Foxworth a worthy safety valve

Foxworth gives position switch his best effort

Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 29, 2006 at midnight

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ENGLEWOOD - There was a part of Domonique Foxworth that was looking at defensive backs coach Bob Slowik waiting for the punch line.

Waiting for the big finish. The big laugh.

"I thought it was a joke, I thought he was just playing," Foxworth said. "I mean, we joke a lot in the secondary, so I didn't think there was any way he was serious in what he was saying."

But football ideas can come in all shapes and sizes.

So while standing 5-foot-11 on the south side of 180 pounds, Foxworth does not fit the through-the-years mold of an NFL safety. Yet that's where the Broncos have put him during the past few weeks because of injuries to Nick Ferguson and Sam Brandon.

"It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing for me," Slowik said. "Just before practice one day, (Broncos coach Mike Shanahan) was in the locker room and I said, 'What about Foxworth going to safety? Speed, got range, tough, bright, can make the move, good tackler.'

"So we got out to practice and I told Domonique during the stretch he could make the move. And then he lined up there."

Said Shanahan: "You want your best players on the field. So when you do move guys around, that's always the starting point, to get your best players on the field."

It is how the math works sometimes. In the course of 16 regular-season games during four months, with 53 players on the roster, demand will outpace supply at some point at one of the positions.

Coaches will be looking at the group of available players, searching for solutions to that week's problems. And those solutions can involve asking a player to do something he hasn't done before, something he certainly didn't expect to be asked to do.

"You just look for football players," Slowik said. "Somebody that's bright, (has) speed, range, has some athletic ability, some instincts. If a guy has those characteristics, you can always find a place for him.

"But it wasn't in our wildest dreams on draft day or anything that we'd be looking at Domonique as a safety; he's 170 pounds. If I would have suggested that then, Mike probably would have fired me that day."

Yet Foxworth, who moved into the starting strong safety spot before the Broncos played Dec. 10 in San Diego, is coming off a game when he made a single-game high of 14 tackles and forced a fumble.

He has 22 tackles in the two games he has started in Ferguson's place.

"I figured they wouldn't put me in a position where I couldn't succeed," Foxworth said. "I trust the coaches in that. And there was definitely part of me that was proud that they believed I was smart enough to succeed and physical enough to play that type of position given what I'm giving up in weight.

"But I remind (Slowik) every day that I'm a corner."

Tight end Nate Jackson was a budding receiver when Shanahan called him into his office before the 2005 season and outlined a plan for Jackson to put on weight and become a tight end.

Rookie defensive end Elvis Dumervil led Division I-A in 2005 with 20 sacks, but when he joined the Broncos, he spent much of his early days working at defensive tackle, a position he estimated he lined up in for "about two snaps" during his career with Louisville.

Shanahan said one of the bigger hurdles in asking a player to change positions is getting over the unexpected nature of it all.

"Initially, you're thinking, 'This is a crazy thought,' " Foxworth said. "I'm sure I'm the most abnormal safety in the league as far as size and skill level. But you really don't have time to think about it; you just get out there and do the best you can."

Added Jackson: "I had mixed emotions; I had been a receiver my whole life and that's what I wanted to be in the NFL. But when the head coach asks you to do something, tells you that he has an idea for you, it makes you think it might be a good move. And I've enjoyed the move."

Foxworth will move back to cornerback next season, when Ferguson is expected to return from left knee surgery.

Jackson is in his second year at tight end and has five receptions this season, including three in the Broncos win at Oakland.

Dumervil spent most of training camp working on the inside, at tackle, but has moved back to end since he entered the lineup in the Broncos' fourth game of the season. He leads the team with eight sacks.

"Some guys really don't know why you're talking about it with them, some are hesitant," Shanahan said. "You don't try to jam it down their throat because if they aren't interested, if they don't want to do it, they aren't going to give the effort they need to to make it work.

"If a guy is not excited about what you're talking about, he's not going to do what he has to do to make it work.

"Some guys see themselves at one position and if their mind is set that way, you're probably not going to change it. So sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't."

Coming on strong

Broncos cornerback Domonique Foxworth has started the past three games because of injuries, including two at safety. He has been one of the most active players during that span.

Opponent T PD FF

At San Diego 8 1 0

At Arizona* 6 2 0

Cincinnati 14 0 1* Started At Cornerback; T: Tackles; Pd: Passes Defensed; Ff: Forced Fumbles

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