ENGLEWOOD — Your guess
is as good is theirs.
Neither Nate Webster nor Niko Koutouvides is sure how
their battle to become the Broncos' starting middle
linebacker ultimately will pan out.
At various points this summer they've traded practice
days, swapped games and, so far, no one has given them
a clue where their competition stands. But both are
assured of one thing:
While Friday night's preseason game with the Green Bay
Packers might not be the be-all, it will be the end-all
of a competition that has lasted the past five months.
Koutouvides played a half with the No. 1 defense last
Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys and made one tackle
as Denver allowed one touchdown.
It's Webster's turn against the Packers, and the
coaching staff has essentially promised to make a
decision before next week's preseason finale, when the
starters will not play.
"You just keep playing until you hear the word,
basically," Koutouvides said. "There's not much we can
do on our part except keep playing ball."
Webster and the rest of the first-team defense will
play the first two quarters against Green Bay, plus the
opening series of the third quarter. Koutouvides then
takes over with the reserves.
"I love it, man," Webster said. "I don't feel bad at
all about the situation. I feel I've done the best job
I could do."
Webster, who also started the first preseason game, is
currently listed as No. 1 on the team's official depth
chart. But that latter document often is misleading at
this early juncture. And the Denver coaching staff is
known to defer to holdover players as far as providing
the first crack in tight battles.
"They don't clue us in about what's going on, pretty
much," Koutouvides said.
Webster entered the competition with the slight
advantage of having been entrenched in Denver's defense
for several years. Still, the scheme was tweaked, and
last year he was playing the strong side, not the
middle, so while not as steep as the one Koutouvides
faced, there was a transition period for Webster.
But middle linebacker is Webster's most natural
position. And he has bulled his way into the
competition to a large degree with a solid offseason
that was borne not only out of the desire to change
Denver's defensive fortunes from a year ago but also
from tragedy.
Webster's father, Nate Sr., suffered a heart attack in
the offseason and was hospitalized for a month. During
that time, the linebacker lost 15 pounds.
But after his dad rallied, so did Webster Jr. He
rebuilt his body the right way in regaining his weight
back as a 100 percent participant in the offseason
strength program.
"I kind of teased them that I was stripping the engine
down and was going to rebuild it," Webster said. "I
wanted to put a big engine in."
Koutouvides had some weight of his own with which to
deal - the expectations wrought from a three-year, $7.5
million free-agent contract.
"It's two guys who are busting their butts, two guys
who can start, and two guys who both make our defense
better," said Marlon McCree, who has gotten an up-close
view of the battle while aligned as the deep safety on
virtually every snap. "It's a coin toss . . . Both guys
are fiery. Both guys are smart. Both guys hit blocks
well. It's a good problem to have."
(rockymountainnews.com)