Day 11

Nothing but interviews and a little talk about the temporary switch up in the LB corps until Jashon Sykes comes back.

If there’s anything to take away, it’s that confidence in rookie LB DJ Williams does not seem especially high, even after a strong performance vs the Redskins on Monday night.

Day 12

It sounds like things are finally evening up. The offense is finally performing well as units (1st, 2nd . . . ), not just as individuals, while the defense continues the have success at a high level.

The news out of camp today was almost exclusively about the passing game, yet there was no mention of the progress or continued tribulations of LT Matt Lepsis.

The TE situation was briefly mentioned, and seems to be coming along at a slow but steady pace. At the speed that things are going, with several TEs consistently looking good, but none dominating the competition, don’t expect this battle to be resolved until nearly the beginning of the regular season.

No word on the progress of the RB competition, but it does sound like HC Mike Shanahan has a real woody for rookie RB Tatum Bell. Even with a broken finger Bell is getting a heavy dose of reps. That isn’t too say he doesn’t deserve the work, because it sounds like he’s playing very tough and very well considering the limitation he’s working with.

Day 13

The news out of camp has become pretty vanilla. One’s day’s reporting is beginning to sound almost identical to the previous day.

The only really big news is that rookie FB Brandon Miree is out for the year with a torn ligament in his thumb. With Mike Anderson moving permanently back to RB, Denver needs all the quality and depth it can get hold of at the FB position. I like FB Rueben Droughns. He may not be quite the blocking beast that Anderson was, but he’s a more reliable receiver. However, what happens if HE goes down?

We seem to hear the most about the LB position and today rookie DJ Williams moved over to the weak side, where I expect him to see significant playing time during the season. I’m eager to see him blitzing from this position. What’s really impressive is how much depth Denver again has in the LB corps. I didn’t expect that to be the case after losing both Ian Gold and John Mobley.

Some key players, most notably RB Quentin Griffin, were given the morning off. This is being done with some regularity and it helps put my mind at ease. Denver seems to have a ridiculously high rate of injuries during most camps. It’s a relief to see Mike Shanahan work toward altering that situation.

Again the offense seemed to hold it’s own against the defense and again there were a spate of impressive individual performances. What is lacking is any reporting on how the important battle at RB is developing and how Matt Lepsis’ situation at LT has been evolving. There also isn’t any significant news about developments in the TE battle.

It does seem that rookie QB Bradlee van Pelt is struggling. I’m not sure if this more a function of his inexperience or of his lack of reps due to the coaching staff having such a fondness for rookie QB Matt Mauck. Either way, expect him to see little playing time this preseason and to either be sent to the practice squad or cut.