The Denver Broncos concluded their three-day passing camp today, and the media arrived to a bit of a surprise.

Quarterback Chris Simms, not the heavily favored Kyle Orton, was taking reps with the Broncos’ first offensive unit. 

Still, fans and observers are being told this is no guarantee whatsoever that Simms will be the starting quarterback in Game One, and that both he and Orton are just learning the ropes.

“Both of them will take reps with the ones, and we’re going to keep doing that until it becomes clear and apparent, and it’s not yet. They’re both doing some good things, and they’re both making some mistakes.”

Simms was not the only first-team surprise at the passing camp. 

While it is not usually the best indication of who the starters will be this early in the off-season, Denver featured many new faces on the defensive side of the ball.

On the defensive line, those running with the first team were Ryan McBean, Ronald Fields, and Kenny Peterson.

At rush linebacker were Darrell Reid and Elvis Dumervil, and in the middle were D.J. Williams and Andra Davis. 

There were not many surprises in the defensive backfield, but only one familiar face in Champ Bailey. Aside from him, the starters were Andre’ Goodman, Renaldo Hill, and Brian Dawkins.

Despite all the fresh faces, the Broncos appeared to be very cohesive during the practice session. In a hypothetical drill in which the clock had only one second remaining, Simms hit Daniel Graham for a touchdown. Still, Dumervil tried to plead his case to head coach Josh McDaniels that he sacked Simms prior to the pass.

The touchdown stood.

On special teams, kicker Matt Prater hit eight field goals on eight attempts.

At the end of practice, the Broncos had a little bit of fun with punt returns. 

Nose tackle Chris Baker fielded a punt that saved the defense from extra meetings, and fellow undrafted rookie Nate Swift, a wide receiver, caught a punt while already holding onto three balls he had previously fielded.

This is the time of year for NFL fans to be optimistic, and the Denver Broncos appear to be giving their fans reason to be giddy.

Practice info courtesy of the Denver Broncos’ official website.

 

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