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Bronco Rob · #1 (**permalink**) August 17th, 2009

Quote:

Broncos reporter Mike Klis breaks down the morning practice session at training camp:

Highlight: Rarely is the gathering for a training camp practice described as a tough crowd, but one fan held up a sign that read: "Orton Hears a Boo." It's a phrase that has caught on since ProFootballTalk.com wrote it as a blog headline after the Broncos' scrimmage Aug. 6 at Invesco Field in which starting quarterback Kyle Orton threw two interceptions.

Despite the scrutiny from his home fans, Orton had a nice practice Monday morning, making a beautiful deep throw down the middle to hit Jabar Gaffney in stride. Gaffney caught the ball one-handed while beating cornerback Alphonso Smith on the play.

Lowlight: Sometimes to succeed in the NFL, teams can't afford sentimentality. To make room for newly acquired five-technique defensive end Le Kevin Smith, the Broncos cut rookie Rulon Davis, a five-technique defensive end. Davis was one of the best stories in camp as he not only served three years in the U.S. Marine Corps, but was engaged in combat in the Iraq War in 2004. Yes, he saw friends die. But Davis received a bruised knee early in camp and was forced to miss a couple days — just long enough for an undrafted, 26-year-old rookie to fall behind.

Quotable: "It's a situation where they know the player. They've been with the player, so in a trade you want to know what you're getting. But yeah, I do have a high-level of trust with both Scott (Pioli) and Josh."

— New England coach Bill Belichick on making the Le Kevin Smith trade with his former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who is now the Broncos' head coach. Scott Pioli was the Patriots' general manager who is now Kansas City's GM.

The point after: It looked like, "Pick On Kenny McKinley Day" during the morning practice. After McKinley dropped a well-thrown deep ball by quarterback Chris Simms, the rookie receiver dropped and did 10 push-ups. "I did them on my own," McKinley said. "I dropped one in the game and it bled over into practice. I'm going to do push-ups or whatever it takes to cure my mistakes."

In a handcheck drill between cornerbacks and receivers, Alphonso Smith blasted McKinley to the ground. "He got tired of me juking around him the first three times," McKinley said. "The fourth time he said, "I'm tired of that juking. I said, 'OK bring it.'"

And finally, after returning a kickoff, McKinley had the ball knocked loose well after the play by veteran running back LaMont Jordan. "All practice he said he was going to work on my ball security," McKinley said. "I haven't fumbled yet, but my ball security has been pretty loose and the coaches want me to hold it tighter."

Dove Valley Days - The Denver Post