The answer on Ben Hamilton came Friday … and although it was necessary, it was one neither the guard nor the Broncos wanted — placement on the injured reserve list, summarily ending the starting left guard’s season without as much as a preseason snap.
“I just felt if it was my son, and he was Ben, there’s no way I’d want him to play with what he’s going through,” Head Coach Mike Shanahan said following Friday afternoon’s practice. “Even though Ben didn’t really want to go on I.R. — because he was hoping any week the symptoms would clear up — it would still take him a month to get back in football shape, and I think that he was putting undue pressure on himself to get back too quickly.”
The decision came after a conversation Shanahan had with Hamilton and his wife regarding his situation, which had not improved in the weeks since he suffered the concussion during training camp.
“After talking to both of them for a while, we came to the conclusion that Ben is going to go on IR this season. We thought it was in Ben’s best interest.
“He’s been struggling for the last six or seven weeks and there’s a big question mark if he’d be ready for the remainder of the season. We felt it was not in his best interest to try to come back.”
Shanahan said that he didn’t expect to see Hamilton much at Broncos headquarters over the coming months, mainly because his problems don’t require medical treatment, just rest.
“I just think he needs a little time away for the symptoms to clear up a little bit,” Shanahan said. “Most people when they go on I.R., usually they don’t hang around the facility very much.
“We think it’s in his best interest to stay away and get better.”
Shanahan added that he expects Hamilton to return at “full speed” in 2008.
In other injury news, both John Lynch and Javon Walker were at practice Friday, but their participation was limited. Both are listed as questionable for Sunday’s game at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, as is tight end Stephen Alexander.
Tags: Ben Hamilton, Javon Walker, John Lynch, Mike Shanahan
I think this is classy move by Shanny, looking out for the health of one his own… unlike some peer of his over on the east coast… allegations or not. =/
A man’s long-term health is more important than a win or loss … and from what Shanahan said today, Hamilton wanted to come back, and the team advised him to take the more cautious route. That shows you how they care for their players around here.
who replaced him?
Class move by Shanahan, I’m glad to see Shanahan is one of the coaches taking concussions seriously. Best wishes to Ben on his recovery. Hopefully he’ll be back next year.
buckinbroncofan:
Chris Myers has been the starter in Hamilton’s absence. The team has not announced who will replace Hamilton on the 53-man roster.
No guards on the practice squad….whoever came back would probably be a candidate for Sunday’s inactive list. I wonder what kind of insurance M.S. has for injuries to Nalen and Myers? I hope Greg Eslinger is standing by his phone.
When I first heard the rumor Ben might be placed on IR, there was a second rumor that al Wilson was healthy and wanting to rejoin the team. Any truth to the Wilson rumor?
I haven’t heard anything beyond the rumors were spoken on television.
Well, I’m not sure I could handle Al Wilson rejoining the team. Short of Terrell Davis suiting back up, I’m not sure what would be more overjoying, and it would just be embarassing to well up about football.
I like the explanation of the IR placement; I wouldn’t have considered prolonging of the injury by trying to come back to soon, but with something like a concussion, it makes sense. Hopefully he’ll be fine in the long run.
that be cool to see wilson come back though, and another good player off the o-line………that isnt good,knowing we couldnt move the ball on the ground against jacksonville….
As Shannahan said, this is getting to the point of scary. I’m sure Hamilton is frustrated just like we fans are that he hasn’t been able to retake the field, but his health is more important. Good luck Ben.
I know a guy to fill Ben’s spot, Chris Watton. Somebody up there give this guy a chance!!!
Class organization! One of the many reasons Im a Bronco fan. You think they wont fill the position and leave it for Kenny Peterson since he returns from suspension after this game?
I’m glad to see he will get the rest he needs because health is more important than the game. It is sad to lose him as a player for the year though, he is a great lineman. I really feel like the Broncos are going to win this game against the Colts for some reason too, its a strange gut feeling…
Also I have not heard anything about the Al Wilson rumour, if that held to be true and he has recovered well that would be awsome and it would be amazing if he happend to come back to the Broncos as long as he is healthy enough to play since his health is obviously as important as Ben’s and neither should be playing if they are not fit to be.
On a side note…, how did Javon and Lynch look today while practicing, could you give any insight on what you feel each of their percent chance of playing sunday would be
BroncoFan1018:
I can’t really tell you how they looked … practice is closed to those of us who cover the team. All we can go by is the official post-practice report which details whether a player “fully participated,” had “limited participation” or “did not participate.”
Oh ok, I apologize, I was unaware that you did not get to view the practices. Thank you for the resoponse though, I’ll just keep hoping they are both healthy enough to play without risking the injury becoming more serious.
Very sad about Ben but he should look at it as adding another season to his belt, stay in shape and stay focused and have a killer year for us next year Ben we love ya!! Losing one of the best pass blocking guards in all of pro football hurts but Myers is doing a good job, keep up the good work Chris!
I want to thank you Mason for replying to my questions I posted last week about the fastest guy on the team and my feelings of a little lost passion by our fans that attend the games. I want all of those on here to know I am not trying to dog our team I just want us to get back where we were as a crowd like back in the 80s and 90s, they need our help! To anyone on here that will be attending games (like myself) lets get it up and get loud and bring back that mile high thunder baby, SOUTH STANDS!! WHERE U AT BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO BRONCOS!!!!!!
Hey Drew, This is a little off the subject, but could you tell me why they don’t post Nate Jackson’s Journal as a blog post so that we could leave comments for him? He is a magnificent writer, and I think many of us would like to tell him how much we enjoy his work (no offense to you, you’re pretty good too). Anyway, see what you can do, I know you have a lot of pull around there
As for the Al Wilson rumors, I would literally crap my pants with joy and excitement if he came back. The first thing I did on Madden 08′ is sign him from the free agent market. If there is a God, please let Al come back to help us stop the run!!!!!!!
Oh, this is not what i want to hear… John Lynch & Javon Walker questionable for Sunday, of all games!!! I don’t like this one bit… I feel for Hamilton I hope he gets better soon, maybe a miracle will happen like what happend to Mike Kitna… wouldn’t that be a sight, eh??
I just hope & pray Lynch and Walker play on Sunday. Otherwise I think my hope is somewhat dim like a bad lightbulb… I’ll keep my hopes up high but we need our best to play at what I call “the Dome of Doom”. I probably just gave them a great nickname but its true. I’ve got nerves of steel over here, more nervous than the whole team. I hope we can walk in there with a smart plan for this whole thing to execute a great game, not good, GREAT — but I also want us to go in there & own that football field. We just have to be smart about our game plan & follow through with it. We can beat this team, just another football team with the weirdest quarterback (Manning) just weird. Just gotta show ‘em a little Bronco Thunder on their own territory.
If Al came back wow we could move dj back and put Al at middle again just like last year. Even if Al doesnt come back i hope the best for Al. Andrew do you know any updates or anything on the subject like if he would be claimed of waivers by another team or if he could come back if healthy? Al is a great football player and an even better person bringing him back would give us a defensive boost.
what with the AJ Nichols workout are we giving up on Dj Williams Playing Middle linebacker
It really is to bad about Mr. Hamilton. A lot of very good defensive lineman have said that he was one of the best guards they ever faced. Great foot work, excellent balance, and he plays the position with a mean streak. I’m glad though that Ryan Harris is back in the mix. Through out the draft every analyst said that if this kid played with more aggression and a little bit more strength at the point of attack he would have been a first round pick. If there is any team that can bring this out of him I think it’s the Broncos. I know I’d love to see Al Wilson back in Orange and Blue but I think we are giving up on Williams with out just cause. I’m as frustrated as anyone else when I see the missed assignment but I do see him getting better. The problem that I see is in the details. Missed tackles, blown assignments, and not playing instinctively. We have a lot of new and young players on both sides of the ball and the defensive schematic that Jim Bates runs is one of the most complicated 4-3 designs in the league. Yes it’s tough to watch them struggle at times but when you look at defensive stands like the one’s the Broncos made not once or twice but three time’s on the goal-line then I think you get a picture of how good they’ll be when it all comes together. Putting Al Wilson into a brand new scheme at this point of the season would not only exasperate the situation further but it would deliver a serious blow to D.J. Williams confidence. It’s academic though as I very much doubt that Denver would do this. I do hope that Javon and Lynch can play and while their injuries are a point of concern I think the area of the game that worries me the most is Mike Heimerdinger’s inability to get the Tight Ends involved in the passing game. Looking back at his latest works in New York and in Tennessee I think that this is a fundamental flaw in his offensive planning. When teams are stacking seven or eight guys in the box to stop the run you throw the ball to your tight ends over the middle then attack with the long ball to the outside. If you burn them enough they’ll have to play more conventionaly. Especially with the limited number of times the Broncos were on the field last Sunday you have to get the tight ends the ball. A perfect example of this was Denver’s game winning strategy against the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl 32. The reason that Green Bay couldn’t stack the box all day was the fact that they had to respect TE Shannon Sharp’s pass catching skills. Where he went the safety had to follow. Coach Del Rio new going into the game against Denver that Heimerdinger was not going to throw the ball to his TE’s no matter what happened. Stack the box, double Walker all day and Denver’s problems would be to great to overcome. This is also the reason we have not seen more of Tony Scheffler. You’ll notice last year as the Broncos season began that everyone took note of the absence of Denver’s tight ends in the passing attack. The result, low scoring, close games, and the defense being on the field a lot more than the offense. Then Jay Cutler comes in as the starting QB and Mike Shanahan takes greater control of the offense to ensure a smoother transition for his rookie quarterback. The result, Tony Scheffler’s emergence as a player you had to respect down field, higher scoring games, and a better ability to run the ball in critical situations. Now at the beginning of a new season the coaching staff sees Jay Cutler as a starter who doesn’t need as many plays that lend themselves to his compfort level. Heimerdinger reasserts his game plan and the results are the same as last years start. In this case I believe it is more about Heimerdinger’s input to the system than it is the players. This above all other things is what the Broncos need to correct. If not we’ll see a result not dissimilar to that of the 2005 Jets (4-12). I hope not because the one team that I want to see the Broncos beat this year is the Colts ( and the Pats if we get that far!).
Mike in San Diego
We’ll miss you Hamilton. Did I hear somebody say my favorite defensive player of all time is healthy???? Al Wilson, thats where I get the 56 at the end of my screen name. I was devistated the day he retired. I agree with archangel77 though. If he joined the team now, it may set us back a little. I think all the Linebackers are talented, but as far as fundamentals go, there was none better than Wilson. I hope he gets another chance to play for Denver. So tommorrow is a HUGE test for us. We have injuries at some key positions. Anybody know when or if Rod Smith will return this year? Would like to see him play soon, he won’t be able last in the league much longer. Glad to see the coaching staff has realized that D. Hixon is not the answer to return kicks or punts. This kid runs so timid, and with no heart. Our special teams needs a spark. Again we are do a break-out game, so why not against the colts. I’m rambling, so I’ll sign off. Very nervous about the game tommorow. But all who doubt the Broncos, remember, Colorado Buffs were not given a chance either, and they shocked the world, knocking off #3. On any given sunday, anything can happen. Go Broncos, “Let’s Roll”.
Heart & emotion..
This is something that is intangible and I thought we would have no problems with after off-field tragedies over the past 9 months. The defense has no tenacity and no heart..they look as if they are going out and going through the motions. Jay Cutler shows about as much emotion as someone doing their taxes. He has no leadership abilities and frankly is making the same mistakes over and over again and not learning from them. I know this is BOLD but I am questioning this team’s heart as a whole. What is this season about? Do you think the two we lost in the offseason are looking down and seeing a team that is doing everything they can to win games? My three year old shows more heart cheering for you than you do on the field! Show some emotion and heart broncos!