DENVER -- Elvis Dumervil, returning from a torn chest muscle last August and hoping to regain the form that produced an NFL-high 17 sacks in 2009, was a force against an offense led by Tim Tebow on Saturday in the Denver Broncos' intrasquad scrimmage.
Dumervil bulked up 15 pounds to 260 for his conversion back to end in a 4-3 defense.
Playing with the first-team defense against a second unit led by Tebow, Dumervil rushed around the edge with abandon, chasing Tebow out of the pocket and twice prompting the officials to blow their whistles to signify a dead ball before there was contact.
Rookie Von Miller added a third sack of Tebow, who could only muster three pass attempts, completing one. He ran for 5 yards in his time against the first-team defense, which didn't allow a point in the scrimmage at Invesco Field at Mile High.
"It felt good to come out and contribute to the team," Dumervil said as he signed autographs following the scrimmage. "That's what you miss most of all: coming out here in front of the fans, back here at Invesco. It's a magic place and it's exciting. It was a good feeling being back on the field."
Forgive Tebow if he wasn't celebrating the same way.
"Elvis made things interesting, actually," he said with a smile, adding, "I told him if we'd been going to the ground it might have been a little different. We were having fun with it. But he was making things difficult, that's for sure. He's a great player."
Miller's sack showed the type of two-sided pressure the Broncos envision this season in their pass rush. They had just 23 sacks last season, finishing last in the league in total yards allowed.
"We just want to keep doing it. It's just a start," Miller said. "We want to keep it going. Hopefully it will carry over to the preseason and we'll take it from there."
Starting quarterback Kyle Orton, facing the second-string defense, went 4-for-7 passing for 84 yards in leading the offense to two field goals.
Two dropped passes and Eric Decker just missing a touchdown because he didn't get two feet down in the end zone marred what might have been perfect completion percentage for Orton.
Running back Knowshon Moreno's 45-yard catch-and-run was the top highlight until tight end Dante Rosario went up and over safety Darcel McBath for a 31-yard catch on a left-sideline jump ball from Brady Quinn. Rookie tight end Virgil Green eventually capped the 70-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown reception.
Quinn completed 7 of 8 passes for 77 yards against the No. 2 and No. 3 defenses.
"The young guys are kind of coming out, getting the system and coming along," Quinn said. "I'm kind of happy about that."
Quinn has pushed Tebow in recent days for the backup spot behind Orton. The two have been evenly splitting reps with the second string at practice. Tebow on Saturday took nine snaps vs. the starters while leading the second unit before departing. Quinn went against the first defense for four plays before 11 reps against the backups.
"I think they all made some progress," coach John Fox said of his three top quarterbacks. "I think probably Tim had the roughest duty going against the first-team defense and that's tough, but he's a tough guy and he made things happen. He made a couple of good throws, that third-and-(16) that came up a yard short was a big play.
"We'll just keep evaluating them. This was just a small taste of that."
Several players who returned to practice midweek were held out of the team portion of the scrimmage including defensive linemen Derrick Harvey, Ty Warren and Brian Dawkins and running back Willis McGahee.
The Broncos are only five days removed from their first preseason game in Dallas on Thursday night.
"In practice some things can be cloudy, but out here it seems like it's in HD," Moreno said in summing up the scrimmage. "It felt really good to get back out here on this field."
Notes: Running back Mario Fannin was waived/injured Saturday, one day after injuring a knee and being carted off the practice field. Denver signed C.J. Gable, who had been cut by New Orleans, to take Fannin's roster spot. Left tackle Ryan Clady is back at full strength after a full offseason to train after knee surgery. "I feel like my knee's 100 percent. It's been a nice offseason for me to get that knee back to where it needs to be so I can play at the level I want to play at," he said. Clady made first-team All Pro in 2009. ... Kicker Matt Prater boomed a 54-yard field goal in a special-teams period. He's competing with Steven Hauschka, who finished the season after Prater went on injured reserve last December with a groin injury.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
