After suffering injuries during Broncos training camp practice Friday, defensive lineman Phil Taylor and nose tackle Sylvester Williams did not participate in the team’s Saturday practice.
Taylor, whose knee was injured during team drills, had a sleeve on his left leg. He walked out onto the field on his own with no apparent limp. Vance Walker filled in for Williams during team drills. Williams injured his shoulder in Friday’s morning workout, but returned for the evening walkthrough in the team’s indoor field house.
After practice Saturday morning, head coach Gary Kubiak said that both players are expected to be back by Monday.
“MRIs on both of them are fine,” Kubiak said. “Actually we thought Phil might be back today, but you could possibly see Phil tomorrow, Sly might be another day but they’re both fine.”
As for the rest of the team, helmets and shoulder pads were on. Kubiak noted afterward that when going full pads, the added extra weight slows the game down a bit.
Kubiak and his staff preach “staying off the ground” in practice. In other words, the Broncos don’t practice with full tackles. Kubiak said he felt it went well early, but he saw things getting a little sloppy toward the end of Day 3.
On the far field, quarterbacks Mark Sanchez, Paxton Lynch and Trevor Siemian all took reps during individual workouts.
Wide receiver Jordan Taylor, who had an , nearly had another Saturday morning.
After about an hour of practice, Von Miller went back to the weight room. He participated in roughly half of Friday’s session. Kubiak said Friday that he hoped Miller would be out there full time by the middle of next week.
Overall, Kubiak said he thought the team was coming off the ball well but that the team needs some continuity to continue improving.
“We just have to keep going,” Kubiak said. “We have a great competition at practice. Just have to keep working.”
In addition to the fans on the hillside, former Broncos wide receiver Rod Smith stood on the sidelines and watched camp. In his pro career, Smith won two Super Bowls and played in three Pro Bowls. Smith was also inducted into the Broncos’ Ring of Fame in 2012.
