Denver not only emerged from Sunday’s loss beaten, but physically battered, as well — and minus fullback Cecil Sapp for the rest of the year after he broke his leg on a kickoff return late in Sunday night’s game.
“He’ll have surgery sometime in the near future; of course he’ll be put on (injured reserve),” Head Coach Mike Shanahan said.
The news was better for linebacker Al Wilson, as MRI and X-ray examinations came up negative, although he still has some tingling caused by an inadvertent collision with Gerard Warren on Sunday night.
The tingling is “in the shoulder area, maybe back up in the triceps, too,” Shanahan said, adding that Wilson was discharged from a local hospital at approximately 11:15 p.m. Sunday night.
“That was a good sign,” Shanahan said. “Hopefully he feels good Wednesday.”
Shanahan said that if the tingling was gone, Wilson would be able to practice by then.
“He said he’s had some pinched nerves and his neck a little bit sore, but he’s never had that feeling in his shoulders and his fingertips before, so he just laid there (on the field Sunday night),” Shanahan said. “He didn’t want to be carried off on a stretcher; he wanted to be able to walk away, but obviously the doctors know what they’re doing, and they said, ‘Hey, if you’ve got that numbness, that tingling sensation in the shoulders, you’ve got to lay down, and obviously they went through the appropriate procedure.”
Kicker Jason Elam has a strained hamstring resulting from his fake-field goal catch-and-carry Sunday night.
“Greek (Head Athletic Trainer Steve Antonopulos) seems to think it’ll be all right by the end of the week, but you never really know for sure with those hamstrings,” Shanahan said.
Tags: Injury report
Hey, I’m sooooo happy to see everyone turning on Jay and Shanahan! Like we said all along, it was a terrible decision. The season thus far, had nothing to do with Jake and had everything to do with Shanahan and the defenses lack of ability against good teams. I don’t care what you say about Al, Champ or Lynch, against SD, INDY, KC, the ENTIRE defense crumbles….Jake had Denver ahead of INDY and SD at the half, it was up to the defense to keep it that way and they couldn’t! With Jake at the helm and a win last night, at worse the Broncos are 9 and 3, instead they’re 7-5 and with Jay Cutler, who needs about three years to even compete in this league, we’re doomed for sure.
Jay Cutler couldn’t compete in college, losing record every year, and everyone yelled back at us, “HE WAS IN THE TOUGHEST COLLEGE DIVISION” well now he’s in the NFL!!!!! What do you think is going to happen there? We will now keep a running log of Jay’s first 54 games as a starter and I’m certain it wont look anything like 39-15!!!!!!!!
So far…0-1
Thanks Jay for proving…
Denvers defense is NOWHERE near as good as you all think it is.
Jake Plummer wasn’t even 1/4 of the reason Denver was playing so poorly this year.
Once again, THANKS MIKE SHANAHAN for throwing away any chance we had at winning it all this year….You’re a real swell guy!
http://www.LetPlummerPlay.com
ALmost everything you mention is true, the defense is soft and disappears in the 4th quarter, Denver was a ahead in every key match-up over the last four weeks and Jay did not look exceptional last night. You write from the premise that Jake would have been better, fat chance! The game would have been exactly the same with Jake in at quaterback. You see, Jake would have panicked under the pressure Seattle was bringing. Jake would have led the Broncos to a 23-20 loss and then would have commented that they (the offense) need to get better. Jake was taking this team the wrong direction, that does not mean Cutler will be stellar but I like the fact the he will get better each week while Jake was getting worse each week. There is nothing I saw last night that I would not have seen with Jake running the show. It is nice to know that next Cutler will be a little better, and so on and so on. At least when I watch Cutler there is a reason for rookie mistakes.
I agree with orange07, the result would have been the same with either quarterback at the helm. That said, Plummer, I like the guy, is a veteran of the league and it was Cutler’s NFL regular season debut which by itself say’s a lot for Cutler’s ability.
More than one NFL superstar quarterback has probably had a much less worthy debut than Cutler did.
LPP,
Why would you be happy about that? A true Broncos fan sticks by there team and isint “sooooo happy to see everyone turning on Jay”. If your a real Broncos fan stand behind him so we can get some kind of backing for the kid. Not cool LPP. Imma huge Plummer fan, and yeah it was kinda sad seeing Jake on the sideline, but no way in hell would I be happy to see Cutty fail. Dont you want him to prosper so that ultimatly the TEAM will prosper? Im with Jake but im 100% behind Cutler.
-tha jOKER
I believe that Jay just needs more time. After all, he is a rookie, but even the greatest quaterbacks of all time were rookies once. Look at John Elway, He won us 2 super bowls in a row, but he was a rookie. I dont think it is fair to jump on cutler just because he lost his first game. It was close and he did a good job. he just needs the experience and he needs to practice if he is going to be a big part of the broncos offense. And i am glad to hear Al wilson is alright.
I have always been a huge fan of Jake Plummer, but let’s face it, his play has been terrible this year. He has not been able to stand in the pocket and pass the ball. Granted, the offensive line has not been that good, but Jake’s accuracy and throwing ability have been “off” for several weeks. As a team, there offense put up an average of 17 points per games. That type of play will barely get them to the playoffs, if it get them there at all. I like the fact that Shanahan took a chance by starting Jay Cutler. He has some big shoes to fill, but he needs regulation time to improve. In an ideal world, he would have sat on the sidelines the entire year and would have had one more training camp under his belt. He doesn’t get that opportunity and I agree with some others here that the game result would have been the same with either quarterback in the game. Let Jay play and get better. We need some wins!
Let’s face it, Jake was playing like a rookie all season, so why not play the “real” rookie and our future QB and let him get 5 games of experience? We were not going anywhere with Jake anyway. Thanks for all of your work, Jake, now move along……
LPP: To do a reasonably fair comparison, you would have to look at Plummers FIRST 54 games at QB, and that would be his record under the Cardinals, not the Broncos, where he came ina s a 6 year vet.
It is shameful for you to suggest that Cutler is totally at fault for this particular loss as you are suggesting. This was his first NFL game, hadn’t even taken any snaps under Nalen, was on prime-time, playing the previous year’s SB contender. Now if you were even remotely a fair sort you would have cut the guy some slack for that. Besides his mistake which he should have tucked and rolled instead of whipping the ball out freely for an int/td- a mistake every QB has made including your beloved Plummer at a point in his career where he definitely ought to have known better- we would have won the game. Think about that before you shoot your mouth off against anyone else’s inabilities. Plummer has so many flaws it is difficult to see the QB underneath. And for a 10 year veteran it goes to show Shanahan had had enough of the excuses for Plummer and the realization that jake is mexxed – the best he ever was, is or is going to be. He plateau’d long ago under a reduced play list because he couldn’t handle the full sheet. It is believed that Cutler has better upside and he needs experience, so yes, they may be throwing THIS season in the toilet – did you honestly expect us to make it to and win the SB?? – but will come out and make things all the better next year. If we’re going to not make the playoffs anyway, I would rather spend the time experiencing Cutler than wasting more time on Plummer, our draft position will be that mcuh better, where we now have balring holes everywhere including the O-Line which I have said for many years now is inadequate to provide guaranteed running ability when there are 8 in the box. That is why we regularly pass on 3rd and two- third and one even.
LPP,
first off you have definitely got to be the most ignorant person I’ve seen.
The reason Jay never went to championships was because his TEAM sucked. HE however set every single QB record at Vandy (check it out). A TEAM wins Championships but Vandy didn’t have a team, they had a QB. end of story. Cutler did “ok” on sunday. nothing big but you also have to allow the rookie QB “shivvers” out of his system. Plummer’s a great QB no doubt but with him in there he wouldn’t have performed as good or bad. Personally I like cutler but I blame the game on his VERY BAD decision to lob the ball instead of taking the sack. but you have to shrug it off instead of saying “I TOLD YOU SO!!! WE’RE ALL DOOMED” Someone has too much time on their hands.
Im not going to get into this bs over Cutler, Plummer, or Shanahan. It was a tough loss and it was tough to sit in the stands for my first time this year and watch it. I am, however, going to comment on the injury to Al Wilson. I have gone to many games, and unfortunately I have seen a few players carted off the field. Never have I seen a crowd react to an injury like this crowd did on a cold Sunday night. Everyone including the many Seahawk fans started cheering “Wilson, Wilson, Wilson”. It was amazing to me. Al plays his heart out for this team. It was nice to see the crowd chant their hearts out for him.
Here is the thing you ALL forgot to notice. In the past two weeks we had Plummer playing, we had Mike Bell in at running back. Mike has failed to open up any run game this season and, therefore, give Plummer any remote chance of being relaxed in the pocket (it’s hard to throw when defenses know you are forced to throw). Sunday night Tatum Bell comes back and gives Cutler the chances he had because there was a run game. This was a game that would’ve easily been won with Plummer’s arm and Tatum’s feet. We have failed this season folks. And its painful to see, considering the potential we had.
Jake’s done Cutler’s in….. So let’s get over who or what could have been and start the ROAD TO RECOVERY. This kid has potential, one thing we all know is Mike’s no dummy when it comes to recruiting, in fact almost genious, so let’s give him support.
I guess I’m with the folks who say let’s support the QB – whoever he is. I appreciate Jake and what he’s done for the team and I think Jay has a great future here. The whole offense has been struggling most of the year and they struggled again Sunday night – especially on pass protection. Definitely another game we could have (and should have) won – but I don’t think there’s anyone on the team who couldn’t have played a little bit better.
Whoever the QB is, looks like we’ll be trying to squeeze in as a wild card.
to mike…. next year make the bye week later in the season…(less injuries that way) to the broncos fans…. quit crying and come to reality that the D is hurt and there is no denying that… also cutler is a rookie and plummer is a vet but yet cutler caused either the same ammount or less turn overs that plummer does every game what plummer normaly causes 3 turnovers cutler only made two blame the rest on the rest of the offense… fact is if we make it to the playoffs this year itll be because of luck and the blessing of God were just too beat up and dont forget we do have A LOT of YOUNG players on the team so bite reality and just shut up.
First of all, so happy to hear Al Wilson is ok, kind of worried about Jason Elam, the play he was injured in was very surprising, neat to watch. We need to not be “fair weather” fans, yes, the team is struggling, offense AND defense, but we need to give them some support. Football is something that (at least for me) takes me away for three hours or so from the troubles of the week, for the players it’s the way they make their living (and some of them make a lot money, granted), and, I hope, that most of them like their jobs, I certainly wouldn’t want to make a living sometimes getting the crap beat out of me. I know it’s hard to hear people saying bad things about you, don’t you think the players hear all this too? We need to support these guys and not always cut them down, I’ve been a fan for a long time and have most always been behind the team win or lose, the team needs us…let’s not let them down!
I agree with julsvern, lets be true broncos fans a stick by our team and give them our support!
forget about the playoffs whith san diego and cincy arriving , we’ll be fortunate to post 9-7 and it’s sad considering the start of the season , how could we have collapse like that ??Had we start 2-7 , that would be ok to miss the playoffs but not whith that begining and the way our defense had play before the indy game , add this , why in the hell put in a rookie at that time when you have a starter coming off pro ball season and who’s still 7 – 4 ????mike , you have shoot us in the foot and i’m a true believer in you but not in this case , jake would have won the last game , for sure and now i don’t care about next season , it’s this one , i want w now we have a good team , maybe not to win the superbowl but to win one playoff game at least and after dream about the future during the offseason !
ALL you guys saying to support your team no matter what, and asking for everyone else not to be fair weather fans are nuts…..
That’s what we were saying before the season started. We were saying SUPPORT your team, which happened to have Jake Plummer starting! Support him, regardless of mistakes, regardless of errors, he was 7-2 for Gods sake and ALL of Denver was still calling for Cutler. No way, can’t support Cutler after what Jake was put thru with this city. Look at Jake Delhomme (Sp?) over in Carolina, he is TERRIBLE, but you know what, the city supports their coaches decision to LET HIM PLAY. To quote their head coach, “He is our starting QB, and if a change needs to be made, it’s dealt with in the off season.” Great, that’s a smart coach, not one who makes the move while a team is at 7-4 and in the middle of the playoff race. It’s ok, as we have said, hopefully Champ and Al can get over the fact that they PLAYED their collective butts off, for Shanahan to say, sorry guys, I know you tried, but I’d like to start trying for next year…..What a slap in the face…..
To quote a TRUE BRONCO MVP and SUPERSTAR and HALL OF FAMER and a REAL CLASS ACT…Shannon Sharpe, “We Want Jake.” He said that 2 days ago, after CUTLER was slapped like a little boy by a horrible Seattle team.
That’s because Shannon Sharpe even knows more about what the Broncos need then Mike Shanahan. Shanny’s out in 09!
Could not agree more LPP! I am a die-hard fan, so I don’t care what you guys think about me hating on Cutler or Shanny. This was Jake’s season and he never did anything to lose the starting job (honestly 7-4!?!?… team’s would kill for that record!) . Shanny is going to eat his words, I am sick of hearing, “Cutler gives us the best chance to win.” Not true Shanny… that game against Seattle was a gimme and now look where we stand because of it.
These are facts……..
1999 6-10 no playoffs
2000 11-5 0-1
2001 8-8 no playoffs
2002 9-7 no playoffs
34-30 no playoffs 3 of 4 years
Plummer Era
2003 10-6 0-1 in playoffs
2004 10-6 0-1 in playoffs
2005 13-3 1-1 conference championship game
2006 7-5 to be determined
40-20 1-3 made playoffs every year
1-5 without Plummer in lineup !!!!!!!!!!
Plummer 39-15
I like Cutler but not this his year….
I prefer being a contender over not making the playoffs…….Plummer gets a bad wrap…..Shanahan is not realistic with his expectations…The oline cant pass protect….there is no steady running back and there is no tight end that is good enough to do anything good!!! The offense is worse than Plummer……..
Thank you leebov!!! I’m glad I’m not alone in seeing it this way. Our fans seem rather ignorant at times if you ask me…
never liked plummer. not in arz. not in den. plummer’s record is good. but how good SHOULD it be? how many games has he cost the broncos with his poor decision making. i don’t think cutler, as a rookie will fair much better, but i see him as the future. i see plummer as the past. he wouldn’t have taken the broncos to the promised land. ever. let us not forget that those TEAMS in the late 90′s and early 00′s were not very good. THIS year could have been different. and LAST year should have been. all that being said, the only reason they’ve won 7 is because of their D. can’t beat many teams in the nfl averaging less than 20 points a game. my jaw hit the floor when wilson got hurt. HAPPY he’s o.k. elam as well. if you can’t score touchdowns, you better have a good kicker. one last thing, the play calling sucks. ” what’s up with that, shanny?”