Broncos "D" doesn't rest!

D.J. Williams didn't have to search very long for a player to whom he could turn for advice and counsel. All he had to do was look at the 2003 depth chart to see who manned his position.
From mini-camp to the offseason workouts to Williams' arrival at Dove Valley on Wednesday afternoon, the rookie linebacker turns to Donnie Spragan, the Broncos' incumbent weakside linebacker. And in spite of the fact that Spragan hopes to hold fast to his starting slot, he refuses to act in a territorial manner, thinking of the team and how Williams could help."I try to help him out in all ways," Spragan said. "The guy is an exceptional athlete and a great football player. It's hard for a rookie to come in and get everything so I let him know how things work out from a player's point of view -- different checks and defenses."The reason Spragan is at ease with assisting Williams is his understanding of the nature of the NFL. Whether the rookie at his position is a first-rounder with a nationally renowned pedigree going back to high school or an undrafted free agent with an NAIA background, there is always going to be someone nipping at the heels of a first-teamer, eager to prove that he can play full-time.It wasn't all that long ago that Spragan was on the backup side of the scenario. He entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 1999, and joined the Broncos late in 2001 after a year on injured reserve in New Orleans and a month on the Cleveland Browns' practice squad. He increased his value on special teams, biding his time until injuries to starters gave him a chance.
"In football, everybody wants your job," Spragan said. "People don't understand -- it's competition at all times. You're never secure. If you make a lot of money, you make too much money and they try to get someone cheaper in there. If you don't make enough, they've got someone higher-paid they want to bring in there. There's always something."It's unnecessary stress for me to worry about him taking my job or someone else taking my job."And even though Williams is just two days into his first training camp, there's some things that the veteran Spragan can take from the rookie."Yeah. Three-tenths off my 40 time," Spragan said, laughing. "But you learn. Anytime anybody makes a mistake or does something good, you look at the film and see how they did it, or if he does something different, I say, 'Maybe I'll try it his way this time.' It's not like I can't learn anything from him. You learn all the time."STILL NO BELL: "There's no update," Head Coach Mike Shanahan quickly replied when asked about the contract status of Tatum Bell, whose holdout entered its second day with his absence from Thursday morning's practice session."It's a big deal right now that he's not around. We haven't had this happen in 10 years, and we've always been fair. Sometimes people try and make a name for themselves," Shanahan said. "It'd be different if we did this every year and we negotiated with three or four people two or three days afterwards to save a few dollars. But we haven't been that way. We've always been fair with our players."The more time passes, the harder it will be for Bell to catch up."You've got meetings, you've got practice and the first two days of installation," Shanahan said. "That's what he's missing. It's hard to make those things up."Even Quentin Griffin -- his former college rival and one of the competitors at running back -- wants to see Bell arrive as quickly as possible."We're all out here getting it done," Griffin said. "We're looking forward getting him out here so he can get some of these reps."Williams -- who agreed to terms Tuesday night and signed his contract just after the Broncos' first training-camp practice -- had some different advice."Do what's best for him," Williams said. "That's it."-->A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA: The Broncos wasted little time getting into team drills, convening for 11-on-11 work at around 9 a.m., when the team is usually in group instruction. The quick start was necessitated by Wednesday afternoon's thunderstorms, which trimmed practice down by approximately a half-hour, forcing the Broncos into make-up mode Thursday morning."What we tried to do is pick up a couple of periods that we missed yesterday," Shanahan said "Normally we have individual for the first three periods."

posted by Anonymous @ 3:18 PM

|

---