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Denver Broncos Training Camp Day 12 news and notes

Day 12 of Denver Broncos Training Camp is in the books, and it had the defense really dominating the offense today.

By Scotty Payne
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Day 12 of Denver Broncos Training Camp is in the books, and it had the defense really dominating the offense today. Mark Sanchez' struggles continued, Siemian was average, and Lynch had another up and down day. We also have updates on Aqib Talib, Devonate Booker looking good, Kubiak naming the starter for Thursday's game tomorrow, injury updates, news and notes, and more!

Turnovers, mental errors, and overthrows from the quarterbacks

It was another rough and ugly day for Mark Sanchez, Trevor Siemian looked "average" and Paxton Lynch had an up and down day

Mark Sanchez:

Mark Sanchez is known for his big-time turnovers and mental blunders and both were on display during today's practice session.

Sanchez threw his 3rd pick 6 of camp today when cornerback Bradley Roby intercepted him and took it back to the house. This is the second consecutive practice where Sanchez has been pick 6'd by Roby, and also had another one to Lorenzo Doss earlier in camp.

He has also had a few other interceptions during camp as well. One of them was a spectacular play by rookie safety Justin Simmons.

The blunders didn't stop there sadly.

During a two-minute drill, the offense is down 2 and has no timeouts and Mark Sanchez has to take them down the field and into scoring position. Well, Sanchez took a knee when he shouldn't have and this led to the defense celebrating.

Turnovers and mental blunders like this will not win you a starting job. The idea that Mark Sanchez would turn his career around in Denver and clear up his mistakes appears to be very very wrong.

Trevor Siemian

The co-starter at quarterback had a not good but not bad practice today. He completed a nice pass to tight end Jeff Heuerman and had another nice pass to Bennie Fowler during 7 on 7 drills.

Other than that, I didn't see many other noteworthy updates on his play. MHR writer Ian Henson was at the practice and told me he wasn't bad but was "average".

There were a few criticisms and blunders for Simeian, though.

During a team drill, he went 3 and out(better than a turnover, but still not great) and Coach Kubiak barked a bit at Siemian after some early overthrows.

Also, the Alex Smith comparison for Siemian keeps popping up from people at camp.

Some of you will call this "bias" or whatever, but I have been told this by multiple people at camp and others are saying the same. He is very safe with the ball, not very aggressive at times, and will dink and dunk a lot.

Now this isn't really a bad thing, but it's not a great thing. Probably why he's only a co-starter with Mark Sanchez despite how terrible he has been lately.

In Siemian's defense, he has been attacking downfield a little more in recent practices, but I'm curious to see if he will play it safe during Thursday's game, or attack down field?

Paxton Lynch:

It was another up and down day for the Broncos rookie.

He struggled with some overthrows early on today but had a few touchdowns in 7 on 7 drills early on today.

I was told by MHR writer Ian Henson that Lynch showed off his mobility today and multiple drops from receivers really limited Lynch's success today. DenverBroncos.com's Andrew Mason backed that claim up saying Lynch escaped pressure multiple times today.

Outside of that, nothing really noteworthy happened.

Charting the QB's day

MHR's Ian Henson charted the QB's snaps during team drills today.


It's safe to say there was a mix of quarterback struggles and defensive dominance today.

Kubiak will name starter for Thursday's preseason game tomorrow

With the Broncos first preseason game only a few days away Denver Broncos Head Coach Gary Kubiak said he expects to name a starter for that game tomorrow.

It will probably go to Sanchez but after his shitty play recently, I wouldn't be shocked to see Siemian named the starter for the first preseason game, but we will find out tomorrow.

"Probably tomorrow. We’ll see. We wanted to have a good practice today. We’re still working against each other today. We’ll probably settle down with Chicago a little bit more tomorrow, and make that decision. They are all going to play."

In the end, both will probably end up getting a bunch of first half snaps and who is the "starter" won't really mean a whole lot in the outcome of this battle.

Booker showing progression

The Broncos fourth round pick continues to received praise from the Broncos Head Coach.

Kubiak said the rookie looked "impressive" today.

"He’s impressive. Today, he was really doing some great stuff. He’s right there. We know how he’s pushing our veteran players. The thing that’s been impressive with Booker, is how well he’s done mentally, football wise. He’s keeping up on third down. We have a really good player there, so we’ll see how far he can come. We’ll play him a lot in the preseason. It’ll be up to him. We’ll see."

Booker is one of the players I'm really looking forward to seeing on Thursday night.

The return of Aqib Talib

Cornerback Aqib Talib was activated off the NFI list earlier today and took park in his first practice since being shot in the leg.

Talib looked good and healthy out there today and will be brought along slowly. Head Coach Gary Kubiak said that Talib will be brought along like tackle Russell Okung and Von Miller have been recently.

"It will probably be a little bit like Von’s. He went 35, 40 minutes today. He did a little individual and took a little one-on-ones. We’ll step him up each day. We will progress him much like one Russell and Von have been on.

So it sounds like Talib is on pace to be ready a bit before the week one matchup against the Carolina Panthers.

Talib may play in the preseason

Some have wondered if/when Talib would return to game action after coming off the NFI list. Well Broncos Head Coach Gary Kubiak said that we could see Talib out there during the Broncos third preseason game against the Rams.

Kubiak said that Talib is making a lot of progress and doing it quickly, and if that continue he could play in the week three game against the Rams.

"I’m expecting him to be there. All of our work is toward him getting ready to play and getting him to Carolina. If he makes the progress that I watched him make the past three or four days, hopefully we’re talking about him getting some time against the Rams. We’ll see. I probably shouldn’t go there yet, but I think he’s doing a good job and that he’s going to progress really quickly."

Kubiak's confidence about Talib's progress and health is exciting. I hope we can see him on the field before the wee one matchup against the Panthers.

News and notes

  • Receiver Jordan Taylor was held out practice because his hamstring was a little tight and because we're going to see a lot of Sunshine on Thursday night
  • Like Taylor, center James Ferentz was held out with a minor injury and because he is expected to play a lot against the Bears.
  • Donald Stephenson missed another practice, so Michael Schofield was your right tackle again today
  • With Ty Sambrailo still out, Darrion Weems was getting first-team reps at right guard.
  • Devontae Booker and Kapri Bibbs had long runs that would have went for touchdowns today
  • Vance Walker continues to have a strong camp and blew up a C.J. Anderson rushing attempt.

Injury report

Tweets from practice

Notable quotes

Gary Kubiak on the quarterback position on the depth chart

"I think there are about nine positions that are slashed. We have some things going on and obviously some really good competition. Nothing has changed at quarterback. Like I said, Mark and Trevor continue to split reps with the first group. Paxton is behind those guys. It’s really nothing. I think we did it at running back. I think we did it at right guard. I’m trying to think of the other spots. It’s really nothing new. It’s just that’s the way we are working, so that is the way we are going to list them."

Gary Kubiak on the effort during practice after a day off

"I thought our effort was good. I think the first hour of practice offensively might be as good as we’ve practiced. The last half hour, 45 minutes, we have to be better. Defensively we made some big plays towards the end of practice. Ones and twos repped a lot. We took the pads off them and got a lot of reps in hurry-up offense. We’re getting ready to play a game."

Paxton Lynch on the Broncos offense

"I'm really excited about how they like to move the quarterback around and have some keepers, play-actions and drop-backs as well. They do a lot of stuff and I like that, especially when I get to get out of the pocket and get on the run. I'm really excited about the fact that they take shots and they also drop back, and they also get their quarterbacks out of the pocket."

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