ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – It doesn’t take Jay Cutler’s return to Denver for the Broncos to find themselves in the middle of a circus.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – It doesn’t take Jay Cutler’s return to Denver for the Broncos to find themselves in the middle of a circus.
Cutler and the Bears will visit Invesco Field on Sunday night in a preseason game like none other, one that marks the home debuts of coach Josh McDaniels, the man who chased Cutler out of town just weeks into his new job, and Kyle Orton, the methodical quarterback who replaced the Pro Bowl passer.
The Broncos still find themselves dealing with a soured superstar who has trust issues with the team, a simmering feud with the coach and a trade request on the table.
Sound familiar?
While Cutler forced a trade to Chicago after his clash with McDaniels six months ago, fellow Pro Bowler Brandon Marshall hasn’t been able to punch his own ticket out of town.
The recalcitrant receiver asked for a trade in June and thought one would be in the works after meeting with team owner Pat Bowlen, but McDaniels quickly quashed that notion, and Marshall reported to training camp insisting he was only doing so to avoid the $15,888 daily fines he’d face for holding out.
He’s only practiced about a half-dozen times this offseason, and he’s only taken a handful of snaps with the starting offense this month.
He pulled a hamstring on the first weekend of training camp and didn’t return until a week ago after his acquittal on a misdemeanor battery charge in Atlanta, a verdict he had hoped would give him leverage for a new deal to replace the one that will pay him $2.2 million this season.
His agent met with McDaniels last week on the same day Marshall met with a team executive, who apologized on behalf of the Broncos for an incident in which the receiver’s teammates were instructed not to say they were happy for Marshall over his acquittal on charges he beat up his then-girlfriend 18 months ago.
Then, Marshall ran almost exclusively with the scout team last week after telling reporters he wasn’t ready to resume his role as the Broncos’ main receiver because he was nowhere near mastering the new playbook.
So McDaniels left him behind along with some injured players when the Broncos traveled to Seattle for their second preseason game Saturday.
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In photo: Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels, left, makes a point to linebacker Mario Haggan during drills at the team’s NFL football training camp at Broncos’ headquarters on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009, in Englewood, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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