The Denver Broncos on Wednesday named their team captains for the 2010 season, Head Coach Josh McDaniels announced.

The following players were voted as team captains by their teammates:

CB Champ Bailey - The longest-tenured player on the Broncos (seventh season with the team), he is tied for the most Pro Bowl selections (9) in NFL history at the cornerback position and was named to the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 2000s as chosen by the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee.

S Brian Dawkins - In his second year with the Broncos, he was a 2000s NFL All-Decade Team selection (as chosen by the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee) and is tied for the third-most Pro Bowl selections (8) at the safety position in NFL history.

TE Daniel Graham - In his fourth year with the Broncos in 2010, he has participated in 78 wins for his NFL career that rank third among league tight ends since his rookie season in 2002.

OL Chris Kuper - The longest-tenured player on Denver's offensive line, he has allowed just six sacks in 42 career starts (31 at right guard, 11 at left guard) according to Stats Inc.

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It what has become an annual event, MileHighReport will once again be on hand for the beginning of Denver Broncos Training Camp 2010.  I head west tomorrow evening, arriving in time for Sunday's first full-team workout.  What we do know right now is that Tim Tebow will be in uniform and on the field.  As for Demaryius Thomas?  we'll have to wait and see.  More and more first round picks have signed, including #20 and #23.  Thomas, drafted at #22, could still be waiting to see what the 21st pick - Jermaine Gresham of the Bengals - will get.  As we know, Cincinnati has no worries about allowing a first round pick whither in the wind.

Back to Training Camp.  As always, we'll be looking to give you first hand coverage of Broncos Camp from the fan perspective.  I'm a fan - Sayre Bedinger, who will be joining me for some of the workouts, is a fan.  We want to know the same things you want to know.  We'll be your eyes and ears!

I'm sure plenty of you will be there as well.  If you are going to be at Camp for any of the public workouts from Sunday - Wednesday, let me know.  Try and get together with other MHR members and watch workouts together.  Several folks did that last year as well.

As for Sunday, we are already trying to set up a gathering in-between workouts.  Right now, the plan is to meet at JD's BaitShop JD's is located at 9555 E. Arapahoe Rd. in Greenwood Village.  I'll be wearing my Orange #12 Broncos jersey there, so I should be easy it find.  If you are planning on joining us, let me know in the comments. 

Buckle-up Broncos fans.  Training Camp is gearing up and MileHighReport is poised to give you the best coverage yet!

The Denver Broncos revealed today the 2010 Broncos' practice jerseys featuring a patch that recognizes longtime healthcare partner HealthONE and its Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children. In support of this relationship, the Broncos will donate $1 for each fan attending training camp at Dove Valley to the Rocky Mountain Children's Health Foundation.

HealthONE's Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children is the first partner to be featured on the club's practice jerseys. The Broncos have had a more than two-decade partnership with HealthONE, which is the largest healthcare system in the metro Denver area.

The Broncos have turned the new patch program into a charitable drive, issuing a challenge to fans to attend training camp - and promising to donate $1 for each fan visiting to the new Rocky Mountain Children's Health Foundation.  The Foundation provides support directly to sick children and families in n need, rather than to bricks and mortar.

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Courtesy of the fine folks with the Denver Broncos PR Staff

HEAD COACH JOSH McDANIELS

Opening Statement

 "Well, it was a little warmer today but it was another good day and another set of meetings and workouts this afternoon and more meetings on the horizon for tonight so (we're) getting a lot done."

On progress with the Broncos' first-round draft picks

"I don't have any - nothing to report. We're still working away at it."

On the chance of either player not being signed before Sunday when veterans report for their first practice

"I think there would always be a chance. I mean, hopefully it's closer (to being done) than not close and as soon as we can tie the knot we'll get them over here and run the conditioning tests and do all that stuff so hopefully, like I said yesterday, we're working on it as much as we can and (we'll) get them here as quick as possible."

On the negotiations

"I think that's generally - we're following the same formula as most every other team does. I know sometimes with quarterbacks it's treated a little differently and all that but I think generally we're following the same formula as everybody else is."

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From the Broncos PR Staff

HEAD COACH JOSH MCDANIELS

Opening comments

"It is great to be back. I have seen a lot of people over the last few days. You know, we have been away for a while, so it is always great to be back and kind of get things started again with the staff and players. We have a lot of veteran players that haven't reported yet but are here around the building. It is always great to have that refreshed feeling when you get back and get ready to start training camp. I think everybody kind of feels the same way. We put in a lot of good offseason work, and I think our team knows that the most important work that we have is in front of us and it is in training camp. It's tough, but I think if you want to be a good football team in this league, then you certainly have to put in the time in training camp to make sure you have a good camp. I think that's what we will get with our players. We are excited about a lot of the competitive situations we have on our roster. We really made a strong focal point on that in the offseason to try and address that and see if we couldn't bolster the competition in every spot that we could. We are excited to see how all those play out. In regards to (WR) Demaryius (Thomas) and (QB) Tim (Tebow), (General Manager) Bryan (Xanders) is working frequently with them and their representatives. We hope to have both of them as soon as possible. You know, I don't have any timetables or anything like that, but we will look forward to seeing them as soon as that process plays out. We know that is just something that happens. We are certainly not unique in that scenario. There are a lot of teams dealing with that, and we will try and wrap that up and get them in here as quickly as we can. This time for us in camp - this initial portion where we ask the rookies and the quarterbacks and injured players to report - it certainly gives us an opportunity to get those players a head start. That's kind of what we are focused on. The injured players, certainly to get back out there and get some confidence and whatever the injury may have been, before we start hitting each other. The quarterbacks - certainly we ask a lot of them in our system, so it's important for them to have an opportunity to get started early, and the rookies are all still behind. Any extra work we can do with them serves our team well. It was good to see some players like (OL) Russ Hochstein, (RB) J.J. Arrington, (LB) Nick Greisen, (TE) Marquez Branson; you know some guys that missed a lot this spring, it was good to see them out there and participating. We look forward to them being a big part of what we do. Again, we are excited. I am excited to be back, and look forward to our second year here." 

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Renown sportswriter and television personality Woody Paige is famous for reiterating some variant of the phrase "look at the schedule" whenever he is asked to prognosticate. Though that approach has its critics, it is clear that his maxim is catching on. The release of the NFL schedule, for instance, has become something of an event in recent years. There is a certain appeal to parsing through a team's impending slate of games in an attempt to determine their potential for the upcoming season. Regardless of how accurately we might gauge its true talent, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and adjucate the schemes that they run: all that information is ultimately meaningless without context. And so, in the absence of actual games, we must turn our attention to the schedule in order to hopefully ascertain what it all truly means.

This process will always remain more art than science, but good research can help bridge that gap. Most observers usually rely on their gut for this sort of endeavor and the results of their work can therefore be quite biased or shallow. With so much information at our fingertips today, however, we can now dig deeper and thus arrive at more meaningful conclusions. Follow me below the fold as I attempt to navigate the pratfalls that typically plague these analyses and establish a foundation for its application to the 2010 Denver Broncos.

As always, I'm relying on you to ensure that I am going down the right path; one of the many benefits of writing for Mile High Report is that I can go down a rabbit hole like this and trust that the readership will make sure that I come out on the other side relatively unscathed. And so, without further ado, let us determine if and how we should "look at the schedule".

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I wrote this for Denver.SBNation.com, but wanted to cross post over here.  We'll be talking more about Training Camp later today....Guru

There really is nothing quite like it.  That first morning of Training Camp in the NFL.  Every team has hope.  Sure, Spring Training in baseball is fun for prosperity's sake, but does anyone really think the Kansas City Royals can compete with the New York Yankees?  No way.  In the NFL, everyone has hope - teams and fans alike.  That is why each year the fresh cut grass calls me back to Denver when the Broncos start camp.

That doesn't mean all is well, or there aren't issues to be addressed while the Broncos are getting down to business.  Far from it.  In fact, picking the Top 5 was rather difficult since there are so many questions surrounding the Broncos.  With August 1st fast approaching, let's take a look at the 5 biggest questions surrounding and Orange and Blue as the 2010 NFL Season rushes at us.

5. Change On Defense 

The Broncos stormed out of the gates in 2009, starting 6-0, raising expectations to unrealistic levels.  The resulting slide - the Broncos finished 2-8 - resulted in a further shake-up, both on the roster and coaching staff.  Mike Nolan left the team, heading to Miami to become the defensive coordinator of the Dolphins.  The Broncos decided to replace Nolan - a veteran of the coaching ranks - with Don 'Wink' Martindale.  With just 7 years of coaching experience in the NFL, Martindale has taken the fast track to a coordinators job in the NFL.  The players respect him, and more importantly, seem to respond to him as well.  How quickly Martindale can get up to speed as a DC, however, will go a long way with how well the Broncos defense performs.

Martindale will have plenty of veteran leadership at his disposal, however.  With short-yardage shortcomings befalling the Broncos once again, the team went out and revamped the defensive line.  Jamal Williams comes over the San Diego to provide the Broncos with a proven anchor in the middle.  The Broncos also poached from other successful 3-4 schemes, grabbing DE Justin Bannan from Baltimore and Jarvis Green from New England.  While neither player was a full-time starter on their former teams, both come from programs that have become synonymous with winning.  Their knowledge in the locker room could be just as valuable as their impact on the field.

It is about time the Broncos put the 'D' back in the Denver.  2010 seems to be the start.

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