UPDATED 5:48 P.M. MDT
While Travis Henry did not take part in Wednesday’s practice to rest his aching knee and ankle, safety John Lynch practiced and declared himself ready to play against his hometown team Sunday.
“He’s back,” Lynch said, smiling, as he paused before heading into the locker room following the two-and-a-quarter-hour session at Broncos headquarters.
Lynch was listed on the official injury report as having “limited participation,” but left the field satisfied with his day of work.
“I was very pleased,” Lynch added. “I also did a little on Friday, but I came out here, practiced a complete practice and felt good. I’m excited.”
In looking back, Lynch understood why the coaches opted to shelve him at Indianapolis, even though he chafed on the sideline watching Colts runners carve the Broncos defense for 226 rushing yards — the most permitted by the Broncos in a game since Dec. 28, 2003.
“(Sitting out) was probably the smart thing,” Lynch said. “It’s the last thing you want to do, but that’s what makes Mike (Shanahan) a successful coach. He knew that would be a hard decision for me, so he made the decision himself.
“I didn’t necessarily like it, but in retrospect it was the right thing to do, and I feel good.”
In addition to Henry, three other players did not practice on Wednesday: defensive tackle Sam Adams, safety Hamza Abdullah and wide receiver Javon Walker. Adams has not practiced on Wednesdays all year and his absence was listed as a “team decision,” as it has the past four weeks. Abdullah has been ruled out with a hip injury, while Walker missed the session as he continues to grapple with the right-knee inflammation that sideliend him last week.
Henry was “a little bit sore,” Head Coach Mike Shanahan said. The MRI examination he underwent on his ankle and knee came up negative, but Shanahan nevertheless opted to hold the running back on the sidelines for the day.
Eight other players were listed as having “limited participation” on Wednesday: tight end Stephen Alexander (calf), running back Mike Bell (concussion), kicker Jason Elam (right hip), defensive end John Engelberger (shoulder), offensive tackle Ryan Harris (back), running back Paul Smith (neck) and wide receiver Brandon Stokley (calf).
Meanwhile, the Broncos will not be able to bring Domenik Hixon back onto the practice squad if they so desired, as the New York Giants claimed the second-year wide receiver and kick returner off waivers. The Giants’ coaching staff includes Thomas McGaughey, who worked as a special-teams assistant for the Broncos in 2005 and 2006.
Denver’s practice squad now stands at seven players after the Wednesday signing of preseason roster casualty Marquay McDaniel; the wide receiver and kick returner initially joined the team as an undrafted rookie from Hampton signee before being released in August.
With Hixon gone, Andre Hall is atop the depth chart at kickoff returner, while Glenn Martinez is shown as the first-team punt returner. Coincidentally, both are from the greater Tampa Bay area; Hall went to Dixie Hollins H.S. in St. Petersburg, while Martinez attended Auburndale H.S.
Tags: John Lynch, Travis Henry
[...] Andrew Mason reports that John Lynch went through a full practice Wednesday and felt good. Lynch even said he hadn’t wanted to sit out on Sunday, but put his faith in the coach. “(Sitting out) was probably the smart thing,” Lynch said. “It’s the last thing you want to do, but that’s what makes Mike a successful coach. He knew that would be a hard decision for me, so he made the decision himself. [...]
Man thats kind of a bummer Hixon got picked up. I really think he could have been a good reciver for us… Thanks for ANS some of our questions Andrew.
This in my eyes will have a big impact on the game sunday….this will help the pass game when we play zone, and obviously the run game Lynch contributes to every sunday….
We must win this game sunday….
GO ROCKIES!!!!!!!!!!!
Dixon never should have made the team over Brian Clark anyways.Dixon will get alot of time with the Giants. I just hope we don’t get outcoached again like we did against the Jags.
oh yeah, the Raiders Suck!!!!! Commitment to excrement.
I am I the only one here that is EXCITED that Hixon who never gave us any good field position is out of here??? Thank you NY GIANTS!
Stokes and Walker had better be healthy for this game. It is definitely a must win. A win keeps us tied for first and puts the Chargers far enough in the cellar that we shouldn’t need to worry about them for the rest of the year. We know it is only a matter of time before the Raiders fall apart, and the Chiefs suck pretty bad too. The division is our to lose, hopefully we can pull it off.
What I don’t want to see is Hixon blowing up in NY. If we see improved blocking and Hall makes things happen that will be fantastic. If the Broncos can win the field position battle against the Chargers I think it could be a long day for the Bolts. If, as I fear is the case, we’ve gone a long way to losing a good prospective receiver and not truly correcting the Special Teams problem then we could have a very frustrating day. At any rate I can’t help but believe that Lynch wants anything more than to get out on that field and detonate a Charger after being on the sidelines for the Colts game. Lynch has always been ready for the Chargers and a win this Sunday could put quite a few nails in the coffin their season is precariously sitting in. Sorry about the last part, Halloween you know.
Dominate! Hammer those Chargers!
Mike in San Diego
hey what about marshall that guy can dance put him in on kick returns
selvin young could be really good back there returning. what we need is for todd to start boooming his kickoffs like he did back in 05 cuz we hav the worst kick coverage team i’ve seen in a long time. john comming back will really help our run D the jags didnt really start dominating us untill john went down. i think not drafting a OLB is really hurting us cuz we cant get the production from webster that we got from D.J. when he was @ that position, but he has done a good job in replacing Al Wilson. cant wait to see what our offense does when Rod and Tony are back in the starting lineup.
I agree with Selvin Young, I think he could really do things back there, but it remains to be seen if Henry is going to go, and I don’t think they will want to risk their RB2 on returns. Similar situation with Marshall.
Sauebrun has been booming his punts at least, but he hasn’t got his touch right now, a lot of them are going into the endzone. Unfortunately the same cannot be said about his kickoffs.
It still amazed me that Ernster decimated (I thought) Sauerbrun in the preseason stats and was cut in reward Time to come through with that promise, Sauerbrun.
As I recall John Lynch had some uh… well, at least minor success blitzing against the Chargers a couple years back. Seems like some Breez guy got the worst of that affair (though he got a new team out of it). Not to tell Bates what to do, and I highly doubt he A) will read this or B) would care, but it seems like some Lynch Blitz might be just what we need. After all, even when he HASN’T been sidelined during a painful defensive showing, a steady diet of galvanized steel nails only does so much to satisfy John Lynch’s hunger… I’m glad I don’t wear navy blue with white and yellow, that’s all I’m saying.
Selvin Young may well be awesome down the road… or up it, he’s looking real good so far. Not sure if returning punts is where I want him, though. I don’t know if everyone else noticed or not, but the picture on the homepage linking to this blog entry had Al Wilson on the right side. I hope that’s some kind of hint. I still haven’t regained full motion in my left shoulder from watching a hit he put on a Raider a few seasons back (snow game, throwback jerseys, pain).
Is Rod making notable progress or is it looking like he probably won’t make it back this season? And Javon, Mike Bell, Hamza Abdullah, Stephen Alexander, Jason Elam, John Engelberger, Ryan Harris, Paul Smith, and Brandon Stokley are all day to day and not long-term at all, correct?
cutler sucks he couldnt carry jake’s water and its time 4 mike to get out of town i have loved the broncos since 84 i cry and cheer with jon and the boys of the past why you ever forshaked jake ill never know but mike got to go now
“John Lynch went through a full practice Wednesday”
How can that fail to cheer people up after a two game losing streak?
What are you talking about? Cutler is a very good QB, especially for how wet bhind the ears he is, since I still consider this his first year. Jake was a good QB, don’t get me wrong, but he wasn’t consistant, much like Grossman for Chicago. (good jake, bad jake)
I’ve also thought about Slevin Young returning kicks, That kid has great moves and good sight, I think he would do phenominal. Let him return kicks, play Henry as our Running Back a few plays, after Slevin has gotten some rest, bring him out on 3rd down or so, you know, change it up. I remember watching Champ return kicks at one time, so I don’t think they should be too worried about using a RB, we have like 4 last I checked.
As for Rod smith, I too wonder how he’s doing. I haven’t heard anything about him since he was put on IR. Would love to know if it looks like he’s going to be able to make it back after/around our bye week.
As for Al Wilson, I love the guy, but he’s getting up there in years in regards to football. I’d love to see him back, but it would be a temporary fix at best, but I suppose all things in football are temporary.
I know you all have been impressed with Young, but Andre Hall had a GREAT training camp and I thought he actually looked better than Young in much of the video I’ve seen.
I’m hoping Hall gets a chance this week, and can make something special happen.
Jonathan Douglas
Senior Editor
http://www.BroncoTalk.net
I don’t know football like many of you but I want to say that I am very excited about our offense. It may not have the smoothness of Patriots or Colts, but it isn’t far. As we all know the defense is well, not good. I know the defense died at the end of last year but who whouldn’t fade after spending more time on the field then the offense. Is there any way we can go back to that system. Bates has had four weeks and all pre season. I Hope shanny is breathing down his neck. We know we have the players. Maybe bailey could put on a tackling clinic for the linemen. As for the guy who likes the snake better than cutler. I wonder if you are blind….. Jake was ok but to flaky
I’m not too worried about Hixon leaving. I think Hall is just as good if not better, and I really like Martinez. That kid had some outstanding down field blocks, and catches in preseason. I really don’t know why they kept Hixon in the first place. Maybe he was a little faster. But I know he’s not as explosive. (Of course all of this is 20/20 hindsight)
It’ll be great to have Lynch back. His leadership on the field was missed as much as his big hammer.
Oh boy I love to watch John Lynch play! I sure hope he’s back at 100% for this game. Like a couple people said, this game is huge!
SD is 1-3, if we can bury them we are looking really good. There’s no way that we are going to let Oakland win this division, and I’m pretty sure that KC doesn’t have what it takes either. So that leaves SD as the only competition. Everyone figures they’ll get up eventually…but let’s hope the Broncos put them down so far that by the time the Chargers sit up and look around, the season will over and Denver will be in the playoffs!!
We definitely had to do something about the return game. I hope whoever they put back there will do at least a decent job. We don’t even need a great job, just a decent job. We just can’t be buried every single time, that’s all. Can’t use Young or Marshall back there, we need them on offense and that’s a really risky spot at kick returner. Marshall is pretty mcuh full out on offense, and it looks like Young might get the call this week. If he doesn’t start, he’ll certainly get a fair number of carries, I’m betting.
Go Broncos!
I wonder if Hixon was awful simply because our Special Teams is awful. That would make Hixon a patsy. If we get more of the same from everyone else who returns kicks and punts then obviously we made a mistake getting rid of a young guy who shouldn’t have been blamed for not succeeding. I’ll be keeping my eye on this development.
So I has just read on the main site that Dre was looking like he might be back there returning punts. I don’t know enough about him as a running play maker to say for sure what he could do. I think I remember watching one of his interviews and he was saying that he really wasn’t interested in the return game, and I am pretty sure he said that was in his “younger days”… So what is more accurate, what he is saying now, or what he said before?
Now someone said they dont want to chance it with Marshall, but I would rather see a big guy like him back there than Dre…
Travis Henry Funking his drug Test and going to be suspended a year ..Give me a Break waive him Now .. What a Moron.
http://www.nfl.com/goto?id=09000d5d802f7289
LOL, on another note…Brees to Tomlinson in this clip has to be the funniest thing i’ve seen in a LONG time…
25 seconds in…LMFAO! I have to laugh EVERY TIME I see it…
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