Dewayne Robertson wants to clear something up. His left knee is just fine, thanks for asking, and he doesn’t understand why everyone seems to care so much.
“It really kind of blew me away this offseason, because my whole career, I only missed two games, and that wasn’t because of my knee, it was because of a high thigh bruise,” said Robertson, the veteran defensive tackle the Broncos acquired in a trade with the New York Jets in April. “This offseason, it just got blown out of proportion. Everyone is making a big deal about the knee, but I’ve been fine.”
The fuss may have come from the fact that Broncos coach Mike Shanahan told reporters shortly after the trade that Robertson’s knee didn’t pass the physical performed by team doctors. Or that Robertson was held out from several days of a passing camp in May and a mini-camp in June and has been restricted to one practice a day during training camp.
Robertson bristles at questions about the knee, though those questions will go away if he transitions into Denver’s defense as well as coaches are hoping. The knee pain, a chronic problem since he was in college at Kentucky, didn’t keep him off the field with the Jets. He started all but five games — and played in all but three — since the Jets drafted him No. 4 overall in 2003.
Still, Robertson never met the lofty expectations set for him in New York, especially not after he was converted into a nose tackle in Eric Mangini’s 3-4 defense for the past two seasons. At 6-feet-1 and 308 pounds, Robertson wasn’t bulky enough to fill the middle of the line, and he wasn’t surprised when the Jets looked to trade him.
Figuring he would no longer be a Jet, he looked for a team running a 4-3 defense, as Denver does.
“When I took the visit here to Denver, they told me the scheme, how they do things and how they run the defense, and they made it clear I would fit perfectly in that scheme,” Robertson said.
Robertson is a projected starter for the Broncos, though they likely will rotate other tackles in as well, including Kenny Peterson, Marcus Thomas and Alvin McKinley. That rotation could keep the Broncos from owing the Jets anything in the trade. Only if Robertson plays more than 65 percent of the time will Denver have to give the Jets an undisclosed draft pick next year.
For now Denver coaches aren’t concerned with how many snaps Robertson plays, but how he can help fix a run defense that ranked 30th in the NFL in 2007.
Here Robertson will be a “one-gap” tackle — his natural position, defensive line coach Bill Johnson said, because of his combination of speed and strength. He was clocked at 4.8 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine in 2003, despite weighing about 16 more pounds than he does now.
“This is much better for him, because I can go back to when he was in college and I studied him,” Johnson said. “When you play him in a head-up position, you negate some of that quickness and power.”
Safety Marlon McCree, also in his first year with the Broncos, played with Robertson for two years at Kentucky and said it isn’t just Robertson’s physical abilities that should help the Denver defense.
McCree said Robertson, normally mild-mannered and polite, has a nasty side that emerges only on the field. McCree noticed that attitude as soon as Robertson arrived in Lexington, Ky., as a heralded freshman out of Memphis, Tenn., in 2000.
“He was man amongst boys,” McCree said. “He was a gentle giant, because he could be so respectful off the field, but man, when he got on the field, he rag-dolled people, just tore people to pieces.”
Lindsay H. Jones: 303-954-1262 or ljones@denverpost.com
Interior design
Five defensive tackles were drafted in the first round in 2003:
Dewayne Robertson
Drafted No. 4 overall by N.Y. Jets. Traded to Denver in April. Has 75 starts and 14 1/2 sacks in his career. Not as effective the past two years in the Jets’ 3-4 system and considered a disappointment in New York.
Johnathan Sullivan
Drafted No. 6 overall by New Orleans. Biggest bust of the group. Sullivan made 12 starts as a rookie in 2003, but only four more starts the rest of his career. Out of the league after being released by New England in 2006.
Kevin Williams
Drafted No. 9 overall by Minnesota. The star of the group. Has made three Pro Bowls and has 34 career sacks, including leading all defensive tackles with 11 1/2 sacks in 2004.
Jimmy Kennedy
Drafted No. 12 overall by St. Louis. Made 30 starts in four seasons with the Rams and was cut by the Broncos after camp in 2007. Signed with Chicago in December and played in the final three games. Now in camp with Jacksonville.
William Joseph
Drafted No. 25 overall by N.Y. Giants. Missed the 2007 season because of a back injury and signed with Oakland as a free agent during the offseason. Has seven career sacks.
Lindsay H. Jones, The Denver Post
