The Broncos have traded 24-year old cornerback Alphonso Smith to the Lions for 25-year old TE Dan Gronkowski.  Smith played in 15 games for the Broncos last season in which he had 14 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and he defensed 3 passes.  Smith also returned 10 punts for 47 yards (4.7 avg) and 4 kickoffs for 75 yards (18.8 avg).  The Broncos were very disappointed in him and they considered just releasing him.  Dan Gronkowski played in 2 games as a rookie for the Lions last season and he caught 1 pass for 4 yards.

The Broncos have placed 34-year old WR Brandon Stokley on the Injured Reserve List with a groin injury ending his season.  Stokley played in 16 games (2 starts) for the Broncos last season and he caught 19 passes for 327 yards (17.2 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He has played in 44 games (13 starts) in his three years with the Broncos and he has caught 108 passes for 1,490 yards (13.8 avg) with 12 TD grabs.  This will hurt the depth at WR for the Broncos in 2010.

The Broncos have placed 25-year old RB LenDale White on the Injured Reserve List with a torn ACL.  White played in the last two pre-season games for the Broncos in which he carried the ball 17 times for 53 yards (3.1 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also caught 1 pass for 6 yards.  The plan when the Broncos signed White because of a league suspension of four games was to stash him until Week #5.  It appears as they will be on the hunt for a RB as teams begin to cut down their rosters later today.

The Broncos outplayed the Vikings for the most part last night but turnovers killed them in the end.  Kyle Orton made a brief appearance in this game and he completed 5 of 8 passes for 56 yards.  Tim Tebow lost a fumble that was returned 35-yards for a TD by Vikings’ LB E.J. Henderson.  After that happened though he settled down and played decent football.  Tebow completed 12 of 16 passes for 167 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  He also carried the ball 4 times for 21 yards (5.3 ypc) in this contest.  Brady Quinn finished up the game and he was solid too completing 14 of 21 passes for 149 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  Bruce Hall led the way on the ground last night for the Broncos with 33 yards rushing on 15 carries (2.2 ypc).  He also caught 5 passes for 34 yards (6.8 avg) last night but he also lost a fumble.  LenDale White pitched in with 5 carries for 19 yards (3.8 ypc) with a TD run.  WRs Matt Willis (5 rec, 122 yards, TD), Eric Decker (10 rec, 114 yards) and Alric Arnett (2 rec, 20 yards, TD) led the way for the Broncos in the air last night.  The Broncos finished up with 82 yards rushing (2.7 ypc) and 355 yards passing last night as they had possession of the ball for 35:50.

CB Alphonso Smith led the way for the Broncos on D last night with 4 tackles, 1 pass defensed and a interception that he returned 51 yards.  The Vikings finished up with 133 yards rushing (4.4 ypc) and 112 yards passing last night.  The Broncos finished up with a 1-3 record on the pre-season.

The Broncos made enough big plays last night to defeat the Steelers pretty handily.  Kyle Orton started at QB and he completed 9 of 14 passes for 80 yards with 1 INT.  Tim Tebow seems to have jumped Brady Quinn on the depth chart.  Tebow completed 5 of 10 passes for 72 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  Brady Quinn only completed 1 of 2 passes for 2 yards last night.  Lance Ball (10 car, 75 yards) and LenDale White (12 car, 34 yards, TD) led the way on the ground for the Broncos last night.  WRs Matt Willis (3 rec, 55 yards), Brandon Lloyd (4 rec, 40 yards) and Eric Decker (1 rec, 3 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game last night.  The Broncos finished up with 128 yards rushing (4.6 ypc) and 140 yards passing last night.

The D might have got pushed around a bit in the running game but the secondary was outstanding all night long against the pass.  Linebacker D.J. Williams led the way for the Broncos’ D in this game with 7 tackles.  OLB Robert Ayers finally started to show some life last night with 4 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks and 2 QB hits.  CB Andre Goodman was solid with 4 tackles, 2 passes defensed and he picked off a Dennis Dixon pass which he returned 77 yards for a TD.  Rookie 7th round pick Syd’Quan Thompson also was a standout last night with 2 tackles, 2 passes defensed and a pickoff of a Charlie Batch pass that he returned 48 yards for a TD.  The Steelers finished up with 175 yards rushing (5.8 ypc) and 180 yards passing in this game.  The Broncos are now 1-2 on the pre-season.