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Cutler pleased with his preseason performance

Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 25, 2007 at midnight

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It's a scenario practiced often in training camp.

Two minutes. Two timeouts. Down seven points.

The Denver Broncos got some real-time experience Saturday night at Invesco Field at Mile High.

And a shaky start on that side of the ball gave way to some positive signs against the Cleveland Browns as Jay Cutler and company quickly marched downfield 80 yards in seven plays to fullback Kyle Johnson's two-yard scoring catch.

Wide receiver Brandon Marshall continued his strong recent stretch in practices with a pair of physical downfield runs after the catch on the drive. Tight end Daniel Graham worked the middle for another 11 yards. And Cecil Sapp staked his claim to earning the backup tailback job to Travis Henry with two authoritative red-zone carries.

And Cutler looked composed leading it all.

He went 3-for-3 for 42 yards to move the Broncos into Browns territory. He also scrambed for six more yards. And in a scary moment for Denver, the second-year quarterback had his left leg held and twisted after the play by Cleveland's Shaun Smith on the tackle, earning the lineman a 15-yard personal foul penalty.

It didn't seemingly affect Cutler, though, as he delivered his TD toss to Johnson off a play-action bootleg three plays later for a 10-10 tie.

The momentum didn't last as Denver had a pair of three-and-outs after halftime before the starters were pulled, leaving mixed results overall on the night and in the preseason generally.

The sum total for the preseason for the first unit will stand at three field goals and two touchdowns on 12 possessions with the starters resting during Thursday night's preseason finale.

"We're not that far off," Cutler said of the team's overall showing in three preseason games in all facets after the Browns held on for a 17-16 victory."I don't think we need to get all worried, flustered and panic. We have to have a sense of urgency, clean some stuff up and get ready for the real thing. We're getting there. I still feel good about everything."

Cutler, about to embark on his first full season as a starter, went 17 of 31 for 197 yards with one scoring toss in those three games.

"I feel good," Cutler said of his own work this preseason. "... I probably would've liked to have played a little more but he pulled us out of there. So we've got to clean things up and get ready. We have two weeks, though."

Cutler finished 9 of 16 for 115 yards Saturday.

"There was a lot of pressure obviously on him going into this game to perform and I thought he performed well," coach Mike Shanahan said.

Cutler was sacked once, on a play he ducked just before Kamerion Wimbley was about to drill him outside the pocket. Cutler got the message apparently after having his helmet go flying off when he failed to slide on a scramble in the preseason opener.

"Jay's done a pretty good job," Shanahan said in summing up his quarterback's efforts in three preseason games.."I'm pleased with how he's handled himself and the way he's played. I thought he handled himself very well in the drive in the first half. Pretty impressive."

The starters, playing without guard Ben Hamilton (concussion) and running back Travis Henry (knee) accumulated 179 yards of total offense and 10 first downs but converted only 1-of-6 third downs.

It's been a mish-mash of players all summer for the Broncos because of various injuries, and coupled with the number of newcomers, it's partially led to offensive inconsistency.

Denver got Brandon Stokley back on Saturday night. He made his preseason debut and aligned in the slot in three-wide sets. He found an open sport in zone coverage on a 26-yard catch and run on Denver's second possession. Stokley won't play Thursday, Shanahan said.

"I've still got a lot of work to do. I'm still a little rusty out there," Stokley maintained.

The Broncos offense had an ominous beginning. Cutler fumbled the opening snap, out of a two tight end formation with Nate Jackson starting for the third straight week. The QB also had an interception on a third-and-9 pass erased on a questionable holding call on safety Sean Jones.

Worst of all, Javon Walker had a bad drop on third-and-1 inside the red zone.

But Walker's 37-yard catch and run on another third-down pass previously moved Denver into Cleveland territory. And Sapp rumbled 11 yards over the right side on a fourth-and-1 play following Walker's miscue,

Denver ended up settling for Jason Elam's 29-yard field goal faced with another short fourth-down situation. It was the Broncos' only first-quarter possession and just one of three in the half as the Browns ate up nearly 19 minutes of clock time on offense.