Broncos camp report: Dumervil seeks early-down sacks

By Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published July 28, 2008 at 6:26 p.m.

Text size  

• 8 Comments
• Email
• Print

Video: Can Broncos' Jarvis Moss rebound for big season in 2008? Watch »

Photo by Barry Gutierrez © The Rocky

Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil, smiling at training camp Monday, said the great ends get sacks and force fumbles on early downs.

Elvis does not want to leave the lineup.

No, Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil wants to play every down of every game, no matter what conventional wisdom may say.

"Look, I know people still say I'm too short or whatever to play all the time. I've been hearing that as long as I can remember. I don't even listen any more," Dumervil said. "I just want to be one of those guys who make things happen."

Dumervil, at 5-foot-11 and 260 pounds, has led the Broncos in sacks in each of his first two seasons - 8 1/2 in 2006 and 12 1/2 in 2007. And this offseason, he said he has gone about the business of trying to expand his horizons.

Dumervil changed his diet - he wanted to maintain his weight, but "get more muscle" - and revved up the video machine.

"Last year, I just didn't have enough early-down sacks," Dumervil said. "A lot of my biggest plays came on third down. But I want to make sure I'm making more of an impact on first and second down, too. You see the great ones - (Michael) Strahan, (Jason) Taylor - they get their sacks on early downs, cause fumbles on early downs, too."

Dumervil became a starter in 2007 when Ebenezer Ekuban suffered a season-ending Achilles' tendon injury in a preseason game in Dallas. This season, Ekuban is playing at defensive tackle for the most part, and Dumervil consistently has lined up with the first-team defense.

And it is Ekuban, a 10th-year veteran, who believes Dumervil can be a front-line end in the league.

"For him to take his game to the next level, he's got to watch a lot more film like he has been," Ekuban said. "Study a lot of guys, and every play has to be a full relentless effort. That's any young guy, you have to learn how to practice, pushing your body as hard as you can in practice when you don't think you can give any more. If he will do that, he will be unstoppable.

"He's just been getting by on natural athletic ability. But this offseason and this camp, he's playing the run better than he has in the last two years. He's taken that serious approach to playing the run. I see him becoming that complete defensive end that people said he couldn't be."

IF THE SHOE FITS: Broncos kicker Matt Prater often can be seen wearing sneakers at practice, but when it's time to kick, he changes into another shoe on his right foot.

A shoe, like many kickers around the league, that is roughly one size smaller than what he would wear away from the field.

"If you have a cleat that is tennis- shoe size, or just a regular size when you kick, when you lock your ankle out, your toe is going to hit the ground," Prater said. "So you wear the smaller shoe to keep that from happening. But it mashes your toes, your toes will go numb after about an hour or so, so you have to kind have some other shoes ready."

Prater put on a show in the afternoon practice - a special teams-only affair - pounding several kickoffs deep.

"I'm getting pretty consistent, getting more comfortable, getting the butterflies out," Prater said.

LATE ARRIVALS: It certainly has been a dry summer, even at Dove Valley.

Running back Selvin Young and linebackers D.J. Williams and Boss Bailey came onto the practice field well after the start of the morning workout because all three had been selected to be randomly tested as part of the league's drugs and steroids testing program.

"They didn't allow us to come out until we gave them a sample, which doesn't make sense to me," Williams said. "I filled it up halfway to where they wanted it to and I tried to come out (to practice) and they were like, no, you have to fill it all the way up.

"I weigh 7 pounds heavier than I normally do, I drank about 10 to 12 waters."

ETC.:

* With Young having been delayed to the practice field, it adjusted the Broncos' practice rotation at running back in the morning workout with rookie Ryan Torain taking several snaps with the second-team offense.

* Nate Webster again worked at middle linebacker with the starting defense.

* Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall had the play of the day when they hooked up for a catch-and-run score in the move-the-ball period in the morning. It amounted to a one-play scoring drive for the group.

• July 28, 2008

  8:56 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dynamicdave writes:

  The random testing could have waited till after the practise or better yet, when they 1st arrived. Not when they are ready to go onto the field. That is just the league's way of abusing their power and 'flexing their chests". Be sensible about it for Gods sake. Your timing is awful as well as arrogant. Now as for Dumervil, he will be an animal this year. I think he will be right up there in the running for sacks, again.
  GOOOOOOOOOOO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• July 29, 2008

  7:24 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  LingLingfor_prez writes:

  Go Chargers!

• July 29, 2008

  9:58 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  myerda00 writes:

  Hey lingling, you know the dolts are looking at the Broncos because we are coming!!!!!!!!! BTW, how is gates big toe? PUP yet?

• July 29, 2008

  11:50 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dynamicdave writes:

  myerda00, that's "lingling the ding-a-ling". He has nothing constructive to say. He has nothing intelligent to say. He can only say, "Go Chargers". Limited mind, limited vocabulary.

• July 29, 2008

  12:01 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  LingLingfor_prez writes:

  I would rather save the trash talking until the season starts. Although the Broncos beating down the Raiders in Week 1 would be a public service to us all.

• July 29, 2008

  12:17 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dynamicdave writes:

  LingLingfor_prez, ha, ha. Fair enough. As we all know, even with the rivalry we have, "EVERYBODY" hates the Traiters.

• July 29, 2008

  12:41 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  DeimosJB writes:

  Dumervil made huge strides last year, not only in his sack total, but in his overall level of play. If he can step his run D up one more level this year, he is going to be on the field that much more and the extra sack opportunities will come too.
  Look out Fletcher, your single-season sack record may be in jeopardy this year, and Dumervil is going to prove to be a beast of a lineman.

• July 29, 2008

  12:53 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  bigbadthor writes:

  The only thing that I worry about Dumervil is that if he is an everydown player, he is going to have worse injuries, look at what happened to Freeny in Indy, I think Dumervil can be a Freeny type of player, Broncos just need to make sure he doesn't wear down. I think with Ekuban and Crowder, you have two guys who can handle a lot of snaps and give you production, and allow Dumervil and Moss to be fresh and blow past the OTs.

Featured

• Rocky Multimedia

  

  The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on what's happening today.

• Holiday Lights

  

  Is your house the jolliest on the block? Submit your holiday lights display.

• Holiday Gift Guide

  

  Looking to get a jump-start on the holiday shopping season?

• Mount Crushmore

  

  Which four Broncos greats should be immortalized on Mount Crushmore? Vote here.

• Bronco Dean's rant

  

  Listen to Bronco Dean's midweek rant on the Chiefs.

• Broncos Video

  

  Get the latest from Dove Valley as the Broncos prepare for Sunday's matchup.

• Calendar wallpaper

  

  Download this month's desktop wallpaper calendar

• Sam Adams' Open Mic

  

  Open Mic: Stirrin' the Soup with Matt Iseman

• The Rocky @ 150 Years

  

  Read the Rocky's coverage of Colorado's cannibal, Alfred Packer, in 1886.