Perhaps, in a game that doesn’t count, the Broncos won’t kick to Devin Hester.
The Chicago Bears highlight the Broncos’ 2009 preseason schedule, which was announced Monday.
The Broncos will play the Bears on Sunday, Aug. 30, at Invesco Field at Mile High, a game that will be nationally televised on NBC. Kickoff is 6:05 p.m. The last time these teams met was Nov. 25, 2007, at Soldier Field, where Hester returned a Todd Sauerbrun punt, and a kickoff, for touchdowns that were key in the Bears’ 37-34 overtime victory. The defeat essentially doomed the Broncos’ playoff hopes that season.
The Broncos don’t have Sauerbrun to kick around anymore, but Hester returns for the Bears. The game will be Week 3 of the preseason when most teams play their starters for at least the first half.
As for the rest of the Broncos’ preseason schedule, they will open at San Francisco in a game that will be played from Aug. 13-17. Their second preseason game, from Aug. 20-24, will be against the Seahawks in Seattle.
The Broncos’ fourth and final preseason game will be Thursday, Sept. 3, against the Arizona Cardinals at Invesco Field with kickoff at 7:05 p.m.
The Broncos have a good chance of opening their regular season with a Sunday afternoon game, Sept. 13, against the Dallas Cowboys at Invesco Field.
It’s not all Jay, all the time.
Let the record show the last time Broncos coach Josh McDaniels met with the press, it took exactly 37 minutes, 45 seconds before someone asked a question that didn’t concern the Jay Cutler squabble.
“That’s probably earlier than I thought it would be,” McDaniels said.
A San Diego reporter interrupted McDaniels’ gathering during the AFC coaches’ breakfast to ask about the “New England Way” infiltrating the AFC West.
But enough about New England. Now that the Broncos are back at Dove Valley, has McJaygate been a distraction?
“It’s added time to your day,” McDaniels said. “But I think our coaching staff and our players have done an incredible job at not allowing it to be a distraction to them.”
So what has been the focus?
“We’re concentrating on the draft and teaching our players, bit by bit, our system and getting in condition,” McDaniels said.
Don’t be surprised if the Broncos nab a pass rusher with the No. 12 pick in the upcoming draft. Among the top defensive ends are Brian Orakpo, Michael Johnson, Aaron Maybin, Everette Brown, Tyson Jackson, Larry English and Robert Ayers.
Mike Klis, The Denver Post
