As one position gets healthier, another becomes fraught with injuries. That’s how it’s seemed to be for the Broncos this season, and it continued on Wednesday as two of the team’s three injured running backs returned to action, but wide receiver Brandon Stokley did not take part due to a knee injury.
“Stokley is a little banged up,” Head Coach Mike Shanahan said.
Javon Walker did not join Stokley on the sidelines for the full session; he was in uniform but was limited in his work three days after playing sparingly in the loss at Chicago.
“I’m sure he will feel a lot better this week than he did last week,” Shanahan said. “We will evaluate him this week in practice.
Walker made it through full practices last Wednesday and Thursday but was limited last Friday, making Wednesday’s session the second in succession for which he was limited.
Meanwhile, at running back, both Selvin Young and Travis Henry practiced fully through their knee injuries, while the high ankle sprain through which Andre Hall played in most of Sunday’s game consigned the third-team tailback and first-string kickoff returner to the sidelines.
“If there’s no setback, hopefully, they’ll be able to go on Sunday,” Shanahan said.
Other players listed as participating fully in the practice through injuries included defensive end John Engelberger (shoulder), safety John Lynch (ribs), wide receiver Glenn Martinez (ankle), punter Todd Sauerbrun (left hamstring), and fullback Paul Smith (calf). Smith’s injury had kept him out the last two games.
As is custom, Sam Adams did not take part in the Wednesday practice.
In Oakland, safety Jarrod Cooper was ruled out for Sunday with a knee injury, while center Jeremy Newberry did not take part in the session on account of a team decision. Defensive end Derrick Burgess (Achilles tendon) and linebacker Isaiah Ekejiuba (ankle) were both limited, while center Jake Grove (knee) and safety Stuart Schweigert (calf) made it through the whole practice.
Tags: Andre Hall, Brandon Stokley, Javon Walker, Selvin Young, Travis Henry
So I was trying to push this at the beginning of the year, but if Hall cant play were would Brandon Marshall be on the list to take kick returns?
Hey Andrew, do you think that it might be time for the Broncos to shutdown Javon Walker? Mike Klis speculated that Javon will be asked to restructure his contract this offseason or be released. Any truth to this? Is Javon’s knee significantly worse than anyone’s letting on (i.e., in need of micro-fracture surgery)?
Thanks for the insight!
Okay, I know this is going to sound like I haven’t been paying attention to certain things around here but every Wednesday I hear that Sam Adams doesn’t participate in Wednesday practices. So I guess what I’m asking is why doesn’t Adams participate in Wed. practices? It’s been bugging me and I wanna know.
Good to hear Walker is practicing… limited practice is better than nothing. And I hope at least either Young or Henry can play on Sunday if Hall’s going to be injured. Sunday’s game ought to be a good one, can’t wait!!!
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!
[...] Mason’s Morsels hype it up! | Posted by Kyle in Denver [...]
My guess is that Sam Adams takes a mid-week rest between practices to protect his knees due to the level of stress they come under in game/practice situations. For his own sake he should lose some of his bulk to protect his health but until this happens he will need to take these rest days.
Andrew,
Any word yet on Henry? They were supposed to have a conclusion on his case early this week.
Great, Stokes is hurt too. Is there ANYBODY left on our team that is NOT hurt? It is starting to look like Javon is screwing up his knee more and more by trying to get back to take part in this JOKE of a season. Please God, let these guys get healthy!!!!
Sam Adams takes Wednesday off because the extra day of running in practice could cause him to lose weight and not be such a fat tub of s*it….
Dear Andrew,
This is a little of the topic of your blog today but it’s something I want to put out there. This year has been tough. Not just the season, but the whole calender year so far. Right now me, my friends and other people are deeply saddened by the loss of Sean Taylor. We are angered by the loss of Sean Taylor; and as Deion Sanders said on PUYD, we must go after people who commit these sorts of crimes like the way we went after Michael Vick. To me and many others I’m sure, this tragedy has brought back many memories of Darrent Williams. I want to be able to help anybody in any way I can so I’m asking for help. I want the people in Denver, Washington, and all over America to fight for justice. Justice for Sean. Justice for Darrent; and justice for anybody else in these types of situations. So, if anybody has any suggestions, comments or concerns about how we can help bring these criminals to justice faster and more efficiently please e-mail me. My email adress is howler1230@aol.com
-Thank You
Go broncos
love them broncos
I’m sad to see that Stokes hurt but hopefully Henry and Young play
Dr. Doom, I agree with your sentiments but there is a flaw in Deion’s logic. I’m sure everyone would love to go after the men that killed DWill and Taylor harder than they went at Vick. The difference is that they need to know who to go after. We don’t know enough about what happened to Taylor, but it is clear there are people that know who murdered DWill. Because of this “Stop Snitchin”, Scarface-obsessed generation that’s coming up, none of them seem to understand that a real man would come forward with the truth, instead of lying for some gutless coward that would take a father from his children for no reason.
Sorry if that comes across as incoherent, but this senseless garbage just makes my blood boil. I feel for all the families, but I keep thinking about the Williams and Taylor children and it breaks my heart.
I agree with the first comment. I think that the team should drop Martinez and put Brandon Marshall as the teams return man in all situations. Teams can’t tackle him and his speed is out of control. It just makes sense. Martinez did return a punt, but he has fumbled in two straight games. Good news about Walker, it would be awesome if he came back and dominated the Raiders. Thats rights its Raiders week and there is nothing more awesome (outside of winning the Super Bowl) than beating the Raiders in Oakland. GO BRONCOS.
This is off-topic, but did DJ play with Sean Taylor at Miami?
[...] that Ricky Williams is done for the season and Smakon Gado was re-signed to back up Chatman…. Denverbroncos.com reports that both RBs Selvin Young and Travis Henry practiced fully through their knee injuries on [...]
I think B-Marshall returning kicks is a terrible idea. What happens when he gets hurt? We are already very thin at WR and after reading this article seems we are getting thinner.
Not too mention that Marshall would get much more fatigued throughout the game when he is on special teams and on every offensive snap. He is very involved in the passing and running game. (we all know how hard he works to block)
Martinez was actually getting us decent field position. During the Chicago game we were starting around the 34 everytime. Much better than the beginning of the season when we were always on the 5!!
Hopefully with experience he will get better and less mistakes will happen. I just hate putting stars back there cause those guys come shooting down the field. Otherwise just put Champ back there. He is one of the fastest and quickest.
[...] Hale wrote an interesting post today on Walker Limited; Henry, Young ReturnHere’s a quick [...]
Sam Adams doesnt practice on Wednesdays because Tuesday night is Sizzlers all you can eat feast night.
YEA I AGREE MARSHALL SHOULD NOT START AT RETURNER AND PUTTING CHAMP BACK THERE IS A BAD IDEA CUZ WUT HAPPENS WHEN HE HURT…STOKLEY HAS A GOOD FEW DAYS TO RECOVER I THINK HE WILL BE AIIGHT AND PLAY SUNDAY JAVON WILL PLAY AND HAVE A GREAT COME BACC TRAVIS WILL GET SOME PLAYS N SO WILL SELVIN ANDRE MAY NEED ALIL MORE TIME N WE ARE GOIN TO STOMP THE RAIDERS..I HAVE… STRONG BELIEF IN THE BRONCOS AND WE TAKING IT ALL THIS YEAR CANT SPEAK TO MUCH ON ADAMS…MAYBE IT IS HIS KNEES..BUT HE COULD DO A BETTER JOB BURSTING THRU THE LINE AND GETTIN SACCS OR TAKING UP TWO LINEMAN WITH HIS SIZE SO SOMEONE FASTER CAN GET THRU
Stokley is getting over worked, it’s that simple. He’s a FANTASTIC slot guy, but he did not sign on in Denver to be the #2 wide out, it just worked out that way. As for Javon Walker, I don’t think he has much of a choice but to renegotiate in his contract. If he ends up on IR that’s 2 out of the past 3 years he’s been seriously injured and it all revolves around the same knee. No one is going to pay top dollar for a guy that’s been unable to perform 2 out of 3 years. As for putting Marshall at returns, are you seriously brain damaged? This is the ONE WEAPON Cutler has to hit on a consistent basis, NO WAY should he be put at risk. The guy block like a truck and his hands are getting better, don’t risk your best deep threat for 2 more yards a return. Martinez has had one bad game and it happened to be the same game the ENTIRE SPECIAL TEAMS UNIT decided to fold.
Man, we need stokley. He is the most Reliable WR with the best hands…Marshall is great but drops some balls…if we need a clutch catch, I trust Stokley more…..Hope he is back for Oak
Go Broncos…We will win this division…Guaranteed!!
leave hall as kick returner cause henry and young are healthy bly should do punt returns he has experience and success and he needs to start earning that contract he got.
Any word on who is going to start sunday
broncofanmatt:
Let’s give Walker a fair shot before getting into that speculation — which is just that, speculation, nothing more. Shanahan said that he practiced fully Thursday after being limited Wednesday … so let’s just wait and see for now.
DenBronx:
Still no word as of Thursday, 2:29 p.m. MST, on Henry’s off-the-field situation. On the field, he practiced for a second straight day and coach and player alike expect him to play.
Dr. Doom:
Outstanding thoughts … thanks for putting them out there.
tomnalen36:
As Shanahan coyly indicated Thursday afternoon, you’ll have to tune in to the game Sunday to find out. That’s tough on the fantasy-football players, I know, but do note that through all the injuries, Henry remained atop the depth chart.
I think Hall would be a great choice. And like someone else said, Martinez may have fumbled last week but nothing worse than did the whole special teams group. Let’s trade for a good one in next years draft: Bailey and Bly should be on the trading block as we will utilize younger guys. That way we can come up with some more talent we need in places like the defensive line and returns.
Throwing A Fantasy Football Draft Party
When a bunch of guys get together to talk football usually all you need to keep everyone happy is pizza and beer. But, since it actually involves work, a successful fantasy football draft party has a few more important parts.