his physical Tuesday after getting medical clearance from Dr. James Andrews, who repaired his left ACL in February, a month after he was injured in the playoffs against San Diego.

He lined up for the team’s walk-through Wednesday as did Thomas, who missed the first week of camp following the death of his grandmother in Georgia. He returned Monday in time for the team’s evening walk-though.

Both are expected to participate in individual and non-contact drills but won’t do any 11-on-11s as they ease their way back into the mix.

Denver Broncos Win 2014 Pete Rozelle Award

Posted on June 20, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — The Denver Broncos public relations staff has won the 2014 Pete Rozelle Award from the Professional Football Writers of America.

The annual award is named for the NFL commissioner from 1960-89 who began his distinguished career in sports PR roles as a student at Compton (Calif.) Junior College and the University of San Francisco. He broke into the NFL as the PR director of the Los Angeles Rams in 1952.

The Broncos’ PR department is led by executive director Patrick Smyth and includes managers Erich Schubert and Rebecca Villanueva. Jim Saccomano recently retired as vice president of corporate communications after 36 years with the club.

This is the second Rozelle Award for the Broncos, who also won the inaugural honor in 1990.

Julius Thomas Keeps Eye on Jimmy Graham Situation

Posted on June 20, 2014

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — It’s the $5 million question that’s rumbling through NFL front offices and locker rooms alike: Is All-Pro Jimmy Graham of the New Orleans Saints a tight end or a really big wide receiver?

It matters to men like Pro Bowl tight end Julius Thomas of the Denver Broncos, who’s up for a big pay raise and could be facing a franchise tag himself after the upcoming season.

The Saints gave Graham the franchise tag for about $7 million as a tight end, the position he’s been listed at for his entire four-year career — and which he himself lists on his Twitter account.

Graham contends that because he more often is split out away from the tackle, he is really a wide receiver.

Thomas is understandably interested in the outcome.

Ware, Miller Have Company in Their 2014 Returns

Posted on June 19, 2014

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Showing his surgically repaired ACL was no longer an issue, the Broncos’ pass-rusher flashed through the line and sent the backup quarterback’s pass fluttering to the ground.

Von Miller admired this from the adjacent field.

On the next snap, the man John Elway brought to Denver to replace Elvis Dumervil batted the ball down, and DeMarcus Ware applauded along the sideline.

Quanterus Smith, a second-year pro from Western Kentucky who spent his rookie season on injured reserve, turned heads during the Broncos’ offseason workouts, flashing the speed and skills similar to what he showed on that three-sack day at Alabama that first put him on the NFL radar back in 2012.

The Broncos drafted Smith in the fifth round last year after losing Dumervil to Baltimore in the infamous fax fiasco that prevented them from getting his signed contract on time.

Carter Coming Back after Two Years on IR

Posted on June 16, 2014

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — As an 85,000-square-foot indoor practice facility rises in the background of the Denver Broncos’ training complex, fourth-year safety Quinton Carter not so quietly goes about resurrecting his NFL career.

The two projects are intertwined.

Carter missed most of the last two seasons after getting hurt inside the team’s rented practice bubble during a rainstorm two summers ago, blowing out a hamstring and a knee while avoiding a soccer goal after defending a deep pass from Peyton Manning to Eric Decker.

After starting 10 games as a rookie in 2011 and intercepting Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady in the playoffs, Carter needed microfracture surgery following his injury inside the practice bubble, which doesn’t have regulation size fields like the new facilities will.

Vickerson Eager to Join Comeback Express

Posted on June 13, 2014

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Kevin Vickerson thought he’d be back on the football field by now.

Instead, he spends his days rehabbing his right hip, which was dislocated seven months ago in New England, and working on his strength and conditioning so that he hold can up 700 pounds of double teams like he used to when he anchored Denver’s defense.

It’s not the wait or the weights that are the hardest part for Vickerson, but “watching the Super Bowl,” he said, “and not being out there with my guys.”

On occasion he finishes his work with the athletic trainer and the strength and conditioning coach early enough to wander onto the fields at the Broncos training facility.

Those days are bittersweet.

Texans, Broncos to Hold Joint Practices in August

Posted on June 11, 2014

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos and Houston Texans will conduct three joint training camp practices leading up to their Aug. 23 preseason game at Sports Authority Field.

The Broncos and Texans will practice together Aug. 19-21 at the Dove Valley training headquarters in Colorado.

It’s the first time the Broncos will have hosted another team at that facility since practicing with the Dallas Cowboys in the 2008 preseason.

The Texans and Broncos last held joint practices in 2003 and 2005 in Houston.

Broncos Get Their Rings but Not Ones They Wanted

Posted on June 10, 2014

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — So, they weren’t the gaudy rings they really wanted. Chris Harris Jr. said he’d wear his anyway.

The Denver Broncos received their AFC championship rings in a team meeting on the eve of their three-day minicamp — one that started with a bang Tuesday when first-round draft pick Bradley Roby smacked into wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders during a no-pads practice that left both players shaken but unhurt.

The sparkling rings feature the team’s orange-mane mascot atop a diamond-encrusted football amid a navy blue background.

Malik Jackson said they make his Rose Bowl ring and the three high school championship rings he owns look as if they came out of a Cracker Jack box.

Still, five-time MVP Peyton Manning admitted he’d “probably not” be wearing his anywhere.

Broncos Sign First-Round Pick Bradley Roby

Posted on June 10, 2014

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos have signed first-round pick Bradley Roby of Ohio State to a four-year deal worth approximately $7 million.

Roby said he was taken aback when he saw the figures on his contract and that he “worked my whole life for that, so it was a great feeling.”

He said the first thing he’d do with his roughly $3.5 million signing bonus was “buy my mom whatever she wants.”

The Broncos selected the All-Big Ten cornerback with the 31st pick in the NFL draft last month. He was the last of their six-player draft class to sign his deal.

Bradley started all 37 games he played at Ohio State, where he collected eight interceptions and broke up 44 passes.

Knighton: Defense Aims to Complement Manning

Posted on June 6, 2014

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — It’s not that they were jealous. More like embarrassed.

While Peyton Manning’s prodigious offense was scorching scoreboards all of last season, collecting records and accolades by the bundle, Denver’s depleted defense was giving up 25 points a game.

Run-stuffer Terrance Knighton, one of just three starters who made it from opening night to the Super Bowl, says the goal in 2014 is to see to it that Manning’s high-octane offense is a luxury and not a necessity.