Javon Walker wasn’t in uniform, and he wasn’t going through the paces of practice with his teammates. But his presence in pre-practice warmups — limited as he was to lightly running routes and catching passes — nevertheless provided the first tangible, public evidence of his recovery from the knee surgery he underwent on Oct. 19 in Houston.

“It felt good just to run around and catch some balls,” Walker said. “Every day will be just another step to being game-ready.”

That, however, might be a little while in coming. Head Coach Mike Shanahan acknowledged Monday that it was “probably a long shot” for Walker to return by Monday night.

However, the first post-practice injury report of the week — which was issued late Wednesday afternoon — did not list Walker as “out,” as had been the case for the injury reports issued since the procedure on his knee.

“I’m just kind of taking the time to see what the coaches and trainers want me to do,” Walker said. “They just don’t want anything to be another setback, so they’re going to kind of monitor it, and hopefully whenever they feel comfortable for me to get out there and start practicing, that’s what I’m going to go ahead and do.”

Walker acknowledged that his right knee was sore, but said that wasn’t anything unusual.

“Obviously, you’re going to have a little soreness, but that’s just because any time you cut on human flesh, it’s going to be sore,” he said, “but it’s nothing that’s going to be harmful to my body later on. It’s just letting my body heal and going from there.

“Right now, it’s just taking it day-to-day,” he added. “Before, I knew how long I was going to be out. Now it’s just waiting to see whenever they think the situation is right as far as being ready to go.”

OTHER ITEMS OF NOTE …

Running back Travis Henry remained sidelined with a knee injury and was not in uniform for practice. He underwent an MRI examination on the knee and the results were “good,” Shanahan said, adding, “I’m hoping that he practices (Thursday).” …

… Henry was joined by fullback Paul Smith (calf) and defensive tackle Sam Adams, who has always been held out of the Wednesday practice this year …

… Safety John Lynch made it through the full practice session after missing Sunday’s game because of the lingering effects of the neck stinger he incurred on Oct. 29 against Green Bay. “We hit (Thursday) so we’ll see where he’s at (then),” Shanahan said, “but he said he’s ready to go and hopefully there’s no setback when he does hit.” …

… Defensive end John Engelberger (shoulder), tight end Tony Scheffler (chest) and kicker Jason Elam (calf) also made it through the day’s work …

… Defensive tackle Antwon Burton wasn’t away from Dove Valley long; he went unclaimed after being waived Tuesday and was re-signed to the practice squad, replacing Greg Eslinger, who was signed by the Cleveland Browns from the Broncos’ practice squad on Wednesday morning.

Tags: Javon Walker, John Lynch, Mike Shanahan, Travis Henry

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