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Denver Broncos | News

Mason's Mailbag: Where Chad Kelly stands before camp

Right now, he's working with the third team. As for whether he leads the practice squad, it's too soon to tell, and there are too many variables involved. First of all, what if he does well enough to make the 53-man roster? Then, what if he beats out Paxton Lynch for the No. 2 job?

Like almost every quarterback going through his first practices, he had promising moments interspersed with decisions he would like to have back -- an up-and-down pattern to which he alluded after the final minicamp practice last month.

"I made some impulsive decisions, just kind of throwing it carelessly out there," he told Orange and Blue 760 after that practice June 14. "So you've got to take what they give you and keep working down. When the play gets bad, you've got to make better decisions as time runs out.

"You've got to live to play another down, especially in a two-minute [offense]."

Even though Kelly is only in his first summer of on-field work as a pro, he said he wanted to attack the downtime between minicamp and training camp with urgency.

"I'm going to prepare mentally, physically, as best I can. It's now or never, and this is when I want to push myself to a place that I've never been," he said. "I've got to really work hard this offseason."

While C.J. Smith made some plays in OTAs and could make a push, free-agent pickup Tramaine Brock remains the favorite to be the No. 3 cornerback while younger cornerbacks such as Brendan Langley, Isaac Yiadom and Marcus Rios develop. 

"He's a veteran and he's a tough guy," Defensive Coordinator Joe Woods said about Brock on June 13. "He doesn't say a lot, he just shows up and plays football. To have that veteran experience of a guy that's actually been in game situations and make big plays is big for us."

If there's an injury, yes. But Brandon Marshall and Todd Davis are an experienced starting duo that were a collective strength against the run last year. Jewell is stepping into a position group that is not a roster weakness, so that likely limits his opportunity to start as a rookie. If Jewell can show coverage ability during the preseason, he could earn some repetitions in sub packages.

I might have answered this question differently before the Rockies' rotation awoke and dazzled in their recent 8-1 run, but I'm going to say the Rockies winning the World Series. Those awards ... they're nice, but we do our show for the audience, not trophies.

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