NFL INSIDER

NFL Camp Preview: Health a concern for Denver

The Sports Xchange

July 17, 2014 at 11:54 am.

The Broncos need Von Miller to return to his All-Pro form in 2014. (Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — When training camp begins at their team facility with the first practice set for July 24, the Denver Broncos defense could still be defined as much by who is not on the field for every period of practice, as by the players that are on the field.

Although linebacker Von Miller, cornerback Chris Harris Jr. and defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson were mainstays on the practice field during organized team activities, none of the three lined up to run a play during a team or seven-on-seven drill. Their work was limited to rehabilitation, and, for Miller, some repetitions in individual teaching periods.

Miller and Harris tore anterior cruciate ligaments in December and January, respectively, and the short time frame since their injuries will cause the Broncos to exercise caution.

They will be equally patient with Vickerson. He had hoped to return during OTAs from a dislocated hip suffered last Nov. 24 at New England, but was not cleared to even begin running until halfway through OTAs. And of the three, Vickerson is the one who may not find the starting job he held last year waiting for him upon his return. The improvement of second-year defensive tackle Sylvester Williams could leave Vickerson in a rotational role once he gets back to practice, which may not be until the end of August, anyway.

When all three return, they will have to adjust to an overhauled defense whose progress will be the primary storyline of training camp.

“We’re just bigger, faster, stronger, more playmakers, I would say. The competition is definitely on a whole other level,” said safety Quinton Carter.

Until Miller is 100 percent, the Broncos will rely on Quanterus Smith to pick up the slack in the pass rush opposite DeMarcus Ware.

That’s a heavy burden for a second-year player who missed his entire rookie season as he completed his recovery from a torn ACL of his own, suffered in November 2012 while at Western Kentucky. The Broncos selected him in the fifth round of last year’s draft knowing he might take what amounted to a redshirt year. But they were enamored of the potential he displayed, particularly in a 2012 game at Alabama, when he had three sacks at the expense of future high draft picks D.J. Fluker and Cyrus Kouandjio.

At Western Kentucky, Smith’s sacks came via his speed. He’ll need to diversify that in the pros. He began by getting stronger; he’s up from 250 pounds to 254, and hopes to be closer to 260 pounds by training camp.

But OTAs were about Smith learning a variety of moves, particularly with his hands. For that, he turned to Ware.

“It’s more with your hands and just going through the tackle instead of trying to get around him,” Smith said. “Using your hands and going through (the blocker) — Ware taught me that.”

Smith was able to break down the pocket from the inside using these moves, which helped keep opposing right tackles off balance the last few weeks.

“If you’ve got them tight, and they think you’re going to go outside, then you can just hit ’em with an inside move,” Smith said.

His coaches have noticed.

“He’s clearly light years ahead of where he was last year,” said defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio. “He’s much better in every facet.”

One of the biggest battles in camp will be at nickel back. Both of the Broncos’ listed starters have injury concerns. Free-agent pickup Aqib Talib has never played a full 16-game season and had hip problems over the years. Harris Jr. is coming off a partially torn ACL. That is what made first-round draftee Bradley Roby a good fit. The Broncos needed additional depth and a potential future starter.

Roby will grapple with 2013 third-round pick Kayvon Webster to be the No. 3 cornerback, which could mean an every-down role at some point this season for the winner. Webster worked his way up to the No. 3 spot last November after Champ Bailey struggled with a foot injury and Tony Carter continued to be beaten deep. Roby has the physical tools, but Webster has the experience and is recovered from a fractured right thumb suffered in a Dec. 12 loss to San Diego.

The offense lost wide receiver Eric Decker and guard Zane Beadles to free agency, but picked up wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders from Pittsburgh and will move right tackle Orlando Franklin to Beadles’ old left-guard spot, returning Franklin to the position he manned in college. Franklin’s shift also allows Chris Clark, a starter for Ryan Clady last year, to slide over to right tackle.

Although he replaces Decker in the Broncos’ lineup, Sanders is not a template copy of Decker, and brings more quickness and elusiveness to the role than Decker, who was a classic big target. Sanders could eventually slide into the slot in the distant future, and in the short term could be a slot option if Wes Welker’s concussion issues return; he had two in the 2013 season.

Sanders had incremental improvement in production and efficiency during his four years with the Steelers, but was always the No. 2 or No. 3 wide receiver option in an offense that strove for balance. In the Broncos’ pass-intensive attack, being the second or third choice could still net him 80 receptions, over 1,000 yards and double-digit touchdowns.

The changes on the offense are incremental in nature, more a tweak here or there to maintain the offense’s explosiveness, but also respond to its struggles against Seattle in Super Bowl XLVIII. Denver was attacked from the edges by Seattle’s pass rushers, and was unable to mount a running game to keep the safeties from getting involved in pass coverage.

The return of Clady, the changes at right tackle and the work with tight end Julius Thomas on his blocking provide part of a potential solution. But the rest must come from the running game, and its ability to provide a clock-chewing option rather than a simple change of pace every now and then. Montee Ball was drafted in the second round of the 2013 draft in part because of his durability between the tackles. Now that he’s the starter — and has added nearly 10 pounds since he was drafted — he will be asked to justify that selection.

It’s not that Ball is not capable; after overcoming fumbling issues in 2013, he had a higher per-carry average than then-first teamer Knowshon Moreno for the last five games of the regular season and through the playoffs. But the Broncos will platoon at least two runners a game this year, and nothing behind Ball is proven.

Third-year running back Ronnie Hillman has the draft pedigree, as a third-round pick in 2012, but has been a disappointment and was inactive throughout the Broncos’ playoff run in January. C.J. Anderson, an undrafted rookie last year, passed Hillman on the depth chart; he is short but strong, and has potential. Three undrafted rookies and former Vikings camp hand Jerodis Williams round out the group. If the Broncos lose Ball, they’re left with inexperience, and perhaps will have to seek a veteran still on the market out of necessity.

With Peyton Manning obviously entrenched at quarterback, perhaps no player has more to prove in the preseason than backup quarterback Brock Osweiler. As he heads into his third season, the 2012 second-round pick still awaits his first regular-season start, and needs some more consistency in the preseason to put Broncos fans at ease about the contingency plan in the event that Manning is injured.

“I want to show everybody in the organization that I am the guy that they originally drafted, that I can go out there and lead our team to points and first downs, and make good decisions with the football,” he said.

Osweiler’s work in OTAs offered cause for cautious optimism. Although he had some of the same issues with looking uncomfortable in the pocket early in the practices, he settled down toward the end of the offseason work and had arguably his best practices just before the Broncos broke camp for the summer.

The key for Osweiler? Learning what to think about — and what to ignore — before the snap.

“The biggest growth that I’ve had this spring would be mentally. Mentally deleting decisions pre-snap by understanding what the coverage is, what our play is designed to do,” he said. “I think that’s something that kind of comes with just being in the offense for two full years now, going on three.

“With deleting decisions pre-snap, and having a better understanding mentally of the game, I’m able to play faster and to my true ability.”

That ability doesn’t match Manning’s, obviously. But Osweiler has the strongest arm of any quarterback on the roster. If he can play in August as he did toward the end of OTAs, the Broncos’ faith in him as their quarterback of the future has a better chance of being justified.

Denver is a tweaked team from last year. The question now is whether the changes represent a step forward, or one in reverse.

Here is a snapshot of the Broncos’ roster as they head to training camp:

–QUARTERBACKS: Starter – Peyton Manning. Backups – Brock Osweiler, Zac Dysert, Bryn Renner.

–RUNNING BACKS: Starter – Montee Ball. Backups – Ronnie Hillman, C.J. Anderson, Brennan Clay, Kapri Bibbs, Juwan Thompson, Jerodis Williams.

–TIGHT ENDS: Starter – Julius Thomas. Backups – Virgil Green, Jacob Tamme, Joel Dreessen, Gerell Robinson, Jameson Konz, Cameron Morrah.

–WIDE RECEIVERS: Starters – Demaryius Thomas, Wes Welker, Emmanuel Sanders. Backups – Andre Caldwell, Cody Latimer, Isaiah Burse, Bennie Fowler, Greg Hardin, Jordan Norwood, Greg Wilson, Nathan Palmer.

–OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: Starters — LT Ryan Clady, LG Orlando Franklin, C Manny Ramirez, RG Louis Vasquez, RT Chris Clark. Backups — T Winston Justice, T/G Michael Schofield, C/G Will Montgomery, T Vinston Painter, G Ben Garland, C Max Paradis, T Paul Cornick, T Ryan Miller, T Aslam Sterling.

–DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: Starters — DE DeMarcus Ware, DE Malik Jackson, DT Terrance Knighton, DT Sylvester Williams. Backups — DE/DT Derek Wolfe, DT Kevin Vickerson, DE Quanterus Smith, DT Mitch Unrein, DT Marvin Austin, DT Sione Fua, DE Kenny Anunike, DE Greg Latta, DE Hall Davis.

–LINEBACKERS: Starters — SLB Von Miller, MLB Nate Irving, WLB Danny Trevathan. Backups — SLB Lerentee McCray, MLB Lamin Barrow, WLB Corey Nelson, LB Brandon Marshall, LB Steven Johnson, SLB Shaquil Barrett, LB Chase Vaughn, LB Jerell Harris, LB L.J. Fort, LB Jamar Chaney.

–DEFENSIVE BACKS: Starters — LCB Aqib Talib, RCB Chris Harris Jr., SS T.J. Ward, FS Rahim Moore. Backups — CB Bradley Roby, CB Kayvon Webster, S Quinton Carter, S Duke Ihenacho, S David Bruton, CB Tony Carter, DB Omar Bolden, S John Boyett, CB Louis Young, CB Eric Hagg, S Charles Mitchell, CB Jerome Murphy, CB Jordan Sullen.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: K Matt Prater, P Britton Colquitt, LS Aaron Brewer, KOR/PR Isaiah Burse.