Valley Vittles: Notes from the Last 2010 Camp Practice

THE BASICS:

ATTENDANCE: The Broncos who did not practice included running backs Knowshon Moreno, Correll Buckhalter and LenDale White; quarterback Tim Tebow; wide receivers Demaryius Thomas and Brandon Stokley; tight ends Daniel Graham and Richard Quinn; offensive lineman Chris Kuper; linebacker Elvis Dumervil; safety Darcel McBath and cornerback Champ Bailey.

The final training-camp attendance was 43,335, including 22,553 for the 16 sessions held at the team’s Dove Valley headquarters. Thus, the team will donate $22,553 to the Rocky Mountain Children’s Health Foundation.

The average Dove Valley attendance of 1,410 was the highest since 2007, when 1,438 turned out for each practice. The team set single-session Dove Valley (3,103) and Invesco Field (20,782) records on Aug. 1 and Aug. 7, respectively.

INJURIES: None noticed during the practice. Kuper missed the session after leaving early during Wednesday’s work; he had returned to action Tuesday after missing the previous 11 days with an ankle injury suffered Aug. 5.

WEATHER: Intermittent clouds blanketed Dove Valley, with temperatures rising from 76 to 81 degrees during the two-hour, full-pad session.

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THE NOTES:

CAUTION IS THE WATCHWORD for the Broncos who did not practice this week, a list that grew to include tight end Daniel Graham, cornerback Champ Bailey, safety Darcel McBath and quarterback Tim Tebow.

Graham, Bailey and McBath haven’t practiced since Sunday night’s loss at Cincinnati. Tebow made it through the two Tuesday sessions before being sidelined by the bruised ribs suffered on his last-play touchdown run against the Bengals.

“There’s a chance that a lot of those guys out here won’t play,” coach Josh McDaniels said. “We’ll just see in the next 24-36 hours how they respond to the treatment they’re getting.

“We’ll make the best decision for the team going forward. We’re not going to worry about trying to hurry anybody back for this game. If they’re healthy and we feel like it’s not a risk, then we’ll go ahead and play them.”

THE NATURE OF TEBOW’S INJURY — laying out, diving for the end zone between two defenders and getting sandwiched — was cause for chatter among fans, observers and pundits, given its occurrence at the end of a preseason game whose result will soon be forgotten.

And while discretion is the better part of valor, a potentially high-leverage moment like a potential touchdown at the end of a game is not the time for caution. At other moments, sure … but not then.

“Had he not tried to get it in on the last play of the game, I’m sure it would have been a bigger story,” McDaniels said. “If it’s the first quarter and you get a first down on a scramble, yeah, you try to preserve your body. I think that’s the smartest thing to do.

“He hasn’t been in that situation yet, so to judge him on what happened the other night in terms of being reckless, I would say is very unfair. What he did the other night, I hope all of our guys would have done, no matter what it was. ”

When it’s right, the Broncos will work with Tebow, helping him learn the best times to slide, to run out of bounds, to throw away the football. They have no desire to take the horns off their bull; they just want to show him the right time to swing them around.

“I’m sure he’ll learn the easy way or the hard way that you want to stay in this league as long as you can, and we’ll help him do that,” McDaniels said.

CAST-IRON: Outside linebacker Jarvis Moss still has a cast on his left forearm, the lingering evidence of the arm injury he incurred two weeks ago. Now, he’s learning how to use it.

“I kind of like having it on, swinging it around and maybe trying to use it to my advantage,” he said.

“it’s kind of mental, sticking it out there and having the courage to put it on somebody. I did it a few times. I just have to keep training my mind that it’s fine and you can go do what you normally do.”

Moss’s injury couldn’t have come at a less opportune time — just two days after Elvis Dumervil tore a pectoral muscle, leaving vacant a crucial pass-rushing role in Denver’s defense. Moss worked with the first team after Dumervil was hurt, but then found himself on the second unit when he returned Wednesday.

But there were first-team responsibilities in pass-rush packages for Moss the last two days, and he responded with a sack of Kyle Orton in a two-minute period and several other pressures during the two sessions.

Whether Moss plays against the Lions, however, is still unknown.

“Hopefully,” Moss said.

ERIC DECKER ALSO RETURNED to practice on Wednesday, but he was definitive about his status for the Lions after making it through Thursday morning’s session without a hitch — and with an extra stint with the JUGS machine at the end of practice.

“I’m trying to do as much as I can,” Decker said. “Obviously while I was out I was staying in the playbook and trying to go over it mentally. I’m trying to get extra reps just walking through it, hearing the calls, lining up, just seeing in my head what I need to do.

“You can’t replace on-field experience, so I’ll try to get as many reps as I can in the next couple of days and prepare myself for Saturday.”

Decker first took the field Tuesday, when he ran pass routes in workout gear with fellow rookie receiver Demaryius Thomas, who was also injured during the Invesco Field practice on Aug. 7. But while Decker has recovered from his ankle injury suffered in goal-line work, Thomas remains sidelined with the foot injury he suffered when he landed on a teammate’s foot as he scored a touchdown.

D-LINE ADDITION: A day after waiving offensive lineman Dustin Fry, the Broncos filled the roster vacancy by signing former Lions defensive end Jason Hunter, whom the Lions cut earlier this week. Hunter had five sacks for Detroit last year but had been languishing on the third team through most of training camp before being released.

A native of Charlotte, N.C. and product of FCS/I-AA powerhouse Appalachian State, Hunter broke into the league as an undrafted signee of the Green Bay Packers in 2006 and remained there for three seasons until being waived by the Packers on May 4, 2009. Detroit signed him two days later and he had his best season the following fall.

Until joining the Broncos, Hunter had played in 4-3 defenses his entire professional career.

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THE NEXT GLIMPSE: Saturday night at 7 p.m. MDT, when the Broncos face the Detroit Lions at Invesco Field. Tickets are still available through TicketMaster.com.

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