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Bronco Rob · #1 (**permalink**) August 2nd, 2009

McDaniels gets tough on tackling

Here's hoping Peyton Hillis isn't so polite should he run over a hulking outside linebacker come September.

As the Broncos got physical Saturday afternoon on the second day of training camp, it was Hillis, a 240-pound fullback-tailback hybrid who delivered the biggest blow.

In a one-on-one tackling drill, Hillis bulldozed outside linebacker Tim Crowder, leaving Crowder — who has 3 inches and 20 pounds on Hillis — lying in the grass for a minute trying to catch his breath.

"It hurts me to see a guy laying there. It just breaks my heart, because you never know what's going to happen," Hillis said. "You don't know what kind of injury he has. I'm glad he got up and was playing the rest of the time."

Meanwhile, a more spirited and evenly matched battle was taking place on the other side of the practice field between wide receiver Brandon Marshall and safety Josh Barrett, who first fired up an on-field rivalry Friday.
On the first of three matchups, Barrett easily wrapped up Marshall and pulled the receiver to the ground. On the third, Marshall got around the edge and all Barrett could grab was a bit of jersey.

Who won the second? Depends on who you ask.

"Josh and I kind of have a thing going," Marshall said. "He got me the first time, but I think I got the next two."

Several practice observers saw Barrett make the tackle, but Barrett wasn't boasting.

"I'm not here to judge. I'll give it to him, though, if he says he won," Barrett said. "He's a beast. You have to have a different mind-set because he's big, he's physical and he's going to try to run you over. You know that going into it, but then again, you can't back down. You've got to hold your ground."

The Broncos rarely — if ever — participated in full tackling drills when Mike Shanahan was their head coach. But new coach Josh McDaniels said he likes to use the drills from time to time so the players are frequently working on the fundamentals of tackling.

Maybe this is part of the new Spygate world following McDaniels from his Patriots days. It's a conspiracy, I tell you. Bad call. If I have any Broncos on my fantasy team, roster planning will be a real pain. Thanks, Coach.

"You certainly don't want to go into your first game not having tackled someone or having been tackled," McDaniels said. "It's good for them to feel the contact and to also start working on their techniques and fundamentals.

"Tackling sounds like a simple thing, but it's really not when you have big men running full speed. You've got to wrap your arms and do a lot of little things to get him down."

Hillis said the live tackling drills are also a way for players to prove themselves to the coaches.

"I think it's about improving yourself and showing coaches how tough and physical you can be. I hope I can show that and they can see that out of me," Hillis said. "When it comes down to it, you're a certain type of person and that type of person for me is to be physical."

broncogirl · #2 (**permalink**) August 2nd, 2009

Peyton Hillis is great. I hope he comes back 100% this season. He was fun to watch.

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