It was a strange day or two for any Travis Henry in the metro Denver phone listings.

An Arlington, Texas-based collection agency – Leland, Scott and Associates – was trying to track down Broncos running back Travis Henry over an unpaid debt and in the process contacted some others with the name as well.

In the message left for at least one of the Travis Henrys, John Monahan of Leland, Scott and Associates said a warrant would be issued if the matter was not dealt with in a timely fashion.

Those contacted included Travis Henry, an editor for YourHub.com, an online community journalism site operated by the Denver Newspaper Agency.

When reached Tuesday morning Monahan said he could not comment on anything surrounding his search saying; "I would be violating federal law, so I'm not going to say anything about (it).''

Asked after Broncos practice Tuesday, Henry said he didn't want to comment. The Broncos have been contacted by the firm as well and coach Mike Shanahan said he had already talked to Henry about it.

Leland, Scott and Associates describes itself as dealing in "Worldwide Commercial Debt Recovery.''

Learning on the job

Broncos safety Nick Ferguson grew up as one of 11 children in Miami, Fla.

Now as new father -- his son was born July 9 -- he said he can appreciate even more all that his mom did raising he and his siblings as a single parent.

"This is my first chance to go through it,'' Ferguson said. "I see how difficult it is to have your first child, then I imagine what it would like with a lot more.

"I can see now what people who have kids go through, what my mom went through. It's a very scary type feeling sometimes. How are you going to make sure everything is all right all the time? If you're a selfish person, then it's going to be difficult for you. You can't be selfish and be a parent. I love it.''

He also said he appreciates different kinds of moments now as well.

"When I see my child's face it's a breath of fresh air,'' Ferguson said. "After (Saturday's game) I was very upset and I got home at about 2:30, 3 o'clock in the morning after the plane landed and for some reason he was awake.

"Not crying, but up. So I saw his face and those other things didn't matter.''



Who's the new guy?

Running back Cedric Cobbs didn't need directions to get back to Dove Valley.

Cobbs, who was waived by the Broncos this past May, was re-signed Tuesday morning. The Broncos needed some fresh legs in the backfield with injuries keeping Henry, Andre Hall and Mike Bell out of practice.

None of the three injured backs will play Saturday against the Browns. Cobbs will be in uniform and is expected to get some carries.

"There is a good chance,'' Shanahan said. "Right now we're not very healthy. You take a look at Cecil Sapp and take a look at Selvin (Young), those are the only two guys we have right now at the tailback position . . . Cedric knows our offense and when he was here did a good job for us.''

Cobbs' 2006 season with the Broncos was de-railed when he suffered an ankle injury on a muffed kickoff against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2. During last summer's training camp Shanahan had said that Cobbs was in the argument for the starting running back job.

But after the ankle injury Cobbs was inactive for the following five games because of the injury. He carried the ball three times for nine yards against the Steelers last Nov. 5 but was a gameday inactive for the last eight games of the season.

Hands down

With Ebenezer Ekuban to miss the season with an Achilles tendon tear, the Broncos are hoping rookie defensive end Jarvis Moss now progresses quickly enough to be a regular in the defensive line rotation.

To that end Broncos coaches sat down with Moss Tuesday and showed him video of all his pass-rush plays in the team's first two preseason games as well as some practice video.

"And honestly I can tell you the biggest difference between college (offensive) tackles and the pros is their hands,'' Moss said. "Or the lack of me using my hands. They were really stressing that to me (Tuesday) – sat me down and showed me all of my rushes since I've been here. A lot of them I wasn't using my hands.

"I was just trying to beat guys with my body, maneuver around them. These guys use their hands really well, once they get them on you, you're done if you don't keep their hands off you.''

Numbers game

13 carries for the Broncos tailbacks who will play Saturday night against the Browns had in the '06 season. Cecil Sapp had 10, Cedric Cobbs had three and Selvin Young is a rookie and was playing at the University of Texas last year.

He said it

"It's not about getting beat man-to-man right now. It's mental errors. But we're not making excuses, we've just got to go out there and do a better job.''

Broncos linebacker D.J. Williams on the team's struggles against the run in the first two preseason games.

ETC.

• Tackle Jacob Rogers, who did not make the trip to Dallas last week because he was recovering from a knee injury, was waived Tuesday.

• Wide receiver David Kircus arrived while practice was already underway because of a court date. His arraignment on an assault charge was continued until Oct. 2. The charges stem from a May 20 fight. Kircus is charged with punching a man who then went to the hospital for facial fractures. Kircus has said he acted in self defense.

• Defensive tackle Alvin McKinley lined up some at end in Tuesday's practice as the Broncos try to find a combination that works given their injuries up front. The 294-pound McKinley played some end in Cleveland's 3-4 defense in his time with the Browns.

• Shanahan organized the Broncos practice and meeting schedule this week to mirror how things will go in the regular season. "Just gives all of the new people a chance to go through how it will go during the season,'' Shanahan said.

Injury report

• In addition to the team's injured running backs – Travis Henry (left knee), Mike Bell (left hip) and Andre Hall (right hamstring) – tackle Adam Meadows (left calf), defensive end Tim Crowder (left ankle) and safety Curome Cox (shoulder) did not practice Tuesday.

legwoldj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2359

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