Day 7 recap: A better days for the quarterbacks, a veterans day off, DeMarcus Walker the linebacker, and more

Day 7 of Denver Broncos Training Camp is in the books and today was a better day for the quarterbacks. We saw some select veterans get a day off and will see some more tomorrow, info on the Broncos scrimmage on Saturday, notes on DeMarcus Walker, and more!

Better day for both quarterbacks:

Siemian:

It was Trevor Siemian’s day with the first-team offense and overall it went pretty smoothly. He had one touchdown in team drills but did have one interception in 7-on-7’s.

He looked like himself. Smooth, nothing spectacular, but nothing awful, and just consistently himself. Trevor being Trevor as Vance Joseph put it after practice.

“I think Trevor has been solid. He hasn’t done a lot of huge error stuff I should say. He’s been solid. He’s been Trevor. He’s been consistent.”

Overall it was a good but not great day for Trevor. One touchdown in team drills, but did have some sacks(back to back ones in the first team drill) and a couple 3 and outs with the 1st and 2nd team today.

Nothing really noteworthy but another consistent Trevor being Trevor day.

Lynch:

Lynch like Siemian had a good but not great day. He didn’t end up with any touchdowns in team drills, and like Trevor also had an interception, but this time in one on one drills when Chris Harris Jr. got him.

Lynch also had a play that probably should have been a long touchdown in a team drill but was whistled dead before the end zone. He hit running back C.J. Anderson on a screen and the veteran back scrambled down the field for what would have been a 60-yard touchdown.

Overall it was a good practice for Lynch who started the day kinda slow but finished strong. However, Joseph said after practice that he’s still looking for more consistency from Lynch who flashes some great and bad at times.

“His deal right now is to put good plays together back to back to back. That’s what we want from Paxton right now. You can see his play making ability. He can put a ball into the field. He can scramble with it. We want more plays being made back to back to back. We’ll put him in the place for it.”

That’s really the key for Lynch right now. If he can do that while cutting down on the mistakes he should run away with this job.

Speaking of running, Lynch decided to scramble a few times during 7-on-7 drills which caught the eye of some media members, but Joseph said he encourages Lynch to do that.

“Just play ball. We want Paxton to have as many natural reps as possible, so when he takes off and run, I like it. I don’t want him to sit back there and force the ball and make a bad decision. Him running in seven-on-seven doesn’t bother me.”

Lynch’s athletic ability may very well be the x-factor in this quarterback competition. If he flashes that during the preseason and show he’s more a gamer than he very well could run away with this job.

Veteran rest day:

For the first time this summer, the Broncos coaches gave a select few veterans a day off today. Tight end Virgil Green, receiver Demaryius Thomas, T.J. Ward, Aqib Talib, and a few others were given the day off today.

Now under Kubiak, he gave all the veterans a day off, but Joseph is doing it a little bit differently. He’s given one group today off and another group tomorrow’s practice off.

“It was our first vet day. It was scheduled. This was a tough week. We’ve had pads on for the last three days. I’m just being smart with our veteran players who we know more about. We can rest those guys. We’re going to rest the other half tomorrow. We didn’t want to do the entire group in one day. We split them in two groups. Tomorrow you’re going to see [WR Emmanuel] Sanders, [OLB] Von [Miller], [DE Derek] Wolfe and [ILB Brandon] Marshall resting. They’ll be out tomorrow. Everyone is up for the scrimmage on Saturday.

According to Joseph, Emmanuel Sanders, Von Miller, Derek Wolfe, Brandon Marshall and others will have tomorrow’s practice off. Except for Chris Harris Jr. Bradley Roby and a few others to among that list as well.

Carlos Henderson is finally in shape:

One thing that caught my attention during Joseph’s presser was his thoughts about rookie wide receiver Carlos Henderson finally getting into football shape.

Joseph said that Henderson wasn’t in great shape this spring and early into Training Camp, but is there now.

“He is finally getting into NFL shape. He wasn’t in great shape in the spring and early on in training camp, but you can finally see the guy getting in great shape. He’s figuring out what to do. That’s also important for a rookie. He can make plays fast. He’s a big, strong, guy with the ball in his hands. He’s a very, very engaged player. He loves to play the game. We’re excited about Carlos.”

Henderson is coming off his best practice this summer, so hopefully, he is finally turning the corner after a disappointing start to his first NFL Training Camp.

He’s currently behind veteran Bennie Fowler for the slot receiver position, but a strong preseason could change that.

Details about Saturday’s scrimmage:

On Saturday, the Broncos will have their first team scrimmage of the summer and it will be key to the Broncos roster evaluations according to Vance Joseph.

“I think all the practices and the scrimmage will be talked about on Sunday morning of where we are. It’s kind of the halfway point. Starting Monday, we’re going to have a training camp day, but Tuesday and Wednesday are more Chicago. Absolutely, that’s going to be a big deal for our roster as far as who’s doing things the right way. Who’s making plays? Who’s making less errors? That’s going to be a big part of what we’re doing. When you say scrimmage, it should tweak a player to say, ‘Hey, my best is needed.’ That’s why you say scrimmage for these guys so you can get their best.”

This will obviously be big for the Broncos quarterbacks and any other player battling for a starting spot or a roster spot. After Saturday’s practice they have a day off, a camp practice that Monday and the following practices will be preparing for their preseason game against the Bears, so it will be a big day.

There expects to be 36 to 40 total plays including special teams and you will see the first team vs the first team in a controlled but competitive environment.

Now how will the QB reps go? One will get 6 reps or so on Saturday.

“That’s the plan to give those guys six and six with both groups. You want those guys to have a chance to play with the ones and the twos. We are structured now that offensive line wise where we’ve got two pretty good groups. That’s always a concern, even in preseason. How do you play a guy who is involved with being the first quarterback with a second line? Our two lines are pretty good right now, so I feel really good about those guys playing with ones and playing with twos.

Six(or so) total seems very low and hard to evaluate on such a small sample size but we shall see how it works out.

DeMarcus Walker the outside linebacker:

Joseph talked about DeMarcus Walker’s transition to outside linebacker and told reporters that he is “doing better”.

“He’s doing better. That’s a different deal going from a three-point to a stand up. He’s got more responsibility as far as dropping and coverage. He’s making progress. With our injuries there, he was our best option on our roster. Moving forward, he’s going to play a role there. We’re excited about him. He has to continue to work and figure out how to stand up and play in space. That’s the biggest issue going from defensive end to an outside linebacker.”

It sounds like he will stick out there until one or both of Shane Ray and Shaq Barrett are healthy.

Joseph did say they drafted Joseph to be an inside rusher so he will shift back in there once both are back later this season.

We drafted him with that vision as kind of a defensive end, inside third-down rusher, maybe stand up from time to time. Obviously, it happened quicker than we thought it would with the outside backer, but that was our vision when we drafted DeMarcus.”

Now it was asked if he would lose weight to move to outside linebacker and Joseph said no because he’s a defensive end in their eyes.

“That’s a great question. No, because he is also a defensive end. We don’t want him so small where we can’t put him inside on sub and on first and second downs. We want him to get leaner as far as the body fat portion, but as far as smaller, no. That’s a great question.”

So, rookie, DeMarcus Walker continues to be an interesting player to watch as the Broncos Training Camp progresses.

Injury report:

• Guard Ron Leary returned to practice after missing a few days
• Running back Bernard Pierce remains out with a hamstring injury
• Cornerback Marcus Rios returned to practice after missing a few days.

Tweets from practice:

Notable quotes:

Vance Joseph on mistakes being made in practice:

“It’s training camp, so you’re going to see some ups and downs with those guys. Everyone is still learning. Defensively, they’re making plays. We have multiple coverages in. We have multiple pressures in. It’s the ups and downs of practice. It’s a normal deal. But again, with the quarterbacks—his mistakes are big ones. When a corner makes one or a linebacker makes one, nobody really recognizes that on that scale. Everyone has had good plays and bad plays. Not just the quarterbacks.”

Joseph on what he wants to see from rookie Isaiah McKenzie:

“He had a big drop today on the third-down, but just being consistent. For young guys, camp is tough. Camp is going on. We’ve been in pads for four or five days now. It’s the dog days of camp. It kind of jumps on those guys. They have to push through this week. It’s a tough week for all of us. If they can get through to Saturday, it’s going to become normal again for those guys. For Isaiah, just pushing through and continuing to work on his craft.”

Joseph on what leaders are standing out to him:

“It’s happening, yes. From [T] Menelik Watson, from [G Ron] Leary, from both quarterbacks, (WR Demaryius Thomas) D.T. is doing a good job of leading. Emmanuel [Sanders] as well. We’ve got guys on both sides of the football that want to lead this football team. Obviously, the personalities are on defense. That’s important when you’re a leader. You want guys to be bold, and that’s been the defense for the most part. We have Menelik who is a tough minded guy. Leary who’s played on good football teams and has been with good offensive lines. [RB] C.J. Anderson is trying to lead. We have a bunch of leaders. We have guys who want to win. That’s important.”

Aqib Talib on cornerback Bradley Roby’s improvement:

He's one of the top guys on the production chart this year so far in camp. [S] T.J. [Ward] and I were talking about it today, just his communication. His alertness—he was just a mute last year, he just played his technique and was just out there. This year, he's actually in tune to the defense and he's communicating with guys. I think that's the first step of making you better when you can see stuff pre-snap.”