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Tatum Bell shows he can play inside

Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 8, 2006 at midnight

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ENGLEWOOD - The last time Tatum Bell played in San Diego, in last year's season finale, he fell just short of a 1,000-yard season.

But the Broncos running back thought he gained something much more valuable that day - a sense that he proved to Denver brass he wasn't a one-trick pony.

Known primarily as an outside runner, Bell scored three touchdowns from 6, 1 and 19 yards against the then- No. 1 ranked Chargers rush defense on Dec. 31.

"That showed them I could run strong," he said Thursday as preparations continued for the Broncos' visit to Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday (2:15 p.m. CBS 4). "I ran hard on the goal line and picked up a couple of short-yardage (touchdowns)."

Bell has taken that experience and applied it this season. His big-play carries are down, but he generally has averted losses and gotten positive yards out of his between-the- tackle attempts.

Two toe injuries have been the biggest detriment. But after missing two straight games, he returned against Seattle on Sunday with 133 yards on 23 carries.

Bell said he no longer is worried about his problematic feet, it's more about regaining conditioning. He had to take himself out of the game a few series because he was tired.

"Of course, I'm not in the shape I was before I got hurt, but I've had a good week and I'll finish it out (today) and, hopefully, I'll be able to finish the game (Sunday)."

Bell is 218 yards shy of his first 1,000-yard season with four games remaining.

GETTING HIS KICKS: Kicker Jason Elam remains questionable on the injury report because of a strained left hamstring.

While he hasn't boomed 50-yard field goals in practice, he has done some field-goal work and it appears he'll be fine Sunday after receiving another round of treatment.

"He's a veteran kicker and he knows what he can and can't do," special teams coach Ronnie Bradford said. "And if he couldn't do anything, he would have told us at the beginning of the week that maybe we should think about getting somebody in here."

KEEP IT MOVING: Speeding up the pace might be one of the ways to get the Broncos offense out of its funk, receiver Rod Smith said.

"That's something I'm definitely going to push, for us to be in a hurry even when we're not in a hurry," he said.

Smith said the offense has played better from behind, when there's a keen sense of desperation. So his suggestion is getting in and out of the huddle and approaching the line of scrimmage quickly to try to get the players' internal clocks on high.

"More than anything else, we need to get that bad taste out of our mouths and get back to the feeling we had early in the season, and that's having fun and enjoying being on the football field playing," he said.

ON A ROLL: It started inconspicuously the last time the Chargers and Broncos met.

Chargers tight end Antonio Gates wasn't targeted during the first half of the Nov. 19 game, then caught a quick screen for a 1-yard loss on the team's first offensive play of the second half.

Gates hasn't been knocked backward since, with 17 catches for 218 yards and two touchdowns during the past 10 quarters.

"Gates has come on like gangbusters since that last game," defensive coordinator Larry Coyer said. "He's lit people up."

Gates leads the Chargers in catches (57), receiving yards (694) and receiving touchdowns (six).

ETC.: Right tackle George Foster, spokesman for a Broncos offensive line that refuses to speak with the media, said the group had "bigger fish to fry" than getting in a war of words with Chargers defensive end Igor Olshansky. Olshansky stated this week the Broncos linemen are "wussies" and that their holding is the reason behind the success of Denver's run game. "The only response I have is that opinions are like, you know what," Foster said . . . Broncos tackle Adam Meadows (left hamstring) missed a portion of team activity during practice for the second straight day . . . The Broncos signed fullback Keith Belton to the practice squad. The 25-year old Belton, from Syracuse, was released by the Chicago Bears during training camp.