Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan is happy with the play of rookie Ashley Lelie, a Hawaii alumnus who was in on exactly half of the Broncos' plays Sunday against Kansas City, according to an article in the Denver Post. Shanahan gives
Lelie: Life in the NFL
Lelie vote of confidenceStar-Bulletin wire services
"What do you think?" Shanahan told the Post when asked if Lelie's playing time will increase. "He's playing a lot more than he did initially, and he's starting to step up and make some plays. He's going to get better and better. He's going to be a great player for us."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ashley Lelie's performance for Denver against Kansas City impressed Broncos coach Mike Shanahan.
It wasn't all easy for Lelie on Sunday, however. He dropped a pass on a go route, and veteran receiver Rod Smith noticed.
"I said, 'Dude, you have to make those,' " Smith said in the article. "He knew, and he was down a little bit. But I said, 'You know what? You are going to get a chance to make some plays a little later in this game,' and then he came in and got the big reverse, and he came in and made some big catches later in the game, on third down. I told him, 'That's what you've got to do.'
"And all of us are trying to be consistent, and you are going to make mistakes. But the thing is, he bounced back from it and in this atmosphere and this game, you earned a lot of respect from your team."
As for Denver's kicking situation, Shanahan hasn't ruled out bringing in a kickoff specialist after Jason Elam's poor performance on kickoffs Sunday, according to the Rocky Mountian News.
"Jason had a tough day," Shanahan told the News of kickoffs that traveled to the 15-, 7-, 17-, 10-, 5-, 18- and 12-yard lines. "If it continued, obviously you would think about bringing somebody in because you can't have those type of kicks and be successful. He gave up some very good field position and it was totally to do with our kickoffs.
"We'll get a chance to sit back and evaluate what we should do, but I can't say a (kickoff specialist) is out of the question."
According to the report, the Broncos will have a roster spot open because of center Tom Nalen's season-ending knee injury, and could bring back Ola Kimrin, who was strong on kickoffs and booted a 65-yard field goal in an exhibition game at Invesco Field this summer.
