A look at the happenings at Thursday’s Broncos training camp practice:
Highlight:
Tight end Daniel Fells was a late addition to the Broncos’ receiving corps, but he already has become one of Kyle Orton’s favorite targets. Orton hit Fells for at least five completions in practice Thursday morning, including several tough catches in traffic.
“Whenever you join a new team you have to get on the same page as the quarterback,” Fells said. “I feel like we’re developing some good chemistry. If you make the tough catches, your quarterback is going to notice it.”
Lowlight:
The first time there is a training camp fight, that’s fun. The third, the fourth? Now it’s just getting tiresome. The Broncos seem to be breaking training camp just in time after yet another fight broke out between the offense and defense during practice. This time, it was a hockey-style brawl, with one fight between offensive lineman Eric Olsen and defensive lineman Ryan McBean spilled into another between center Manny Ramirez and defensive tackle Mitch Unrein.
Quarterback watch:
— Kyle Orton: Led scoring drives in red zone and two-minute drills. The best pass of the day might have been a laser strike to Eron Riley in tight coverage at the back of the end zone in the red zone drill.
— Tim Tebow: An up-and-down day while splitting the second-team reps. He had a couple of incomplete passes over the middle, including a dropped interception, but hit a couple of nice passes while under pressure. His best pass — deep down the left sideline during the two-minute drill — was dropped by running back Jeremiah Johnson.
— Brady Quinn: Split the second-team reps and came in for one rushing play with the first-team offensive line. Completed a Hail Mary touchdown pass to Eddie Royal in situational work at the end of practice.
— Adam Weber: Best play was a touchdown fade pass to rookie Jamel Hamler in the red zone drill.
Position battle:
With Ty Warren out indefinitely and Marcus Thomas out for at least the rest of the preseason, the Broncos have had to shuffle the defensive line. Kevin Vickerson has moved back into the first-team defense at tackle, joining Brodrick Bunkley, who was a starter last week before being replaced, albeit briefly, by Warren. The biggest switch has been for Jeremy Jarmon, who has moved from second-team end to second-team tackle, next to Ryan McBean.
New Bronco DeMario Pressley, a defensive tackle, worked with the third-team in his first practice since he was claimed off waivers on Wednesday.
Quotable:
“It’s a violent game, people get hit, people get hurt. But to go out there purposely trying to hurt someone, I don’t believe in that at all. That’s not why we play the game.” — Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, reacting to allegations in a Yahoo! Sports report earlier this week that University of Miami players were offered money to try to take Tebow out of a game against Florida in 2008.
Camp facts:
The Broncos will break camp after Friday’s walk-through practice. There are no more practices open to the public.
Lindsay Jones: 303-954-1262 or ljones@denverpost.com
