In Denver's minicamp the weekend after the draft, the rookies got some practice time, but not much. Most got limited repetitions, because McDaniels is unwilling to waste practice time while rookies make mistakes on the fly.

"We're not going to run a bad practice because we're trying to do too much with guys that don't know what to do yet," McDaniels said.

Even highly-drafted rookies like Knowshon Moreno, Robert Ayers and Alphonso Smith were behind veteran counterparts at their positions.

McDaniels subjects rookies to the same meetings and practice routines as the veterans. Whatever they can do right away without slowing down practice, they're able to do.

And one steadfast rule is if a rookie makes a mistake, a repeat of the same mistake isn't tolerated.

"If I make a mistake, I'm coming back and quizzing myself like 'Can't do this again, can't do that again,'" rookie receiver Kenny McKinley said. "You don't want to get in the doghouse."

The Broncos will have to rely on some rookies this season as they fill in depth, and some rookies will start. They didn't do too much in practice right away, but that doesn't mean the coaching staff was upset.

"There's enough to look at out there and there's some promise out there," McDaniels said.

--In Denver's first minicamp, both quarterbacks looked a bit rusty and struggled with some parts of the playbook. Two weeks later, Chris Simms and Kyle Orton weren't perfect in another minicamp, but looked like they were making progress.

"It was better, definitely better," Simms said. "I think Friday and Saturday were really good, for me personally, and (Sunday) I missed a few throws and screwed a few things up. There's work to be done and overall we're doing pretty good."

"Getting better, have a long way to go," Orton said.

--The Broncos hired Matt Russell as their director of college scouting. Russell is a former standout linebacker with the University of Colorado.

Russell, who was with New England and Josh McDaniels for four years earlier this decade, comes from Philadelphia. He was with the Eagles three seasons, including the last one as a national scout.

--Denver hired Lenny McGill as its assistant director of college scouting. The Broncos' front office was thin since February, when Jim and Jeff Goodman -- two of the three main cogs in the front office -- were fired.

McGill was a college scout for the Packers from 2000-08.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "They're in the same meetings as the veterans are in. Whatever goes in, they're subjected to." -- Broncos coach Josh McDaniels on his approach with rookies.