Scheffler determined to get off on right foot for Broncos this season

By Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published July 30, 2008 at 9:50 p.m.

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Photo by Barry Gutierrez / The Rocky

Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler, center, had 33 receptions for 388 yards and three touchdowns in the second half of last season.

ENGLEWOOD — Jay Cutler was in midsentence on the podium in front of a gaggle of media last week at Dove Valley when a body flashed in front of him.

Cutler barked at Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler to get his attention and make his good friend and, at times, go-to target double back.

"Did you make it through?" the Broncos quarterback asked when Scheffler redirected to face his close friend.

"I made it through," Scheffler responded, despite wearing an ice pack on his wrist.

"Tony Scheffler made it through practice today," Cutler blurted out loudly. "Give him a hand. Congratulations."

"I was plus-250 on the money line, so a lot of guys were taking bets against me," the tight end answered.

It's one running joke that's no running joke - Scheffler's health problems as punch line. Because for the Broncos offense to run anywhere near peak levels, Scheffler needs to be in the mix. And for the second straight summer, questions abound as to whether the tight end will be able to shake the left foot issue that has plagued him for more than a year.

So far, so good.

About a month in a protective boot beginning in May helped with recurring soreness he had surgically repaired a year earlier with the insertion of a single, stabilizing screw. X-rays during the offseason had shown the original injury hadn't completely healed.

But after a week of two-a-day practices, it appears to be a matter of Scheffler getting into training camp shape after his time off, a process he believes will take only about another seven days or so.

"I'm still a little hesitant because of everything, but I'm almost sure everything's behind me and I don't plant any differently than I would normally," he said. "It's definitely feeling a lot better. And I don't find myself adjusting my routes like I did during the season just in case I'd get in a bad angle on the foot."

Given an inability to plant, cut and separate from defenders last season, it's no small wonder Scheffler still was able to finish with 33 receptions for 388 yards and three touchdowns in the second half.

Turns out, that output came in something of an unorthodox manner.

"I think if you go back and look at all of his catches, the majority weren't off downfield, making the hard-cut kind of receptions," said Pat McPherson, Scheffler's position coach. "He'd catch seam passes, where he's running and if he has to break at all, it's slight. He caught a lot of what we call 'bubbles,' where he bubbles out and catches them. He caught quite a few of those. Tony made up for it by mixing up what he did rather than everything be a hard-cut kind of route."

There were other concessions.

Scheffler was forced to wear a steel plate in his left shoe to help stabilize the area. It wasn't just uncomfortable because of the hard insert; it didn't fit into his cleat snugly, which was an added irritation.

"My foot would fall asleep in pregame warm-ups just because of how hard it was. But that wasn't a long-term solution, and over the summer, we got things figured out," he said. "We went through Nike and got the shoes adjusted and the orthotics made."

With those steps in place, perhaps Scheffler finally can have a complete season that moves him into the league's elite at tight end instead of logging two solid half-seasons.

He ranks sixth in the NFL with 607 yards at his position in the final eight games of the past two seasons to go with 45 catches and seven touchdowns. That dwarfs the figures in the first halves, when he has 18 receptions for 286 yards and four scores.

"If I want to be the player that I strive to be, I need to start off good and carry the momentum through the whole season," Scheffler said.

And where Scheffler strives to be is listed with the likes of Chris Cooley, Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten, Antonio Gates and Kellen Winslow among the top-tier tight ends.

"When I look at the top guys in the NFL, I love and respect all their games," he said. "But at the same time, in the back of my head, I feel like I can be at that same level."

Jeremy Bates, who runs the Broncos' passing game, calls Scheffler building off last season and starting strong right from the beginning "a must."

"The guy's a weapon," Bates said. "You can see towards the end of both seasons he's played just how much he can put pressure on a defense, and it helps our offensive creativity with the formations we can do against defenses."

Scheffler's productivity is even more vital should No. 1 receiver Brandon Marshall, as expected, receive a league-mandated suspension to start the season.

"Any player has to have confidence in yourself and your abilities, and I do right now," Scheffler said. "This is a great offense for me to be in and play here. We're going to do a lot of different things, hopefully, with me out there. Nate Jackson's been playing well, too. But we have a lot of guys out here who can do a lot of different things, and Jeremy's going to put us in the right spots.

For Scheffler to surpass Jackson on the depth chart, he still needs to demonstrate he competently can handle duties as a blocker at the point of attack to go with his unquestioned receiving ability.

"I still think that Gonzalez is the best," McPherson said. "And what makes him so good is not only can he catch the ball, run routes, he's a great athlete, but he sticks his nose in there and blocks his (butt) off. Tony's getting better. But you have to do the things you don't want to do to be able to do the things you want to do. He has to be a complete guy. That has to be his mind-set."

• July 30, 2008

  10:09 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  bigbadthor writes:

  Really, I don't remember Shannon Sharpe being known as a complete TE, his blocks consisted of getting in the way of someone or crackbacks, everyone knows Grahm is the blocking force, why aren't they trying to get him more involved in the offense, he has great hands and can run. Also we need more screens and passes to the backs, I can't remember a RB having a good pass catching season since TD, if you look at the west coast offense, they use their backs more for pass catching threats than we do, think if Jay has options deep (Marshall and Royal), intermediate (Schefler, Grahm, Jackson), and short (Hillis, Torain, Young, Albridge), then you have a scary passing game that no one is going to be able to defend.

• July 30, 2008

  11:04 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dynamicdave writes:

  bigbadthor, don't be surprised if Shef ends up starting over Nate by the start of the regular season. He was injured so naturally he's behind at the moment. If he can play up to the potential we've seen, he will be hard pressed to beat out. Graham is an excellent blocker and that is what they use him for. It would be nice to see him do more, but the blocking he performs is exceptional.

• July 30, 2008

  11:22 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Welcome2Boise writes:

  Dynamicdave, maybe they don't let him play because he is a roster exception. If that is the case all they would have to do is officially sign him so he would count against the 53 man limit. But that is just a guess, I would also like to hear some informed clarification.

• July 30, 2008

  11:27 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dynamicdave writes:

  Welcome2Boise, it was last year when Graham started with us, that they spoke of how he is an exceptional blocking tight end. They used him like that, through most of the year. To find those articles from a season ago would be hard pressed but I read it right here in the RMN. I know it killed a lot of fantasy football fans.

• July 31, 2008

  6:58 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  hdfresh writes:

  Schefler needs to show that he can play the entire season without injury. We need a great tight end again.

• July 31, 2008

  7:19 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  LingLingfor_prez writes:

  Go Chargers!

• July 31, 2008

  8:30 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Griesedogphilly writes:

  After Graham dropped that pass, in his hands, directly down the middle that killed the last drive against the Jags last year, seems like he wasn't a first thought for cutler too often.

• July 31, 2008

  10:13 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  rorygebbers writes:

  Another reason that Graham has not been in on the passing game as much as once thought is because our O-Line suffered many injuries last year. His exceptional blocking skills dictated that he stay back and "help". I am guessing this will hold true this year as it will take Clady sometime to get adjusted to the level of play in the pros.

• July 31, 2008

  10:35 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  myerda00 writes:

  If Graham needs to 'help' Clady for blocking reasons then the season is lost. We need a TE that works the middle of the field and I do not mean bringing Tony in with Graham to create that.

• July 31, 2008

  11:34 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Jremsoh writes:

  "But you have to do the things you don't want to do to be able to do the things you want to do"
  That quote from coach McPherson is a little disturbing.
  Bronocos, please explain why you drafted, in the second round, a player who plays on (or near) the line of scrimmage and doesn't want to block. It's not that that particular attitude is rare in Pro Football. It's just why would you want that attitude on YOUR team. I'll take the lesser athlete who loves contact over the better athlete who avoids it, every day of the week. When the Giants beat the Patriots in the last Super Bowl the best collection of athletes did not win, the guys who most loved contact did.

• July 31, 2008

  12:44 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  rorygebbers writes:

  Myer, I agree. While it would be unfair to say that the entire season depends on Clady, it is true that if he struggles at the second most important offensive positon we will be in for a long season. As is the case for most of us in August I have high hopes that Broncos will be a significantly better team this year, but if Clady does not step up immediatley our potentially potent offense could recieve a rude awakening. They say the position is one of the hardest to learn at the pro level. All we can do now is wait and see.....

• July 31, 2008

  12:46 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Spider writes:

  GO CHARGERS!!!!! STRAIGHT TO THE BOTTOM OF THE AFC WEST CELLAR WHERE YOU FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE.

• July 31, 2008

  1:03 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dynamicdave writes:

  Spider, couldn't have said it better, myself. I don't know why everyone has all of these preseason jitters? Come on, guys. Denver hasn't even played a down and all I read about is "the glass is half empty" lines. Every fan has the jitters going into the new season, but worrying and thinking negative doesn't accomplish anything. It isn't the true character of a Bronco fan. We will always have questions but to be able write something positive, like Spider just did, is nice, as well. Me, personally, I'm going into this season the same way I go into every season....excited. Sure, I will have questions and concerns, but I will believe that everything will work itself out. I will not go into this season negative and take away the excitement I feel this year can bring.
  GOOOOOOO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• July 31, 2008

  2:20 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  LingLingfor_prez writes:

  Once again, go Chargers. However, you should not be down on yourselves Bronco fans. The bottom of the cellar should be taken by the Raiders anyway without question.

• July 31, 2008

  2:57 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dynamicdave writes:

  LingLingfor_prez, always the Traiters in last place, always. I always used to make an ongoing joke that the Broncos could lose every game of the season, just beat Oakland twice and Dallas, anytime we had to play them. The Raiders have been the AFC West joke for over 5 years. I hope it continues.

• July 31, 2008

  4:20 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Matteo writes:

  Do Charger and Raider fans post here because they are lonely and unable to find anyone to share their enthusiasm for their chosen teams? Just curious.

• July 31, 2008

  5:44 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dynamicdave writes:

  Matteo, they post because they're "closet Bronco fans". Who knows why they post? Part of the rivalry fun is argueing and talking smack. They figure it's a way to do that. If we all loved the same team, what's the point? I don't mind talking smack. We do it on the forum, we do it at our jobs, we do it at our bars. It's what makes football fun. But you get a couple of clowns who get a little too mouthy (only a few) online. They do it online because in real life, someone might just take them down, and out. But for those who write in and talk smack in a decent manner, I enjoy it. As I said before, that's what makes it fun.

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