ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Laurence Maroney isn’t exactly sure what’s being said and written about him three weeks into his Denver Broncos career.
But with the team’s ground game mired in last place in the NFL rankings at 55 yards per game and him having started the last two weeks in the backfield, he has some ideas.
Thing is, he wouldn’t completely disagree if he’s getting some flak.
“The first two weeks really haven’t been nothing amazing,” Maroney said candidly Friday as the Broncos (2-2) wrapped up preparations for the Baltimore Ravens (3-1). “But I think it’s about time we start picking things up and really see why they traded for me and see what kind of back I am.”
Maroney has carried the ball 23 times for 29 yards in games against Indianapolis and Tennessee, subbing for injured Knowshon Moreno, who will miss his third straight game Sunday. That makes it incumbent upon Maroney to raise his per-carry average significantly to restore some much-needed balance to Denver’s one-dimensional offense.
The team will continue to roll Correll Buckhalter into the backfield, and Andre Brown, another relative newcomer to the Broncos roster, may also get some first-team looks. But Maroney will have to be a part of the solution, too.
The Broncos sent a 2011 fourth-round pick to New England for Maroney and a sixth-round selection last month.
“I ain’t too much into the media, but I’m pretty sure they’re all, ‘Ahh, Maroney ain’t doing it,'” the fifth-year pro said. “But you look at the game, sometimes there ain’t nothing there. Sometimes there is and I have to take what I can get. It’s just going out there and playing hard and improving in the running game.”
Denver’s four-game start on the ground is the worst in team history, and Maroney is right on one count: The issue is not his alone. The offensive line has had several configurations. The level of opponent has factored into the equation. A commitment to continue running also has taken place.
But after Denver ran the ball 20 times for 19 yards in a win at Tennessee last week, the team has spent the practice week trying to smooth out the issues it can control: Attacking the line; better blocking; running harder.
All aspects will be needed against a Ravens defense that allows 116.8 ground yards per game, a No. 21 league ranking, but historically has been among the NFL’s most physical front sevens. Maroney said he’s encouraged good things are ahead based on what he’s seen the last several days for a group that hasn’t had a rushing gain of 10-plus yards since the opener.
“The run game’s all about getting started,” he said. “If you can get a 10, 20, a nice big run to get the flow going, get everybody’s blood going and get the line excited, then you’re in your little groove and everything can start moving for you.”
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BIRD WATCHING: It’s among the more odd sights in an NFL locker room, amid the family photos, keepsakes and toiletries adorning most player stalls. Broncos kicker Matt Prater has two red-tail hawk statues above his personal space, which, as it turns out, hold a deeply personal meaning.
Prater is part American Indian. The hawks, according to that culture, represent the placekicker’s kinship spirit in the animal kingdom.
Prater’s father has been a longtime collector of arrowheads, and the kicker latched on to aspects of the Native American culture through their relationship.
Prater’s dad has even called his son pre-game to let him hear hawks noisily circling his Fort Myers, Fla., residence, seeing it as a positive sign for the kicker’s pending performance, or sent him photos on his cell phone of the huge birds resting on the house itself.
“You notice out here you’ll always see hawks,” Prater said, alluding to Denver’s Dove Valley headquarters. “When coach (Mike) Shanahan and those guys were here, that’s what everybody called me, ‘Hawk,’ coaches included. But now that everybody’s left it’s just, ‘Prater.'”
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BIG GUY INSIDE: Jamal Williams so far has done exactly what the Broncos wanted when they signed him in free agency—play the role of unsung hero.
The 6-foot-3, 348-pound nose tackle to date has been credited with just eight tackles (seven solo) but his contributions have always more been measured in the number of double teams he commands than in the statistics he piles up. And it’s no coincidence that both Denver inside linebackers, D.J. Williams and Mario Haggan, lead the Broncos in total stops.
“Just in layman’s terms, he’s a full-grown man,” defensive coordinator Don Martindale said. “They have to always account for him. If they single block him you’ll know, because he’ll make plays. The thing that jumps out at me from competing against him all these years in San Diego is that I didn’t realize how athletic he is.”
Williams’ career-best in tackles during his 13 pro seasons, including three Pro Bowl campaigns with the Chargers, was 84 in 2006. But he’s had just five seasons with even 50-plus total stops, a notion with which he came to terms long ago.
“You can’t be selfish in this defense, especially in the position I play,” Williams said of his grunt role in the trenches, adding, “It can be frustrating at times, but as long as somebody on the defense makes the play, I’m happy.”
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ET CETERA: FB Spencer Larsen (ankle) will miss his second straight game. CB Andre Goodman (quadriceps) and LB Wesley Woodyard (hamstring) practiced a third straight day and appear on track to play. Prater needs three field goals Sunday to tie Jason Elam’s team record of 19 straight successful kicks The Broncos have never beaten the Ravens on the road (0-3), including a 30-7 defeat last Oct. 1 QB Kyle Orton needs 84 yards to have the most passing yards through the club’s first five games in team history.
