ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- In the Denver Broncos' first practice of training camp in full pads Sunday, guard/center Sam Brenner was the most significant injury.
Brenner suffered a concussion during teams drills and fell to the ground face first following a collision in a crowd of players. Brenner remained on the ground for several minutes as he was evaluated by the team’s medical staff before he was helped to a cart, driven to the door of the Broncos’ complex near the team’s training room and then helped inside the building.
“It is scary," Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said. “Looked like he got caught in a pile, went down face first, that’s what I saw. He was talking to me and (head trainer Steve Antonopulos) the whole time. We’ll evaluate him and see where he’s at."
Running back Ronnie Hillman also left Sunday's practice after suffering some back soreness following a big hit from linebacker Zaire Anderson during the workout.
Things got a little testy a little more than halfway through the practice, with some pushing and shoving following a smattering of plays that eventually evolved into a full-blown scrum that was broken up by the coaches.
Kubiak quickly gathered the team in the middle of the field following the scuffle, and the Broncos closed out practice without any other issues.
“We were on the back end of practice and we were gassed, so we were sloppy ... just bad judgment," Kubiak said. “I just tried to calm them down and told them, ‘Still got a long way to go.’ We had to get refocused, and we did."
The Broncos continue to work linebacker Von Miller, who missed the team’s offseason program during negotiations on his new contract, toward full participation. Miller showed his fitness level, however, when he personally cratered an early run-game drill in practice, repeatedly stopping the play behind the line of scrimmage.
“(It) looked like he wore a couple people out, I know that," Kubiak said. “We put a tackle at tight end to make it a little more even a match and it still didn’t work out. He looks good."
Kubiak gave 10 veteran players Sunday's practice off, including cornerback Chris Harris Jr., safety T.J. Ward, safety Darian Stewart, wide receiver Demaryius Thomas and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders.
