NHL News: Denver Broncos hit by another injury
At first, it was the Sacks King Elvis Dumervil who became a victim to his injuries. Now it appears that Jarvis Moss might have broken a bone in his right hand. That’s tough luck for the Broncos because Elvis was not only leading the Broncos in Sacks but the entire league with 17 sacks last season.
The impact of his ouster from the team won’t be felt immediately in terms of plays but the Broncos general manager certainly would be feeling uneasy. Barely a few weeks ago, the team offered Elvis a contract extension worth $43 million guaranteed and before the team could see a return on their investment, Elvis tore a chest muscle. He is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday.
The second major injury on the Broncos squad had to be Elvis’ replacement, Jarvis Moss. As deep as the Broncos might be, the two injuries combined would have left them in an unsavoury position. Fortunately for the Broncos though, Moss would only miss practices and would be ready to play before the season opens. Safety Brian Dawkins had faced a similar injury last season and was back after two weeks. Without Elvis, there is added pressure on Moss and a greater urgency for him to be present at practices.
Mario Haggan and Jarvis Moss would try to replace Elvis but there really is no replacing a player like him. The 2009 first round draft pick Robert Ayers said that no matter what kind of a performance he delivered this season, it wouldn’t make up for Elvis’ absence because with Elvis by his side, he would have done better.
There is now an unexpected additional pressure on the remainder of the Broncos squad to do better. For some players that would serve as motivation and for others it would strain their nerves. Quarterback Champ Bailey must be placed in the first group of players. He said that the string of injuries, major and minor, which have been hampering the Broncos bid for NFL glory, were a part of the game. “We've got to live with it,” he said.
The Broncos coach was as upbeat about the whole situation as one could expect him to be considering that the team now needs him to perform some kind of a miracle. He has no intentions of doing that though. "Nobody is going to replace him as an individual. We know that," McDaniel’s said. "We're not going to try to do that."
While Dumervil’s injury is certainly the most severe, but the list doesn’t stop there. The training camp so far has been nothing but disaster. The Broncos had earlier placed wide receiver Kenny McKinley and safety Josh Barret on an injured reserve list. The two won’t be playing this season. LenDale White, who was supposed to replace the injured Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter, was also seen walking off the field with a trainer a few days ago. Moreno and Buckhalter were forced out on the very first day of training. Chris Kuper strained his ankle and earlier this offseason and perhaps the most serious blow to the Broncos was left tackle Ryan Clady injury. He tore his patellar tendon while playing baseball.
D.J Williams and Brian Dawkins have also been missing practices but it is not known if that is because of injuries or not.
If one tries really hard to find a silver lining in this mess then they probably can. Often when leading players are injured, younger athletes get a chance to prove themselves and get some time on the field. Sometimes exceptional talents are discovered while the injured players recover.
In all likelihood, that won’t happen with the Broncos but in the very least, the younger players would get some much needed NFL exposure. The slight upside, however just simply cannot make up for the blow that the Broncos have been dealt with. A mammoth task lies ahead for Coach Josh McDaniels to somehow pull through with all the injuries and missed practices this season.
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