"There's a new, 3-inch scar on Champ Bailey's left elbow. Consider it just another reminder, albeit a tangible one, of the painful 2008 season. Bailey underwent surgery Jan. 8 to repair the elbow - injured in the season finale against San Diego - and said late last week he is about a month away from being fully recovered. He only hopes the defense can be so easily repaired. "We've got to know what we're good at and what we're best at," Bailey said. "That's been a distant thing around here the last two or three years." Bailey, who turns 31 in June, is coming off the worst statistical season of his career after missing seven games with a torn groin. Bailey said he likes at least some of the changes he has seen

so far from the Broncos' new staff, starting with the addition of three proven veterans: safeties Brian Dawkins and Renaldo Hill, and cornerback Andre Goodman. "I'll tell you what, we're a pack of veterans," Bailey said. "We've got a lot of experience back there. I think if there's one area where we can definitely look at and say, 'We're going to be good,' it's definitely our defensive backfield." It is too soon to tell, Bailey said, how the rest of the defense will perform. New head coach Josh McDaniels and defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, who was Bailey's defensive coordinator with the Washington Redskins in 1999, plan to run a 3-4 defensive scheme at least part of the time and have made several personnel moves in the offseason to help make the switch from a 4-3. But none of the additions to the defensive line (such as tackle Ronnie Fields) or the linebacker corps (such as ILB Andra Davis) match the impact of the players added to the secondary, and Bailey said he was interested to see how returning players such as Elvis Dumervil and Jarvis Moss handle the switch from defensive end to outside linebacker."