Broncos report: Marshall grows ever more sophisticated

By Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published September 25, 2008 at 9:40 p.m.

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Photo by Bill Ross / Associated Press

Denver's Brandon Marshall pulls in a pass against New Orleans cornerback Mike McKenzie during the third quarter Sunday. Marshall has bolstered his finesse game with improved strength.

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Some tricks of the trade are helping Brandon Marshall become one of the best in his field.

Last week, he talked about incorporating "late hands," into his repertoire.

By waiting until the last second to raise his arms, the defender has less of a hint that the ball is headed their direction.

But Marshall also has used his hands in a more aggressive manner, too, helping him get off the line of scrimmage when a cornerback is aligned in press coverage or face to face with the receiver, trying to disrupt his release off the snap.

"I have always been a finesse type of guy, always trying to make it look good, and sometimes that is not always the best way," said Marshall, who is second in the NFL to New Orleans' Reggie Bush with 24 receptions and second to Green Bay's Greg Jennings' 373 receiving yards despite having played only two games.

"Sometimes you just have to get dirty a little bit and get physical," he added. "I think being able to mix it up a bit with the finesse game and the physical game has really helped me a lot this year."

Marshall had been consumed with increasing his speed in previous offseasons yet set about rebuilding his entire body this year. In workouts in Atlanta before his March arm surgery, he was benching 350 pounds five times.

But he also is getting more separation from cornerbacks, too, allowing quarterback Jay Cutler to look his way down the field more instead of Marshall having to turn short gains into long ones with yards after the catch.

"I've definitely seen a difference with him in press coverage, and with the deep ball, also," teammate Brandon Stokley said. "As big as he was, he didn't make as many plays as he could have on deep balls. He's already improved that."

Marshall already has five catches in excess of 25 yards, four coming in Sunday's 34-32 victory against New Orleans. His 35-yard score against the Saints occurred when he raced through two defenders and caught the ball in stride in the end zone.

"I thought if I was able to incorporate the deep ball and beat press coverage that I would be unstoppable, and that is what I did," he said.

WISHFUL THINKING

The Chiefs' decision to start Damon Huard at quarterback over second-year player Tyler Thigpen has at least one Broncos player disappointed.

"Who was No. 4?" Dre Bly asked, landing on Thigpen's uniform number. "I was looking forward to going against that dude.

"But Huard's a veteran guy who actually got a chance to play against us last year. And that's going to happen in this league. If they're not happy with your production, they're going to go to the next guy."

Thigpen started his first NFL game last week and completed only 14-of-36 passes against Atlanta for 128 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. He had replaced Huard, who in turn filled in for Brodie Croyle, who has been out since the opener with a shoulder separation.

It's only the fourth time since the AFL-NFL merger a team has had three starting quarterbacks to start a season. Others were the 1976 Rams (Ron Jaworski, Pat Haden, James Harris), the 1988 Browns (Bernie Kosar, Gary Danielson, Mike Pagel) and the 1997 Jaguars (Mark Brunell, Rob Johnson, Steve Matthews).

Overall, Kansas City quarterbacks have completed only 47.6 percent of their passes with three touchdowns, six interceptions and only 4.83 yards per attempt.

"I think Huard's the best guy for the job," Broncos safety Marlon McCree said. "He makes it tough on you. He doesn't make errant throws or bad decisions. He'll do a good job for them. If I was their head coach, I'd put Huard back there, (too)."

L.J. ALL THE WAY?

The Broncos defense is expecting a heavy dose of running back Larry Johnson, even with a veteran quarterback at the helm.

On Thursday, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan showed the defense a chart that listed Johnson's statistics in the series, which includes 121 carries, 574 yards and five touchdowns in four starts against the Broncos.

"They're going to try to keep our offense off the field, I think, because our offense is so explosive," McCree said. "We'll try to stop the run and make them do things they don't want to do. But Larry Johnson's a hell of a back, and it'll be hard to stop him."

Johnson had a season-best 121 yards against Atlanta on Sunday.

INJURY REPORT

* Broncos defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson missed Wednesday's practice with a sore knee but was back Thursday. "It's nothing to worry about. I'm good," Robertson said.

* Receiver Darrell Jackson likely is out again this week with a calf injury, but Shanahan said "there's a chance" the veteran could return next week and Jackson has started jogging.

* Chiefs cornerback Patrick Surtain (shoulder) was a limited participant in practice for a second straight day.

ETC.

* Rookie running back Anthony Alridge, on injured reserve after suffering a sprain of his left foot in the preseason finale, learned this week he won't need surgery. Alridge gets to ditch his crutches Friday but must continue wearing a walking boot for two more weeks.

* The Broncos are only 3-10 at Kansas City in the regular season under Shanahan, even losing there during the team's 1997 championship season.

* The Broncos have allowed only one sack, tying them with Baltimore for the lowest total in the NFL. But the Ravens have thrown 48 times; the Broncos 109.

* The Broncos moved up the starting time of Friday's practice to 10:25 a.m., in all likelihood to get the players' body clocks used to the early kickoff in Kansas City.

• September 26, 2008

  12:09 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  deezBroncs1127 writes:

  Brandon Marshall has the chance to be something that no other Wide Reciever in Bronco history has...why? Jay Cutler, these two young guns are clicking together and can be the next Young to Rice, Peyton to Harrison, Brady to Moss. Broncos are gonna tear up the Chiefs this sunday. GO BRONCOS!!!

• September 26, 2008

  4:49 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  EnharmonicDad3 writes:

  i agree deez, Jay is the man and Brandon is the man and, as one of those bullet points detailed, with one sack given up so far, the whole o-line is the man!
  i just hope they stay healthy. Brandon and Jay are two of the best draft aquisitions ever. Its awesome, as a life-long Bronco fan, to have these two young stars on the team.
  and, slightly off the subject, i am still holding out hope for the D.
  we have good players, and i liked what Shannahan said recently about using your talent/putting your best players on the field.
  i like that were experimenting with the 3-4, but like everybody, want to see a pass rush. they will turn it around & i like slowick- it will just take time.

• September 26, 2008

  8:01 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Brain writes:

  Brandon Marshall is on pace to have maybe the BEST season of any WR in history not just Bronco's history but the NFL's, I hope he continues. KC at 11am is a dangerous place for the Broncos but no this year; KC has an awful O, I hope our D looks good because of it.
  Broncos 38-10

• September 26, 2008

  8:32 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dynamicdave writes:

  Brain, I'm with you. Of course, the game is 10am in Vegas. Early time to be drinking beer at the Broncos bar. Aaaaw, the sacrifices we have to make for our team.

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