Camp opens minus Tebow

Daniel Williams, DDN Staff Writer

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Denver Broncos quarterback Brady Quinn stretches during warm-ups as rookies and early-reporting veterans participate in early training camp at Dove Valley yesterday afternoon. DDN photo by Hector Acevedo.

Tim Tebow and fellow first round draft pick Demaryius Thomas were no-shows at the first day of Denver Broncos Training Camp yesterday at Dove Valley.

The super-popular quarterback taken No. 25 overall, along with the talented wide-out Thomas taken No. 22 overall, remain the only two unsigned Broncos Ń and the two most noticeable absentees yesterday.

“[General Manager] Brian [Xanders] is working frequently with them and their representatives. We hope to have both of them as soon as possible. You know, I don’t have any timetables or anything like that, but we will look forward to seeing them as soon as that process plays out,” said head coach Josh McDaniels. “We know that is just something that happens. We are certainly not unique in that scenario. There are a lot of teams dealing with that, and we will try and wrap that up and get them in here as quickly as we can.”

While many NFL rookies remained unsigned, it was Tebow who just recently said: “I could care less about material things; I just want to play football.” However, as we all really know, it’s business.

And although McDaniels tried to downplay both first rounders’ absence, they are already one day behind. If this “unofficial” holdout carries on any further Ń like another week Ń Tebow and Thomas could fall significantly behind. And considering Thomas is coming off a serious injury and hardly participated in OTAs, he could cost himself a chance at becoming a starter on this offense.

“I’ve seen both of them plenty this week. They were in our building as far as yesterday working out and doing those things and that’s typical. I think they want to be here and we want them to be here and that’s what Brian [Xanders] and their representatives are working hard to do, so I’ll talk to them Ń and they both know that Ń as much as they want to. If they have questions, I’ll certainly answer the phone and tell them anything they want to know,” McDaniels said.

However, Broncos fans should be excited to see a few faces that were on hand yesterday at Dove Valley.

Veteran offensive lineman Ryan Harris was in action after missing half of the 2009 season with a toe injury. He didn’t have to be there as a veteran, but he was and he looked good.

Harris dislocated his right big toe during a Nov. 1 game at Baltimore and missed five games, then aggravated the injury during the first quarter of a Dec. 6 game at Kansas City Ń just 10 snaps into his return. Tests revealed bone and ligament damage, so the Broncos placed Harris on season-ending injured reserve.

And considering Denver was 6-0 before Harris’ injury before finishing the season 2-8 without of him, his presence and health will certainly be impactful this season

Another Broncos big-man also made his debut post-injury when veteran offensive lineman Russ Hochstein hit the field yesterday.

Hochstein suffered a season-ending knee injury near the end of the 2009 season and then had surgery to repair the injured ACL.

In additional Broncos news after day one of camp, the club placed linebacker Darrell Reid and defensive lineman Jamal Williams on the physically unable to perform list. Also Ryan Clady was placed on the non-football injury list.

The All-Pro Clady injured his knee playing basketball during the offseason.

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