There are certain truisms to an NFL training camp.
Offense is timing for the most part and timing takes, well, some time to make it all fall into place.
So the last two days of workouts haven’t been particularly kind to the Broncos’ offense. Monday, after seeing too many things that were a little too rough around the edges, coach Josh McDaniels sent the entire offense on a penalty lap around the practice field.
Tuesday, the defense dominated a 9-on-7 running game period. Running backs Kolby Smith and Toney Baker put the ball on the ground during team drills, fumbles recovered by Ryan McBean and Elvis Dumervil.
Offensive mistakes are common early in NFL training camps because the defense is ready to rock from the start.
But the mistakes reveal at least one of the major issues the Broncos face as they wait for their top running backs — Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter — to return from injuries they suffered Sunday, the first day of camp. The Broncos have to run the ball consistently well enough to keep their offense in workable down-and-distance situations, especially in short yardage and the red zone. And now they will have to do it while waiting for Moreno and Buckhalter to return.
Moreno, a first-round pick in the 2009 draft, started slowly last season after missing playing time in the preseason with an injury he suffered in his first game after ending his holdout. The Broncos can’t afford for him to start like that again.
Denver wasn’t a good short-yardage team last season. The Broncos converted just 53 percent of the time on third-and-3 or shorter, just 42 percent on fourth-and-2 or shorter. To put that in perspective, seven NFL teams last season converted at least 44 percent of their third-down plays, no matter the distance, and nine teams converted at least 60 percent of their fourth-down plays, no matter the distance.
Personnel executives across the league say the Broncos did not consistently win the line of scrimmage on many of the most important plays in their games — the plays that keep drives going and protect leads.
Those will be the plays to keep an eye on during the Broncos’ four preseason games, starting Aug. 15 at Cincinnati, especially when the first-team offense is going against the opponent’s first-team defense.
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
