ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Rod Smith has earned the right to take his time. Brandon Marshall had better hurry back.
Smith is the franchise leader in touchdowns and receptions and is rehabbing from hip surgery. Marshall is a second-year player who missed much of his rookie training camp with a knee injury and has been bothered by a thigh injury most of this offseason.
Neither have taken the field yet.
Coach Mike Shanahan knows what Smith can do and is being patient with his team leader. He’s not showing a similar calmness about Marshall’s absence.
“A guy that keeps getting hurt, we can’t waste repetition on a guy that’s not out there. We have to have guys who can stay healthy,” Shanahan said Wednesday. “If he can stay healthy, he’s got a big upside.”
Marshall overcame a knee injury last season to emerge late in the year. He was widely expected to supplant Smith as the starter opposite flanker Javon Walker, but that could change the more he sits. And he understands Shanahan’s frustration.
“I’m frustrated with myself,” Marshall said. “Last year was my first injury. This is my second year in the NFL and I’m more hurt now than I ever was since Little League.”
Smith played in pain all of last season, one of the worst of his career, tallying just 512 yards receiving.
“After they went in there and looked at his hip, doctors said, ‘Hey, you shouldn’t have played with that hip,’ ” Shanahan said. “He couldn’t even figure out why he played. I told him, ‘We don’t have a target date. You’re going to be on this football team. You just work to get well.”
With two of the top three wide receivers on the training camp depth chart out, players such as David Kircus, free agent Brandon Stokley and second-year man Domenik Hixon are getting their shot.
Stokley is coming off an Achilles’ injury and Hixon off a broken foot that wiped out his rookie season. Both have been impressive so far, and Hixon earned some points in Shanahan’s book by missing just one practice with a shoulder injury he sustained Tuesday morning.
“For a guy like Domenik to come in after an AC (joint) seperation, first degree, he worked through it and that’s what you’re hoping guys are going to do,” Shanahan said.
Marshall might have to spring back in similar way to hold back challenges to his job.
“Guys get hurt, hamstring, shoulder, and they don’t practice, that really hurts your chances to make the team,” Shanahan said.
Hixon knows what it’s like to watch a season slip away because of an injury and he was eager to get back on the field Wednesday.
“I want to be out there regardless of whether we have 20 receivers out there or just five,” Hixon said. “I want to go out there and compete for one of the jobs.”
The team told him he could just run on the side if he was hurting, but “to me it’s just a bump and bruise, it’s football,” Hixon said. “I wasn’t going to stay out today.”
He didn’t seem to favor his shoulder, except when tossing the ball back underhanded following receptions during passing drills.
On one nifty over-the-shoulder catch, defensive back Kevin House hammered him on his injured shoulder. But Hixon said he didn’t expect any sympathy from the cornerbacks.
“That’s competition, training camp, you’re competing for jobs and I expect them to play twice as hard,” Hixon said.
Hixon is not only pushing for playing time at wide recevier but he’s practicing to be the primary punt returner, too. As of right now, he’s also backing up wide receiver Quincy Morgan on kickoff return.
“They need players to step up on special teams, so wherever they need me,” said Hixon.
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A GATOR FEEL:@ There’s definitely a Floridian feel along the Broncos defensive line.
Four former-Florida Gators are vying for spots in the trenches.
One of them, defensive tackle Steven Harris, jogged around one of the fields Wednesday following the Broncos’ afternoon special teams practice. Out of breath, the undrafted rookie said that Gator comraderie makes for a smoother transition to the pro game.
“It’s a lot like being back there (at Florida),” Harris said. “We’re used to pushing each other already, so when it comes to being on the field, we just make each other go hard.”
The Broncos drafted defensive end Jarvis Moss and defensive tackle Marcus Thomas out of Florida to go along with Gerard Warren, who last played for the Gators in 2000.
Harris is doing all he can to turn heads, including covering kickoffs.
“It’s a lot of running,” Harris said with a laugh. “I’m 305, I’ve never had to run down the field on kickoffs before, but it’s cool.”
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LINE SHUFFLE:@ Defensive end John Engelberger, who has started just one game in his two seasons in Denver, is runinng with the No. 1 defense so far.
“One of the reasons he’s started out as a starter is the way he played last year,” coach Mike Shanahan said. “He does have a lot of competition there, but he’s a very consistent player, very disciplined, and we put him No. 1 based on how he played last year for us.”
Engelberger, who started four of his five seasons in San Francisco, posted a career-high in solo tackles last season with 37.
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EXTRA POINTS: @ LB Nate Webster had his second big hit in as many days, leveling RB Mike Bell on a screen pass during team drills. … The Broncos defense won most of the battles during Wednesday morning drills, but WR Javon Walker’s 30-yard catch and juke of S Quentin Harris on a sure touchdown was maybe the most impressive play of the day. … WR Marquay McDaniel and TE Chad Mustard both missed Wednesday’s workout with pulled hamstrings. DE Kenard Lang also was absent for undisclosed reasons. … K Jason Elam had a tough morning, missing three field goal attempts. Special teams coach Scott O’Brien chalked up the bad day to just the usual ups and downs of the early portion of training camp.
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AP Sports Writer Arnie Stapleton contributed to this report.
