Brandon Marshall is not staging a holdout. He is not about to be traded. And he has not been suspended.
So the drama behind his absence from the Broncos' practice Thursday may not have been all that dramatic, even as Marshall's display during practice Wednesday created another episode to "As Brandon's World Turns."
In a report aired by KMGH-7 from Wednesday's practice, Marshall was nonchalant during drills and was caught punting the ball away when the drill was finished.
Perhaps realizing the video of his behavior may not help him draw interest from other teams, Marshall quickly went into spin control during an interview late Thursday night on ESPN's "NFL Live" show.
"I'm not going to do whatever it takes (to be traded)," Marshall said. "I'm not out there trying to be a distraction to the team. Unfortunately, (Wednesday) I kind of let my frustration get the best of me. I definitely want a fresh new start with everything that is going on, not just this year but in past years. It's been a lot. Unfortunately, I let my emotions get the best of me and I apologize to everyone for that."
Although Marshall did not practice Thursday, he was at the team's headquarters during the session. It appears Marshall was held out for punitive reasons for his conduct during practice Wednesday.
"Me punting the ball was definitely frustration," Marshall told ESPN. "It was an error in judgment. There was a lot of frustration yesterday coming out of a meeting."
In another drill, Marshall did not take his turn in running routes or catching passes, instead accepting the task of using a blocking dummy to knock receivers off their route. At the end of this drill, the KMGH video caught Marshall batting a ball away.
Marshall also implied some of the video, which included him sitting on pads before practice started, was taken out of context.
"I'm not going to talk about it," said Broncos coach Josh McDaniels. "There's a number of reasons why a guy might not be ready and able to go out here, and without going into detail on everyone's situation, it's either my decision or our training staff's decision that the guy can't go out here and do what we would ask him to do."
Marshall has let it be known he is an unhappy employee. He is so unhappy with the $2.198 million salary remaining on his contract, and the negative publicity he has received for his off-field incidents the past two years, he has asked to be traded.
The Broncos are not engaged in trade talks or contract negotiations. Marshall reiterated Broncos owner Pat Bowlen told him in June that he would be traded. Bowlen has never publicly discussed the meeting.
If Marshall is not traded?
"I have to be professional about it and get ready for the season with the Broncos and go out there and put the team in the best position to win," Marshall said. "I think we have a great group of guys and have a great chance of winning."
"We don't want Vick. He'll spread herpes to our women."
