[JC QUICK]

Home For Practice

By Eric Butcher Posted Aug 8, 2011 The Broncos practiced before more than 20,000 at INVESCO Field at Mile High on Saturday night, creating a unique game-like atmosphere. DENVER -- Daniel Graham doesn't generally hide his excitement. So it's no surprise that as the Broncos lined up for a live goal-line drill during Saturday night's practice at INVESCO Field at Mile High, the veteran tight end dispensed the first headbutt to an offensive teammate. Soon, the first-team offensive players were all headbutting each other, pumping themselves up for a goal-line score. When the defense held the offense out of the end zone on three straight run plays from the 2-yard line, Graham was the first to get in their faces. His teammates followed with a score on the very next play, a 2-yard run by Lance Ball. The second-team defense followed with their own stop and more jubilation. Then, the crowd of 20,792 broke into the wave. Clearly, this was a special practice. For the third straight year, the Broncos offered fans a chance to watch a workout at INVESCO Field at Mile High and players an opportunity to practice under more game-like conditions more than a month before their first regular season game. "I think it’s great for us to come down here and play in an atmosphere like this," Head Coach Eric Studesville said. The first-year coach said he had several more tactical goals for the workout -- in addition to giving many players their first taste of the home crowd. Part of that was giving players a chance to work on substituting in and out of game-like scenarios from their spots on the sidelines. Although Studesville said the game-like situations and competitive situations, such as the goal line drill, likely would've been included in today's workout if it took place at Dove Valley, many players said having thousands of screaming fans on hand added an extra element. "To be able to have a drive and try to run the offense was fun," said Tim Tebow . "It was exciting. I loved being out there." The crowd, which exceeded the 13,402 who showed up for last year's inaugural event, started filing into the stadium at about 4:45 p.m. Within minutes, the Broncos' fine-tuning for play at their home stadium began when the specialists took the field for some work. Matt Prater pounded a few kickoffs and field goal attempts into the nets behind each goal post, while Britton Colquitt took snaps from Lonie Paxton and hit punts from a variety of spots. Once the full squad took the field, the learning continued. The rookies -- many of whom were sporting new and interesting haircuts given to them by the veterans -- particularly benefitted from the chance to feel the buzz created by Broncos faithful. With the preseason opener in Arizona two weeks away, tonight served as a sneak peek for what is to come. "It was more real," Doug Mathis said. "I got a good feeling of what it might be to play a game here." "It was just a great opportunity to come out here and compete with my teammates," added John Engelberger . "I had a blast." At times, the Broncos clearly played to the crowd. After a long catch from Tim Tebow during 11-on-11 drills, Brandon Lloyd sprang up and tossed the football high in the air back in the direction of the quarterback. Later, Brady Quinn celebrated a touchdown pass to Eric Decker with a jumping body bump involving his receiver and Derrick Dockery . Studesville said that sort of excitement -- whether it was the offense making a big play or the defense stuffing the goal-line drill -- was one indication of his team's progress during an important practice session. "I think we showed that we were a little bit ahead maybe of where we were at this point last year," Studesville said. "(There are) still plenty of mistakes and things to correct, but I think the guys are working the right way and are working towards being good at the right types of things early in the season.”