ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Broncos offensive lineman Montrae Holland knows he’s dropping farther behind with every practice he misses.
Still, he’s trying to take a sensible approach to his mandated weight loss.
“I don’t want to pass out, not be hydrated,” Holland said. “I want to do it the right way.”
Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said Holland won’t practice with the team until he slims down. His listed weight on the roster is 322 pounds and Shanahan has said Holland is 20-25 pounds overweight.
Holland is working out with strength and conditioning coach Rich Tuten while his teammates toil through training camp. He ventured out Monday to watch his teammates go through drills.
“It’s very hard to watch, see my teammates out there going through camp and I’m over here trying to do what I should’ve done myself,” said Holland, who started all 16 games at right guard for Denver last season.
Holland declined to say how much he weighed when he reported or even what he’s tipping the scales at now. He said he has a “little bit more” to go before he can get back on the field.
“It’s nobody else’s fault but my own,” Holland said. “I’ll keep going and keep dropping … I’m already behind.”
Chris Kuper is making the most of the opportunity, even with a fractured finger in his right hand that will require him to wear a club cast for up to six weeks. He’s been taking most of the reps at Holland’s spot.
Holland doesn’t think Shanahan holding him out of practice is heavy-handed punishment for him reporting to camp heavy.
“If it is, it ain’t doing nothin’ but getting me better,” Holland said.
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WATER LOGGED@: D.J. Williams stared out the window as his teammates worked out on the field, guzzling one bottle of water after another.
He couldn’t leave until he went, and he just couldn’t go.
Williams missed most of morning practice as he completed an NFL-mandated physical.
“You start to feel guilty,” Williams said. “They didn’t allow us to come out until we gave them a sample, which doesn’t make sense to me. I filled it up halfway to where they wanted it to. I tried to come out and they’re like, ‘No, you’ve got to fill it up all the way.’ What am I going to do, come out here and take something on the field to clean my system? It doesn’t make any sense. We have enough stress.”
Williams drank 10 to 12 bottles of waters before sprinting back on the field with around 45 minutes left in practice. Boss Bailey and Selvin Young went through the physical, too, but made it out quicker than Williams.
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BACK AT CORNERBACK@: Domonique Foxworth doesn’t mind playing safety in a pinch, but his preference is to remain at cornerback.
“I love it,” he said. “I’m a much better corner. I think I can play safety sparingly in certain packages. If nothing else, I think I’ve proven so far this camp I’m definitely a corner.”
He picked off a Patrick Ramsey pass in drills Monday and took it all the way back for a touchdown.
So, does he have a shot at starting over Dre’ Bly?
“I’m biased,” he said. “You’re asking the wrong man. I think I’m the best there is and I’m trying to show it. Coach Shanahan said the best players will play.”
Although Foxworth can be a free agent next offseason, he said he’d like to remain in Denver.
“I love it here, I’d like to stay,” he said. “I guess right now, and after the season is over, is the time to think about those things. But once the season starts, there’s so much happening, and your team means so much, so it fades into the background.”
He was hoping a new deal would have already been worked out.
“I felt like I showed some things I can do, but apparently I haven’t shown enough,” Foxworth said. “I take it as a challenge. I talked to coach before the offseason started (and) he said the best players will play, and I took that as a challenge.”
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THROUGH THE UPRIGHTS@: Although Broncos kicker Matt Prater hit seven of eight field goals in the morning session, he went back to study his one miss.
“Pushed it,” he said of the 37-yarder. “As soon as you watch film, you see exactly what you did wrong, just like a golf swing (where) you leave the club face open. You can definitely see it on film.”
Prater was booming his kickoffs in the special teams practice during the afternoon, routinely kicking the ball out of the back of the end zone.
“Kickoffs is one of my strengths,” he said. “I’m trying to make field goals my strength, too.”
