Fans won’t be lining the fields at Dove Valley this August to watch outside linebacker Robert Ayers. But, after Tim Tebow, Ayers might be the most important player in Broncos training camp.

After a weekend minicamp in which Ayers participated only one of three days on the defense, and even that was with the second team, the 2009 first-round pick has a lot to prove.

Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said the situation that led to Ayers’ benching was resolved and both sides are moving forward, so at least that shouldn’t linger until training camp.

“It was (hard to sit out), but it was for a good reason,” Ayers told MaxDenver.com. “At the end, it’ll make me a better player and a better person.

“Every rep you miss is always a loss. You just learn from your mistakes and move forward, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Ayers is now apparently in a competition with another former first-round pick, Jarvis Moss.

“They are going to be competing,” McDaniels said. “It will be interesting to see how they handle it, but I think both of them have improved because of it and we are going to let that play out.”

Perhaps Moss is finally prepared to make an impact, but that certainly wasn’t Denver’s plan. Ayers was promoted during the offseason despite no sacks last year. One of the reasons the Broncos cut Andra Davis was because Ayers was moving into the starting lineup and Mario Haggan was moving inside.

The Broncos gave Ayers every chance to take hold of the starting outside linebacker spot opposite Elvis Dumervil. If he doesn’t win it, it would be a horrible sign for the Broncos, who took Ayers 18th overall last season.

Plenty of eyes will be on Ayers in a couple of months to see what he does with his opportunity after he took a step back this week.

Rookie receiver Demaryius Thomas beat cornerback Champ Bailey for a touchdown in a red-zone drill today. Quarterback Tim Tebow had a good practice after struggling the past few the media have watched. Rookie offensive linemen Zane Beadles and J.D. Walton continued to work with the starting offense.

But of all the rookies so far this offseason, cornerback Perrish Cox might be the most surprising. Cox, a fifth-round pick, has shown good athleticism to go with above average size for the position. he broke up a pass in the end zone during one play in practice and had a reception line of veteran defensive backs ready to congratulate him.

“He’s a rookie like everybody else who’s come in here and he’s made his share of mistakes but he’s also earned, I think, some of the respect of the veterans – there’s some trust that I think he’s probably earned,” Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said.

Although Nate Jones has been working as the third cornerback in the nickel package, Cox has been mixed in with the starting defense when Champ Bailey or Andre Goodman takes a play off.

Cox, Alphonso Smith and Jones seem to be headed towards a competition for two spots as nickel and dime cornerback. Cox was also an exceptional punt returner in college and could fill that role for the Broncos.

Cox slipped in the draft because of character issues, not concerns about his talent, and he has done well for the Broncos so far.

“He’s made mistakes that cost us but he doesn’t usually make the same mistake multiple times which is very important for a young player to learn,” McDaniels said. “I think he goes about his business every day. He’s out there working hard. He’s here early and stays late. He’s trying to find a role in the kicking game as well as competing at both sides at corner. He hasn’t disappointed us in terms of what we thought we were getting.”

In March, Josh McDaniels was asked about Kyle Orton’s role after the Brady Quinn trade.

“He is our starter,” McDaniels said. “There is no question.”

Then he was asked again after the Broncos drafted Tim Tebow on April 22.

“Our starting quarterback is Kyle Orton,” McDaniels said.

And again, after the second day of the draft April 23, McDaniels was asked if Orton was the starter.

“Still, no question,” McDaniels said.

And then on May 24 someone asked if Orton was the starter until someone took the job from him.

“That’s usually how it goes,” McDaniels said. “The starter is the starter until somebody beats him out.”

With national television media in Denver for the first day of the Broncos’ mandatory minicamp, they asked McDaniels again.

“Kyle’s certainly got a great grasp on what we’re doing and he’s performing very well right now in the spring and the two younger guys are trying to push,” McDaniels said.

McDaniels isn’t clear on everything – as the situation with Robert Ayers’ benching in practice shows – but he has been clear on Orton’s status. Someone might beat him in training camp, but Orton is the starter. McDaniels usually includes a line or two about every position being open for competition – and that has opened up round after round of (unnecessary) “quarterback controversy” questions.

There is no controversy. Orton is without any doubt the Broncos’ starting quarterback. He’s not guaranteed to start opening day, but as McDaniels says, nobody is.

Yet, he faced another round of questions about Orton and the “quarterback controversy” today, and answered like he has for three months.

“He is the starter,” McDaniels said with a laugh “What do you want me to expound on it? He is the starter. No doubt.”

McDaniels was asked how he could have a quarterback competition but yet, have a starting quarterback.

“That’s how it is on every team in the league,” McDaniels said. “Somebody beats out a starter, they become the starter. Pretty simple to me.”

McDaniels was asked if he likes the quarterback situation to be resolved early on.

“There’s nothing to be resolved really,” McDaniels said. “We’ve got a guy who’s going to go into camp as the starter, no question about it and he deserves it and if somebody comes in there and plays better than he does then that player will play.”

McDaniels couldn’t be clearer with his words, and what the quarterbacks have shown in offseason practices has backed him up.

Orton has looked sharp in training camp most days, and Quinn and Tebow have had their struggles (although, as McDaniels pointed out, all three quarterbacks looked good today). Orton has done everything he can to create a significant cushion between him and the other two quarterbacks on the roster, after throwing for 3,802 yards and 21 touchdowns last year. If he isn’t the starter for the season opener, it would be a pretty big upset.

“It’s clear Kyle is ahead,” McDaniels said to yet another question about the quarterback competition today. “There’s no question.”

The Broncos had a few players in different spots for the first day of a three-day mandatory minicamp.

- The biggest change was at linebacker. Elvis Dumervil didn’t take any snaps in team work (he is practicing on an injury waiver because he hasn’t signed his tender) and Robert Ayers was mysteriously on the sideline for almost all of the practice. Jarvis Moss and Kevin Alexander got most of the snaps with the first-team defense.

When asked about Ayers, a 2009 first-round pick who the Broncos are expecting a lot out of this year, McDaniels didn’t offer much of an explanation.

“That was just a coaching decision, just to do that today,” McDaniels said.

- With Russ Hochstein out, Zane Beadles was with the first-team offense at left guard. Beadles was drafted in the second round as a tackle with the ability to move inside, and McDaniels said he hasn’t been established as a guard yet. The team was just getting him some work at guard because he has had more at tackle.

“At some point, we will make a determination at where we think he has to stay, so we can focus on him improving and competing for a position,” McDaniels said.

- Marquez Branson, who can play tight end and fullback, is out with an injury. McDaniels wouldn’t say what his injury is. Receiver Brandon Stokley is also out with an injury.

Linebacker Darrrell Reid (knee surgery) hasn’t practiced all offseason, and might not be ready to start training camp.

“He may be one of the few that goes into training camp and can’t really participate right away,” McDaniels said.

- At cornerback, rookie Perrish Cox – who has looked good in minicamp practices – worked in with the first-team defense when Champ Bailey or Andre Goodman took a few plays off. Nate Jones was the first-team nickel cornerback, however.

Rookie receiver Demaryius Thomas showed a couple of times why the Broncos selected him in the first round. He extended to catch some passes that were placed high by quarterback Kyle Orton – who had a good day – taking advantage of his 6-3, 229-pound frame. On one play he made a great leaping catch over cornerback Tony Carter. Thomas had been out of practice with a broken foot until last week, but is quickly showing he belongs.

However, Josh McDaniels sees the other side of it – a first-year player still learning the offense and missing some assignments as he goes. At one point, McDaniels pulled Thomas to the side to explain a mistake in his route.

“It’s like a typical rookie day, made some big plays, made some nice catches, and had a couple drops and ran a few wrong routes,” McDaniels said. “He’d slap his helmet after the play is over like ‘I can’t believe I just did that.’ But happy to have him out there.

“He certainly has shown the ability to make a difference when he’s out there. We’ll see if we can get him to do the right thing every time. But he’s made progress every day.”

Since Champ Bailey came to Denver in 2004, he has always been a guy who will speak his mind and give a good sense of what the team is thinking on certain topics. When it comes to outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil waiting for his contract, Bailey made it clear: He thinks the Broncos need to pay him.

“I’m trying not to bite my tongue, and trying not to say too much at the same time,” Bailey said. “He’s a guy that we need. I wish things would work out a lot faster than they are. Hopefully by the time when it counts, for the season, we’ll have it done. Because we need him.”

Bailey did say he thinks Dumervil will show up to training camp, because he has handled himself as a professional. However, the Broncos players would “absolutely” understand if he holds out. Eventually, Bailey sounded optimistic the team would pay Dumervil what he is worth.

“I think it’s a no brainer he’ll be here, because they know what they have,” Bailey said.

Most of the Broncos’ veterans have been excused from the last two practices to give the younger and new players more practice time. Those practices might have reinforced Kyle Orton’s value to the team.

The defense had more established players practicing and almost all of the receivers the offense has been using won’t be on the final roster. Also, practices in June aren’t the ultimate measure of any player. Still, Brady Quinn and Tim Tebow didn’t have their best days without Orton in practice. After Tebow threw an interception to Wesley Woodyard, coach Josh McDaniels screamed at the offense.

However, McDaniels didn’t seem concerned afterwards. He acknowledged that when there are turnovers a lot of times the defense makes a good play. And that his quarterbacks were working with an unusual crew of receivers. He was asked if the quarterbacks were progressing as fast as he would like.

“Sometimes, sometimes not,” McDaniels said. “You know I’m going to yell at them when they make mistakes and we’re going to coach them hard. Right now we’re showing them so many different things out there on defense, and a lot of times it’s their first time seeing something. If that’s the case, you’re going to make some mistakes. That’s what what we go into the film room and work through.

“I think there’s a lot of progress being made at that position. There’s a lot of little things you guys don’t get a chance to see or hear that to me shows a big step in the right direction.”

Quinn threw a couple of interceptions in one period, one to Alphonso Smith and another to Woodyard. Tebow made a few good passes and missed on others. On one, he threw just a bit high and wide to Richard Quinn in a red-zone drill, the ball deflected off Quinn’s hands to safety David Bruton. Both quarterbacks missed their share of throws – although having inexperienced receivers can result in a bad-looking pass.

Tebow has consistently held the ball too long in the pocket as he gets used to the offense. Part of that is being in a structured practice setting. Tebow isn’t going to take off and run, which was a big part of his college success (and ultimately his freelancing will be a big part of his game in the pros), and McDaniels doesn’t want that right now.

“You can’t go out and practice a bunch of – ‘Hey guys, miss the protection on the right side on this play so we see how he reacts,’” McDaniels said. “We’re going to get some of that at some point. That’s when his ability, or any players’ ability, starts to happen in a freelance mode.

“We want him to be as solid as we can get him to be playing in our offense without having to do that stuff. Then you get him into a game situation and a play breaks down and they can’t tackle him, or they can’t chase him, or they can’t catch him, now all of a sudden we buy four or five extra seconds in the pocket. Those are some plays we’re going to see in a game we’re not going to see in practice.”

J.J. Arrington missed all of last year when his knee didn’t heal, then missed all of May waiting to get well. He’s not totally healthy yet – he said he was about 85 percent and should improve more in the next few weeks – but he was back at practice. He didn’t do any team drills, but it was a nice step for the veteran running back.

“You just have to have faith,” Arrington said. “I kept pushing.”

Arrington’s health would be good for the Broncos. Not only does it give them extra running back depth after Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter, Arrington would be a candidate to be Denver’s primary kickoff returner, a role Josh McDaniels has said Arrington is a good fit for.

Arrington faces a much bigger test in August. He and the Broncos won’t know for sure that he can handle the rigors of a NFL season on his knee until he goes through the grind of training camp.

Tim Tebow isn’t the first rookie quarterback to struggle a bit during an offseason camp practice. And it probably won’t be his last poor practice.

But, the first-round pick’s every move is being watched, and he was not very accurate today. Early in practice he missed receiver Alric Arnett, then a couple plays later threw way behind tight end Riar Geer. He had a pass tipped at the line that was intended to tight end Richard Quinn. A few plays later he missed badly to Quinn on a pass that hit the ground before it got to him. Tebow himself singled out another bad pass – a crossing route to open receiver Patrick Honeycutt that was behind Honeycutt and too low, and hit the ground.

Tebow continued to be a bit wild, missing some receivers by throwing behind or low or leading them too far. He did have some very nice throws, mostly on out routes – one of the toughest passes a quarterback can make. He had a fantastic throw to Arnett in the corner of the end zone that had great velocity. He called out a blitz at the line on one play, then calmly hit Arnett on a crossing route, showing he is starting to understand the offense a little.

Brady Quinn had a couple bad passes as well, throwing a couple interceptions early in practice. Part of the quarterbacks’ struggles (Kyle Orton was excused) was working with many rookie receivers as the veterans got the day off of practice.

So it wasn’t all bad for Tebow, but he’s still got a long ways to go.

“I was probably a little bit more happy with some of the reads,” Tebow said about his day. “I still got to get more consistent with some of them. Your accuracy comes when you know where to go and when to go to.”

Critics have pointed to Tebow’s accuracy as a potential problem for him, but they also rip him for lack of arm strength and that doesn’t seem to be an issue at all. He consistently throws the ball with above average velocity. He said his new delivery has helped his arm strength, and that appears to be true.

“No issues, none at all in terms of his arm strength, velocity, anything like that,” Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said.

McDaniels did also point out some of the negatives and positives for Tebow when asked to analyze what he has seen after about a month of practices.

“Tim is progressing well in terms of understanding what the offense is asking him to do,” McDaniels said. “No issues in terms of calling the plays in the huddle or communicating with his teammates and what he wants from them.

“Right now, until you understand exactly what’s going on every play, until you have your head and eyes in the right place in every snap as a quarterback playing in our system, or any other system at this level, it’s hard to consistently look the right way.

“There’s certainly a bunch of good plays, and there’s some other ones where we have to work hard to get him right. That’s what we’re doing, that’s what he’s doing.”

Tebow said his biggest ongoing challenge is playing faster – thinking faster, and with his feet. That should come with time, but he isn’t there yet.

“Sometimes you’re still thinking, overthinking things sometimes instead of reacting and playing,” Tebow said. “I think that’s a big thing as a rookie. you’re trying to do everything right and thinking about everything. Am I doing this right? What’s he doing? How am I going to do this? Sometimes it’s just reacting and playing and playing and knowing your assignment.”

I’ve never heard a new defensive coordinator preach to anyone, media or players, that he will have a passive defense. Nobody comes into his first meeting and insists this will be the year the defense bends but doesn’t break. And, since I cover the Denver Broncos, I’ve covered many new defensive coordinators. The team has had five different coordinators the last five seasons. They all say the same thing: Their defense will be aggressive (although, perhaps Bob Slowik should have just said up front his defense would be more passive than most).

And Denver’s newest coordinator, Don “Wink” Martindale, is also going to run an aggressive defense. Or so his players say (the media has not been allowed to speak to Martindale yet).

“How aggressive the calls he makes will be determined by the players and how we execute,” linebacker Akin Ayodele said. “The more we know now, the better we can execute now, the more he’ll call the plays or call the blitzes he wants to call.”

“It’s going to be very, very full steam ahead,” defensive lineman Jarvis Green said.

Surprise, surprise.

I am skeptical how much more aggressive the Broncos will be. Don’t forget, there was a report in January that Mike Nolan was told he would be blitzing less in 2010, which the report said led to Nolan leaving. Josh McDaniels later denied that. Even if that report isn’t true, Nolan was pretty aggressive at times and it’s hard to imagine Martindale will go far beyond that. If anything, having a stout, stable defensive line will mean the linebackers won’t have to take as many chances. I just don’t see the Broncos blitzing that much more than they did last year. And even though aggressive can’t be synonymous with blitzing, Nolan’s defense last season – especially early in the year – was very good at swarming the ball. That shouldn’t change much either.

Overall, we have no idea what Martindale’s defenses will look like. While there are signs he might be more aggressive – players have said it looks like there will be more man coverage, aside from the expected offseason chatter from the players about the scheme being more aggressive – Martindale hasn’t been a coordinator since 2003 when he was at Western Kentucky University. He’s kind of a wild card for the 2010 Broncos season at this point.

For now, we’ll wait for training camp and preseason to make judgments on what Martindale’s defensive scheme will look like – and take the offseason chatter with a grain of salt.