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Denver Broncos Training Camp Day 7 news and notes

Day seveb of Broncos Training Camp was a struggle for the quarterbacks.

By Scotty Payne
Casey Barrett/Mile High Report

Day seven of Denver Broncos Training Camp left Broncos Head Coach Gary Kubiak a bit upset. It was a sloppy practice and all three quarterbacks struggled today but did end the day strong. We have Paxton Lynch taking reps with the 1's, quarterback struggles, Latimer looking good, an update on the punting battle, injury updates, news and notes, and more.

Paxton Lynch received some first-team reps but didn't have his best day

After a strong couple practices, quarterback Paxton Lynch earned himself some first team reps today during some 7 on 7 drills today. However, it wasn't the best day for the Broncos first-round pick.

Lynch went 0-3 during that drill with one drop. It wasn't his best showing, but a sign that Lynch has indeed gained on Sanchez and Siemian. The Broncos first team defense is the best in the business so of course, Lynch will struggle when going up against that unit for the first time.

Kubiak said Lynch had an "up and down day" and that he still has a ways to go still.

"Today looked like some of the practices he’s had, kind of up and down. He too, he gets a day off yesterday and he comes back in here and didn’t practice as well. It’s not just him. It’s a lot of guys. They need to go back and look at why. Pros do it all the time, not every now and then. He’s got a way to go."

Lynch showed to have a short memory once again and finished off his day with a solid 70-yard drive that ended with a 14 yard or so touchdown pass to rookie tight end Henry Krieger-Coble.

Lynch went 4 for 4 during that drive and finished his day strong. After a tough day, it is nice to finish your day on a high note and carry that momentum into Thursday's practice.

A rough day for the QB's and no one is stepping up:

It just wasn't a good day for any of the Broncos quarterbacks. Mark Sanchez had his usual "up and down" day and Trevor Siemian continued to be "captain check down" for the most part. '

Sanchez had a fumbled snap and 3 and out during his "move the chains drill". Defensive end Jared Crick batted down two of Sanchez's passes at the line.

Trevor Siemian may have been the best quarterback today, but that's not much of a compliment. He continued to mostly play it safe and take zero risks down the field. Lots of dinks and dunks for Siemian.

Siemian did have a nice few plays today, but still hasn't done enough to pass the struggling Sanchez.

Not a glowing endorsement of Siemian, but backs up the "singles hitter" comment from the Denver Posts Cameron Wolfe. From everything I am reading, Siemian has the potential to be a nice backup, but probably nothing more than that.

Kubiak wants more consistency from his quarterbacks.

"We’ve had some good days. We’ve had some real good days. It just wasn’t as good as it needed to be today. As long as I’ve been doing this, it’s the way it works. You just have to keep going and try to be consistent. That’s what we’re working towards."

Now all three quarterbacks did end up finishing their day with touchdown drives. Siemian led a long drive that ended with a short pass to Juwan Thompson for a touchdown, and Sanchez received a second attempt and he hit receiver Jordan Taylor for another long highlight reel catch for a touchdown. It's nice to end on a strong note, but clearly, Kubiak wasn't pleased and seemed pissed about their effort today.

After six days of practices, Kubiak said that none of the three quarterbacks has separated themselves from the group yet.

"I don’t think anybody has taken off and done anything. I think they’ve all done what they did in the off season. They all continue to do it. We’ll just going here. We’ll start playing some people and playing some games. We’re going to find out."

All three quarterbacks still have plenty of time to work on these issues, but the clock is ticking.

Cody Latimer receives some praise from Kubiak

Broncos wide receiver Cody Latimer is entering a "make or break" sort of year. He has already seen Bennie Fowler and Jordan Taylor have great Camps thus far, so he needs to step his game up and so far he has.

He has had multiple long receptions in camp and has been showing his strong hands and athleticism as well. With the receiving position being as deep as it is, this is a much-needed showing from Latimer.

Kubiak said it has been a good camp for Latimer thus far.

"It’s been a good camp. Cody is in great condition. He can run all day, so you see him show up. The longer practices go, he tends to keep making plays. It’s important to him. You can see it. It’s a big year for him. We all know that. I think he’s pushing really hard and doing a good job."

That's good to hear in a make or break year for Latimer.

Colquitt appears to be ahead in the punting competition

After the Broncos spent a 7th round pick on rookie punter Riley Dixon, most assumed that spelled the end of Britton Colquitt in Denver, but the veteran punter isn't going out without a fight.

Colquitt continued to punt with the first team today while the rookie Riley Dixon punted with the second team.

Kubiak said the punting battle is going to be a competitive one.

"They’re obviously two different guys. One is the veteran who had a tremendous season last year, especially late in the year. He was really big for us and had been around the league for a while. The other one is a young, very talented kid with a big leg. There’s a competition right there. They both have to hold for McManus too, so that’s a factor. It’s going to be very competitive. We knew that."

Ultimately I believe this battle will come down to who punts the best during the Preseason so I wouldn't read too much into this just yet.

News and notes:

Injury report

  • Cornerback Kayvon Webster sat out practice today. He had a wrap on his left leg. According to Kubiak, Webster has a thigh bruise.
  • Guard Max Garcia sat out practice. According to Kubiak, Garcia rolled his ankle during a walk-through practice.
  • Guard Ty Sambrailo continued to sit out practice with an elbow injury.
  • Guard Sam Brenner who is dealing with a concussion sat out practice as well.
  • Wide receiver Marlon Brown is receiving an MRI on his back injury.
  • Defensive lineman Sylvester Williams and Vance Walker returned to practice.
  • Running back Ronnie Hillman returned to practice after suffering a back injury on Sunday.
  • Tight end Jon Phillips continues to sit out practice.
  • Veteran's Aqib Talib and DeMarcus Ware continued to be on NFI list.
  • Defensive end Kenny Anunike remained on PUP list.

Tweets from Practice

Notable quotes

Kubiak's message to the team when he gathered them together halfway through practice

"We had a day off yesterday and we didn’t respond very well. Good teams, when you get a break day and come back, are bouncing around. We came back lethargic, not practicing very well and not practicing very well at quarterback today. I just let them know. We battled back at the end, but we just have to continue to find our leaders on this team and the guys that are going to step up when things get hard. Things are hard right now, so we have to push."

Lynch on how he started and finished today's practice

"That just comes down to the consistency thing. I didn’t come out here and have the best practice that I should have had today. I don’t think a lot of us did, that’s why Kubiak said what he said whenever he pulled the team up and kind of got us going. At the end, you get a chance to finish practice even though you didn’t practice so well in the beginning. That’s sort of what I had in my head. I have one more drive for the rest of the day. That was the last rep that I was going to get today, so I had to make the best of it."

Cornerback Bradley Roby on how the defense responded to Kubiak's meeting

"After he made it known, I think we picked our intensity up. On defense, we got a fumble right after that. He had to snap us out of it. That's his job as a head coach, when he sees that we're not performing the way that he wants us to perform, to get us out of it. I think he did that today."

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