And he said Monday, as the Broncos packed their things and officially began their offseason, he was determined to fix the problem.

"I didn't get it done this year," Marshall said. "Look at the Pro Bowl, 100 catches, that wasn't good enough. I should have been a better leader on and off the field - too many drops, way too many drops."

Marshall did earn his first Pro Bowl trip this season and finished with 104 catches - a career high - for 1,265 yards and six touchdowns.

But he also, by his count, dropped as many as "15 or 16" passes this season.

A game-by-game analysis by the Rocky Mountain News puts it at 15.

Marshall said that is his personal offseason hurdle, that and adding some speed work to his upcoming workouts in Orlando, Fla., to try to increase his 12.2-yards-per-catch average.

Marshall was third in the league in receptions this season but 51st - with Broncos tight end Daniel Graham and Minnesota receiver Bobby Wade - in yards per catch.

For his part, Marshall said the drops might have been a result of the still-lingering effects of his offseason injury - he severely cut his right forearm, including some nerve damage, when his arm was rammed through an entertainment center.

"My hand is still numb," Marshall said. "I'm not going to sit here and make excuses for myself, but maybe I didn't recover as great as I wanted to from my hand injury.

"But I thought I was catching the ball great. Maybe it's focus, consistency. I'm disappointed in myself."

Marshall has continued to say doctors have told him it could be some time before he regains all of the feeling in his right hand.

"The doctor said probably about a year or two," Marshall said. "I don't know if that was the cause of it . . . but if I want to be good, if I want to be a leader on this team, I can't have over 10 drops, 11 drops, 12."

Personnel executives around the league also believe Marshall is late to bring his hands into position to snare the ball at times, especially if he makes a move to get up the field before he has secured the ball.

Marshall, quarterback Jay Cutler and Eddie Royal, according to Royal, already have planned to gather on their own at some point early in the offseason to work on pass routes and improve their timing.

Cutler said they hoped to finalize dates and a site once the players see what their offseason schedules will be.

Last offseason, Cutler, Marshall and tight end Tony Scheffler had workouts in Atlanta.

Royal, who had two drops Sunday night in San Diego, said, "We've already talked about it. Whatever it takes to win . . . you've got to do whatever it takes in offseason."

Added Marshall: "I just didn't make enough big plays. I expect more from myself."

Bates signed

As expected, Broncos quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates has signed a two-year extension with the team, which takes his contract through the 2011 season. He had a year remaining on his current deal.

Former Raiders coach Lane Kiffin, now the coach at the University of Tennessee, had offered Bates the offensive coordinator's job with the Volunteers in recent weeks. Bates is a former Volunteers quarterback - he was a backup behind Peyton Manning - and Bates' father, Jim, also coached at the school.

Bates just finished his first season as the Broncos' play-caller.

"Jeremy did a great job," Cutler said. "I liked the things we did on offense."

To retire or not retire

Center Casey Wiegmann said he is considering retirement.

"I'm going to talk to my wife to see what's going on, and, of course, I have to talk to the Broncos to see what's happening," Wiegmann said. "I was pretty happy with the way I played this year. You definitely don't want to go out 8-8. I said that last year (in Kansas City) when we were 4-12. We'll see what happens. . . . I'm pretty healthy right now, so it's kind of like, 'Should I come back, or should I just call it quits being healthy and calling it a good career?' I've had a lot of positive feedback from teammates."

Wiegmann, who signed a one-year deal that included a $300,000 signing bonus just before the season, started all 16 games for the Broncos.

Wiegmann, who just finished his 13th season, has not missed a game since 2001.

He stepped into the Broncos' starting lineup when longtime center Tom Nalen was placed on injured reserve because of a knee injury.

Etc.

* Second-year defensive end Jarvis Moss called himself a "small piece of the puzzle" this year. Moss hopes to gain at least 10 pounds on his 255-pound frame in the offseason to become a bigger piece of the puzzle in 2009.

He plans to work with a nutritionist while training in Florida. "This offseason is going to be huge for me, a real challenge for me," Moss said. "I want to be a great player, a real good player in this league, and I think that's going to be the driving point for me this offseason."

* Right guard Chris Kuper said he would have X-rays on his fractured left hand to see if surgery is necessary in the coming weeks. Kuper did not miss a game this season.

* Running back Michael Pittman, who went on injured reserve because of a neck injury in early November, said Monday he has recovered more quickly than team doctors thought and he could have finished the season in uniform.

"It was very disappointing for me because I had never been on injured reserve," Pittman said. "Knowing that I could have come back and played was the biggest disappointment for me. Four or five weeks ago, I was good enough to play. At the same time, I think the coaches took the right cautions for me to be out the rest of the season. They thought it was going to take me four to six weeks. It took me three weeks, and I was good. I told my coach I was healthy and ready to play. I wanted to petition him. . . . Everything went away faster than everyone thought it would. It was too late. I was already on injured reserve."

* The Broncos jumped into the offseason, signing six "futures" players, all from the team's practice squad this season. Defensive tackle Matthias Askew, guard Mitch Erickson, receiver Jayson Foster, defensive end Ryan McBean, cornerback Rashod Moulton and receiver Matt Willis were signed and can participate in the offseason programs.

Numbers game

2100-yard rushing games from Broncos running backs this season - 109 yards by Pittman against Jacksonville and 129 by Peyton Hillis against the Jets - the fewest in a season in coach Mike Shanahan's tenure.

He said it

"We don't feel pressure. We want to put up that many points. We want to score every time we have the ball."

Royal, on whether the offense felt too much pressure to score in recent weeks

Feel the draft

The Broncos have the 12th pick of the first round in April's draft. They have nine picks in all - the specific picks in rounds 2 though 7 won't be determined until the league awards compensatory picks in March.

Round Picks

First 1 (12th overall)

Second 1

Third 1

Fourth 1

Fifth 2 (Broncos, Seattle)

Sixth 1

Seventh 2 (Broncos, Atlanta)