Last season the Broncos were outscored 64-6 by San Diego. So it's little surprise that the Chargers are the clear favorites in the AFC West heading into training camp.

"San Diego has taken it to us the last couple of years, so we had better be improved to challenge a team that has a high number of Pro Bowl players," said Broncos coach Mike Shanahan.

The Broncos do feel pretty good about their team. Injuries to some key players have healed and other players who were deemed selfish and poor for chemistry have been jettisoned. The offseason acquisitions weren't flashy, but fill some holes.

"Every year is a new year, and everyone comes in with a clean slate," quarterback Jay Cutler said. "We feel good about where we are at. Obviously we didn't get done what we wanted to last year, but we have a good group of guys."

One key for the Broncos is adapting to defensive coordinator Bob Slowik's scheme. Slowik takes the reins of the defense from Jim Bates, who left the team after being offered a reassignment on the staff. Some aspects of the defense are still a work in progress, but the transition seems to be going much better than last year, when players were struggling with Bates' defense throughout preseason.

"We had major carry over from practicing in the summer," linebacker Boss Bailey said. "We didn't have to reinstall anything. We just went right at it and kept things going."

Despite being largely forgotten about after a 7-9 season, the Broncos feel confident. It's strange for the Broncos not to be mentioned at all among the list of AFC candidates, but being underdogs has worked as motivation.

"Our teammates now are working harder, we want it more," Graham said. "We had a bad season last year and want to improve from last year.

"It motivates us a lot. Not going to the playoffs is not what we wanted. We want to be in the run for that championship, that's our goal, that's our No. 1 goal."

CAMP CALENDAR: The Broncos started training camp on July 25, and it ends on Aug. 12. Denver will then hold practices with the Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 13 and 14.

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