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Shanahan says Broncos ahead of schedule
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ENGLEWOOD • Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan thinks his team is in pretty good shape, physically and mentally, with training camp coming next month.
The progress made over the past month was so good that Shanahan canceled a scheduled mandatory minicamp July 7-8. Once he got assurances from the players that they would finish the offseason conditioning program strong, he didn't think any more practices were necessary.
"We got a lot of work done here over the last month," Shanahan said. "We were further ahead of schedule than I thought."
The Broncos had two offseason camps over the past four weeks: a quarterbacks camp for two weeks, then team camp for two weeks. The final offseason practice ended Thursday. Shanahan said the players showed a good grasp of the schemes in the past month.
"One of your goals in these camps is making the young guys feel comfortable with the system and terminology, and I thought we were able to do that with the draft choices and free agents," Shanahan said.
The players have off next week, then there are three more weeks of conditioning before another break. Players report to training camp July 24 and have their first practice the next day.
Denver dealt with some injuries this offseason, but Shanahan said none of them should linger into training camp. Center Tom Nalen is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery. Tight end Tony Scheffler, who is bothered by a broken foot suffered last year, practiced on a limited basis this week.
Defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson missed most of the practices this week, but Shanahan said the team was being preventative with his sore knee. Receiver Brandon Marshall should start catching passes with his injured right arm later this month and be ready for camp.
"I don't see anybody who should not be able to practice," Shanahan said.
Quarterback Jay Cutler said he was pleased with what he saw during the practices.
"We got a lot done, a lot offensively and defensively," Cutler said. "I think we all felt good about it."
