Broncos not intending to stand pat at running back this offseason - Q: Can you please explain what is going on with the Broncos’ running-back situation? It has been all quiet on this front, which to me was a glaring weakness (and) why we lost to Baltimore in the playoffs. … Who do you see coming in? Or are the Broncos going to keep (Knowshon) Moreno, (Ronnie) Hillman and (Willis) McGahee and keep the status quo? Read more from the Denver Post >>>>

Demanding Preseason Schedule Provides Test - When the Broncos last cycled through the NFC West in 2010, the division was not only the worst in the league, but arguably the worst in league history. Its champion, the Seattle Seahawks, became the only team in a non-strike season to make the playoffs with a losing record (7-9); the quartet’s collective point differential was a staggering minus-322. Read more from Denver Broncos >>>>

Broncos Draft Prospects: Wide Receiver - One needs only to look at the Broncos’ receivers — present and past — to know that you can find productive pass-catchers all over the draft, and beyond, considering that the most prolific receiver in franchise history, Rod Smith, was undrafted coming out of Missouri Southern in 1994. Read more from Denver Broncos >>>>

Broncos’ Manning, wife pledge $500K to Pat Summitt Foundation - Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning and his wife plan to donate $500,000 to the Pat Summitt Foundation. Patrick Wade, the director of the Pat Summitt Foundation, confirmed the Mannings’ decision Saturday after it was first reported by CBS Sports. Read more from CBS Sports >>>>

Jack Del Rio Will be the Head Coach of the Denver Broncos, Eventually - Thursday was Jack Del Rio’s 50th birthday and it got me to thinking about the Denver Broncos defensive coordinator. Those thoughts reminded me of something head coach, John Fox has said on more than one occasion. He doesn’t want to coach into his 60s; Fox is 58 right now. Those two thoughts led me to a third thought; Del Rio is going to be the next head coach of the Broncos. It makes sense if you really stop and think about it. I don’t think Fox will quit on his 60th birthday, but I do think he will retire shortly after Peyton Manning hangs up the cleats. At that point, Del Rio will have been with the Broncos for three or four seasons and will be ready to be a head coach again. Read more from Rant Sports >>>>

Will Wide Receiver Greg Orton Break out for the Denver Broncos? - On Thursday, ProFootballTalk.com’s Mike Florio assessed a potentially sticky situation for the Denver Broncos that we’ve already touched on: “Soon, the Broncos may have to choose between (Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker).” Read more from Bleacher Report >>>>

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The Denver Broncos have now completed their eight-man practice squad.

On Monday, the Broncos announced the signing of offensive lineman Quentin Saulsberry, a rookie undrafted free agent from Mississippi State.

Unlike his practice squad teammates, Saulsberry did not participate in Broncos’ training camp.  Signed by Minnesota as a free agent, Saulsberry was among the Vikings’ cuts Friday.

Saulsberry joins defensive lineman Ben Garland, safety Duke Ihenacho, tight end Cornelius Ingram, running back Jeremiah Johnson, wide receiver Greg Orton, defensive tackle Sealver Siliga, and guard Wayne Tribue on the Broncos’ practice squad.

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Salute to true grit: Broncos’ Ben Garland, Greg Orton, Adam Weber all have it - During this Colorado summer of natural disaster and human tragedy, Ben Garland became the face of the Broncos franchise.  As the lightning-ignited High Park fire burned more than 87,000 acres and at least 259 homes, Garland was part of a Broncos contingent that visited the area to thank and inspire the firefighters and volunteers, and comfort the victims.  Read more from the Denver Post >>>>

Broncos defensive tackle Ty Warren back in saddle, ready to make Denver debut - Before every snap Ty Warren takes in practice and the preseason, he knows what it’s supposed to feel like. Even after two full seasons away from football because of hip and triceps injuries, Warren remembers how it feels to be one of the most dominant interior defensive linemen in the NFL. Warren, a 31-year-old, 300-pound defensive tackle, knows enough to realize he’s not that same player anymore. But after surviving his first complete preseason since 2009, Warren is confident that he is on his way back to becoming himself again.  Read more from the Denver Post >>>>

Mark Kiszla: With Manning at helm, only Fox can be goat - There’s no doubt the Broncos could win a Super Bowl with Peyton Manning at quarterback. The bigger question: Is John Fox the right coach to help Manning get fitted for that championship ring?  Read more from the Denver Post >>>>

Source: Lions add Drayton Florence - The Detroit Lions agreed to terms with veteran cornerback Drayton Florence on Sunday, a team official told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.  Florence, a 10-year NFL veteran, was cut by the Denver Broncos on Friday.  Read more from ESPN >>>>

My biggest worry for each AFC West team - With the regular season starting in one week, let’s look at the biggest concern I have for each AFC West team heading into Week 1.  Read more from ESPN >>>>

2012 Denver Broncos Roster – Quarterbacks - Now that we know the 53 men that will be tasked with carrying our hopes and dreams as fans of this Denver Broncos football team, let’s examine each position in greater detail. We’ll start with the offense and the obvious positional choice of Quarterback.  The rest of the positions will be published over the next three days.  Read more from BroncoTalk >>>>

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The Denver Broncos announced Saturday the signing of seven players to the eight-man practice squad…

And somewhat surprising, quarterback Adam Weber is not among them.

All seven players participated in Broncos training camp:

• TE Cornelius Ingram
• DT Ben Garland
• WR Greg Orton
• G Wayne Tribue
• DT Sealver Siliga
• RB Jeremiah Johnson
• S Duke Ihenacho

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Just ahead of Friday’s 7:00 p.m. MDT deadline, the Denver Broncos made 22 transactions to trim the roster from 75 players to the league-mandated 53.

Veteran CB Drayton Florence is not on the Broncos’ final 53-player roster. (personal photo)

Waived

• DE Jamie Blatnick
• S Rafael Bush
• LB Jerry Franklin
• DB Ben Garland
• T Adam Grant
• S Duke Ihenacho
• TE Cornelius Ingram
• RB Jeremiah Johnson
• LB Mike Mohamed
• WR Greg Orton
• WR Gerell Robinson
• DT Sealver Siliga
• CB Syd’Quan Thompson
• G Wayne Tribue
• QB Adam Weber

The Denver Broncos can start signing players to the eight-man practice squad starting at 10:00 a.m. Saturday.  Only players who are waived are eligible, and of the Broncos waived players, only Bush has exhausted his practice squad eligibility.

Released

• CB Drayton Florence
• T Ryan Harris
• WR Jason Hill
• T 
Tony Hills

Injured Reserve

• DE Jeremy Beal

Reserve-Suspended List

• TE Virgil Green
• LB D.J. Williams

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 Denver Broncos at Chicago Bears

6:30 p.m. MDT

Local TV: KTVD (Channel 20)
Local Radio: KOA

Peyton Plays…a little

Expect Peyton Manning to take only about a dozen snaps in his Denver Broncos’ debut.  Caleb Hanie, listed on the current depth chart as the No. 2 quarterback, will likely come in next – unless John Fox has something up his sleeve.

Injury Report

According to the team’s official website, the following players did not make the trip to Chicago: DT Justin Bannan, LB Keith Brooking, S Quinton Carter, WR Tyler Grisham, S Jim Leonard, and WR Greg Orton.  The status of rookie running back Ronnie Hillman (hamstring) is still undecided.

Follow Along

The Denver Broncos have established a Twitter account for live game updates: @BroncosGameday.  And of course, don’t forget DHF on Twitter!

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Four days ago, the Denver Broncos were in San Diego.  And they were healthy.

Not so much now.

Rookie linebacker Von Miller underwent surgery Tuesday to repair torn ligaments in his thumb.  He sat out Wednesday’s practice, and according to head coach John Fox, is “day-to-day.”  Miller was hurt in the four quarter of Denver’s win at San Diego, but continued to play into overtime.

Von Miller missed Wednesday's practice after thumb surgery. (personal photo)

Miller, who has 10.5 sacks this season, was one of three starters not participating in practice.  Wide receiver Eddie Royal suffered an ankle injury returning a kickoff against the Chargers.  Fox said running back Willis McGahee, whose ankle was wrapped earlier this week, was out with an illness.

The typical recovery time for a thumb injury like Miller’s is at least a week.

More Broncos News

• Cornerback Cassius Vaughn will have surgery Friday on his fractured left fibula.  Vaughn was placed on IR Monday.  The surgery will take place in North Carolina.
• The Broncos signed wide receiver Greg Orton to the practice squad today. Denver signed the undrafted free agent from Purdue back in August, but released him before the season.  Denver also signed  CB Tony Carter to the practice squad.  Carter was signed by Denver in 2009 and most recently spent time on the Vikings practice squad.

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The Broncos have announced their first rounds of roster cuts, but Denver isn’t done just yet.

The league’s full list of waiver eligible players will be available later tonight.  With the No. 2 waiver priority, expect Denver to be very active, specifically looking for defensive linemen, offensive linemen, running backs, and judging by recent developments, cornerbacks.

Released

• WR David Anderson
• TE Dante Rosario

Waived

• DE Jeremy Beal
• CB Brandon Bing
• LB Alvin Bowen
• DT Ronnell Brown
• G Jeff Byers
• CB Perrish Cox
• G Stanley Daniels
• WR Britt Davis
• WR D’Andre Goodwin
• T Adam Grant
• TE Dan Gronkowski
• K Steven Hauschka
• DT Jeremy Jarmon
• RB Jeremiah Johnson
• S Kyle McCarthy
• G Eric Olsen
• WR Greg Orton
• DT DeMario Pressley
• WR Eron Riley
• LB Lee Robinson
• RB Austin Sylvester
• QB Adam Weber

Injured Reserve

• WR Jamel Hamler
• RB Brandon Minor
• CB Syd’Quan Thompson

In a Saturday afternoon news conference, GM Brian Xanders indicated the Broncos are interested in signing some players – namely  Weber – to the practice squad.   The Broncos can add up to eight players to its practice squad starting Sunday.

Surprises

On the practice squad player for much of last season, McCarthy was a pleasant training camp surprise.  An impressive showing in Denver’s first preseason game against Dallas earned McCarthy some first-team practice reps, though the safety made little impact after that.  Xanders said Saturday:

“With him, it was more some guys came on at the end, and that’s how it works out sometimes.”

Jarmon, who Denver acquired in the Jabar Gaffney trade with Washington, moved from defensive end to defensive tackle following Ty Warren’s triceps injury and figured to play a role in the team’s defensive rotation.  Riley’s 144 receiving yards in Thursday’s preseason loss to Arizona was enough to make him a new fan favorite, but not enough to keep him on the final roster.

Non Surprise

Legal issues aside, Cox had a ho-hum preseason, though I didn’t rule out his staying with the team – only because of Thompson’s injury.

Thomas Update

WR Demaryius Thomas, who underwent surgery earlier this year for a partially torn Achilles tendon, has been cleared to practice.  Xanders said it’s up to the trainers to decide when Thomas is ready to play.

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Note: This is Part II of DHF’s training camp insights.  In Part I, I assess the Broncos quarterback situation, which you can read here.  Photos of Saturday’s practice will soon be posted on the Denver Horse Force Facebook page.

Consider this the launch of my online crusade: Please join me in the fight to end the Wild Horses formation.

We need to eradicate this package from the Broncos offensive set once and for all.

I thought the Broncos had already done so…until Saturday.

Brady Quinn lines up as receiver in the Wild Horses Formation. (personal photo)

Much to my chagrin, with QB Kyle Orton in motion and running back Knowshon Moreno in shotgun, the Broncos first-team offense ran the variation of the Wildcat about 10 times.

For some reason, the team has yet to cleanse itself of this Josh McDaniels brainchild.

Wild Horses is destined to fail as long as Orton remains quarterback, which he will, barring injury or trade.  Orton is not a threat at any other position; seeing him in motion will fool no opposing team defense.

“Uh oh, Orton is a receiver!  Call a timeout. Stat!”

No, that will never happen.  The defense sees Moreno take the snap and immediately knows what to do – tackle #27.

Wild Horses is doable if and only if Tim Tebow is involved. Maybe Brady Quinn, who was used in the formation twice Saturday.  Orton? Not a chance.

Running Game Debrief

A common sight Saturday: Kyle Orton talking with Eric Decker. (personal photo)

Moreno is resolute to not be a bust, and he certainly didn’t look like one Saturday.  Both he and fellow first-teamer Willis McGahee were oft-utilized in the Broncos’ rush-oriented scheme.

RB Lance Ball, who only had 15 yards on eight carries Thursday, earned a few cheers Saturday thanks to a strong showing with the second-team offense.

Decker’s Increased Role

With Eddie Royal sitting out practice and Demaryius Thomas out until mid-season (at best), Eric Decker saw plenty of reps with the Broncos first-team.  In fact, there were several times Saturday Orton and Decker were chatting together on the sidelines, a sign the veteran QB is offering advice to the second-year receiver.

It’s One Big Party

Yes, they’re all business, but the Broncos defensive players really enjoy what they’re doing; just listen to them.  They’re vocal, energized, and quick to commend each other on a big play.   Hopefully this enthusiasm proves to be more than just talk come the regular season.

Miscellaneous Musings

Denver’s new tight ends are huge, especially Julius Thomas.  That is one big dude.

Julius Thomas mention #2: He had a great reception with Champ Bailey defending the pass.

Another big dude: Orlando Franklin, an easy selection for first-team.

Brandon Lloyd was excellent in the Broncos’ red zone offense drills.

Robert Ayers should excel in his new/old position. 

Von Miller continues to be fast.

Why Not Two?

Who needs just one Orton from Purdue when you can have two?

Saturday night, the Broncos signed WR Greg Orton, a roster spot freed up by placing wide receiver Mark Dell as waived/injured.

Undrafted out of Purdue, Orton signed with the Bengals in 2009, but played most recently in the UFL.

Christmas List 2011

This was added to my list.  Who’s taking care of it?

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