Head Coach Mike Shanahan spoke at the podium after practice Wednesday, and he updated the media on the status of several injured Broncos.
Boss Bailey will have microfracture surgery in about a week, ending his season.
His brother, Champ Bailey will be out four-to-six weeks with a groin injury he suffered in the first half of the team’s Monday Night Football contest.
“Champ is a quick healer, but he does have a severe injury, and I think it will be a month for sure,” Shanahan said. “But we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Patrick Ramsey re-injured his elbow in the game against New England, and will be placed on the Reserve/Injured list.
“He kind of hurt that in preseason,” Shanahan said. “I’m not sure if he fully recovered or not because he didn’t take a significant blow, but it was obviously enough that he’s on IR. It’s a setback, but (Darrell) Hackney will come up and get the job done.”
It was reported during the game that the X-Rays were negative and Jay Cutler’s index finger on his throwing hand was not broken. Shanahan confirmed that, and said Cutler should be ready against Miami when the team returns from its bye week.
“The swelling went down, but it’s still painful,” Shanahan said. “He practiced today so he should be OK.”
Shanahan said Michael Pittman has bruised ribs and is going to see a doctor later today after getting a little banged up on Monday.
“He was very sore today, he’s seeing a neurosurgeon later on this afternoon and hopefully there’s some good news there,” he said.
Shanahan said he’s disappointed in the injuries, but it’s not something the team will use as an excuse.
“It’s the nature of the game,” he said. “You’re hoping that you don’t have injuries, but sometimes you do. Some younger guys get some opportunities or some veteran guys get some opportunities. You want these guys to step up and fortunately we’ve got a bye week where we’ve got some time to work out some kinks.”
MORE TRANSACTIONS:
- The team also placed Erik Pears (Appendectomy) on its Reserve/Non-Football Illness list.
- Steven Harris was also released from the practice squad.
Tags: Boss Bailey, Champ Bailey, Darrell Hackney, Gray Caldwell, Injury, Jay Cutler, Michael Pittman, Mike Shanahan, Patrick Ramsey
Pure and simple, champ gone for 4-6 weeks is the worst possible thing that could happen to this team, not that the teams we are coming up against have pro bowl wide outs but the tackling ability that champ brings to the team is bar none one of the most important assets he possesses.
Shame to hear about Boss but he has been hurt all year and frankly was not proving to be very effective as an every down LB. I am sad to see this happen yet again, it seems like every year injuries demolish the lineup of this team to where we never get to put a full, healthy team on the field. When we do we are a team to be taken very seriously, ask the Oakland Raiders, but with all these players going down, especially on the defensive side of the ball, this season is quickly looking worse and worse, at this point for the next 6 games .500 ball would be a miracle … GOOD LUCK!
i disagree with your take on boss, being that he was injured or a little banged up all season i think he did great
Wow! Thats very sobering news. My biggest concern is obviously Champ because of what he brings to the game. Unfortunately this seems to be a re-occuring case for Boss and thats to bad. Now your looking at younger less experianced players on the defensive side of the ball. Hopefully they bring there A-game cause Lord knows we need it!
p.s. Are these rumors about Chad Jackson true?
seriously i am one of the biggest champ bailey fans of all time. i was so mad when i saw him get hurt last monday. i left my basketball practice early to see the game. but the only thing i got to see was my favorite team get embarresed, and see my favorite player hurt himself.
i m so stinkin mad. then boss is out for the season. what next can go wrong… no no no forget i said that.
hey nachojuice u r apsolutly wrong, boss did a great job playing through the pain all year and he saved some big plays, so just learn to shutup.
This season has gone from optimistic playoff hopes to just make it through the season. Both Bailey’s being out isn’t going to help the defence’s identity crisis at all. I hope players can step up, and and also that Torain is as big as the hype. The team is going to need everyone at 100%, giving 100% to stay in the race.
Go Broncos!
Learn to shut up? Boss Bailey may have played through pain but he was in and out of the lineup every couple plays, taking injury time outs on a regular basis, face the facts, he might be a good LB when healthy but he certainly was injured more than healthy this year!
boss play ok at best for us this year and champ is our best player on d and new he is gone. were has dj been this year? bottom line is this defense is horrible and we wont win to many games from this point out. i know our offense when healthy can score but i dont know if they can put up 40 every week because thats what it will take to get a win.
I agree with u Nachojuice, Boss is hurt all the time and he really did’t show me nothing. Now his brother is the man.
All i san say is that we are fortunate to have bailey come back before week 15. Our last three games against carolina, buffalo and san diego will determine if we make the pkayoffs and champ will be there so thats defnitely a positive.
Not that much good can come out of injuries, but hopefully this will light a fire within the team. After the good start, the team has looked flat in recent weeks and completely different from the team that started the season. I am not sure if we can attribute this to us being a “young team” or not, but the fire is just not evident. With the realization that some good players are now lost for at least a month I hope the team bands together and gets that motivation and enthusiasm back. Frankly, Monday night should be a huge wake-up call - they were embarrassed on both sides of the ball.
ddk brocnos fan: I would hope that we are even still in it coming down to the final three games. Unless we improve dramatically in limiting turnovers and on defense, we may be out of it by that time…
Definately not the knews i wanted to hear….. However there are some things to think about coming out of all these injuries.
First, I thought Darrell Hackney should’ve made the roster over Ramsey at the begining of the season. He may not have the experience Ramsey has, but if Cutler were to go down, we would need a play maker. Hackney has a lot more upside than Ramsey.
Didn’t want to see Boss out for the season. He actually did make many good plays this year and its just an unfortunate result that he is on IR.
Our defense is terrible, and we can only start going in a forward progress now. So why not give Wesley Woodyard and even Spencer Larsen (at LB, not FB) plenty of reps the rest of the season. You never know when a young player can step up and actually be an impact player out on the field.
Looking into the future…. Our offense has all the right pieces to make a dynamic force that we displayed at the begining of the season. Now we need to work on that defense. Hit the free agency and draft the best defensive player we can….. We need to make another “orange crush” so that we will no longer be laughed at in the NFL.
Boss did nothing but visit the locker room just about every game. No loss there. Losing Champ really hurts because he is without a doubt THE BEST PLAYER the defense has. Champ is my favorite player too and this really sucks! I can’t wait for Torain to come back. I just want to see what all the fuss is about. Chad Jackson? Who cares he sucks!
I think we should start wesley woodyard. He was an unstoppable force in the preseason. He needs the experience.
I am new here so let me first say hello everyone!
Now I want to remind everyone that has replied to this blog that we have been here before I agree we have lost some key player and it it looks pretty bad but before you go saying players like Boss are now any good lets stop and think about something.
Wasn’t it just 2 seasons ago that we lost 2 of our 3 starting lbs and the backups stepped up and the defense kept going?
I think we are going to be a 9-7 team this year and no its not what we hoped for but if you want to blame someone for this mess it has to be coach shanahan…I know he is a great coach but I think this team has been going down hill on the defense side ever since he fired collier and brought in bates and lets all remember slowik is still running bates defense he was part of bates coaching crew I believe coach shanahan didn’t give collier enough time to get the defense where it needs to be.
I say at seasons end slowik should go and all the coaches on the defense side with him and if collier is still out there bring him back or get someone from a teams defense coahing crew that we know has a good D this year just my take everyone.
There are issues on both sides of the ball. Potential is only great if it performs consistently on game day.
That said, the defense has struggled with big plays all year. That may, probably, will get worse with Champ out but the bottom line is the other players need to step into the opportunity. Opposing offenses may stop completely picking on Bly now and perhaps the team will pull together and play fundamentally sound ball instead of looking for highlight hits. Just tackle the guy, who cares how it looks. Maybe the defense will stop relying on Champ so much and step up as a team. Maybe the embarrassment of the Pats loss will put a nastiness into the guys hitting the field.
Guys I hope to see on the field: Larsen (as a LB), Woodyard, Hillis (seriously, how about they start using this guy’s whole skill set?), Torain (can he be an effective spell for Pittman or take over?), Williams, Lynch/Barrett/anyone who can play the safety spot, Powell (is he allowed to make it back this year?), even Niko. Seriously, can’t Slowik figure out how to cycle some of these guys into the lineup so the defense, at least, plays with freshness and speed?
Boss Bailey was one of the team leaders in tackles. D.J. is the AFC leader in tackles. Since Boss is the “Kid” brother, he probably is used to getting attention every time he stoves his pinky, but he is a good linebacker and was productive. Agree on Woodyard and Larsen, but the most important thing was Jay Cutler maybe can now grow up a little and be more of a leader in regards to his ego-driven statements. John Elway would never say he had better arm strength than Cutler. He is smart enough and classy enough to let fans and pundits argue about it. There is much Jay could learn from Elway, if he wants to grow up and be a real star. Up and down, I am a Shanahan fan and feel he will right the ship.
Hey eagle,
wasn’t Jay asked by a reporter, who he thought had a stronger arm??? Yeah I would have rather have had Jay say something like “My arm sucks and I have no confidence.”
I agree that the defensive coaching could be better as far as putting guys in position to make plays but after watching our defense suck ass the last couple of years I believe that Al Wilson was even better than I thought. We don’t have a defensive brain on the field or on the sidelines. Coyer’s defense is best suited for the offense we have now, not then. He had a bend don’t break but Plummer wasn’t the man so it didn’t work out. Well, we got to the AFC championship. Anyway, you can’t coach greatness. If it was entirely the coaches fault then Champ would suck too and we all know that isn’t true. A lot of it has to do with the players and we just don’t have enough good ones on the defensive side of the ball. I also agree with sticking woodyard or larsen in there, they can’t do any worse and they will only get better.
Ugh…….where do we go from here? When Boss was on the field I thought he did a terrific job of tackling and covering the TE’s but some of you are right, he was off the field more than he was on the field, so move on we must.
Champ going down hurts the most, this leaves Dre’ Bly to cover the other teams #1 wideout and if you’ve watched all the games like I have you’ve seen time and time again of Bly getting burnt time after time they threw his way but if Bly can’t cover the #1 reciever for the other team than who will so this task is going to be left up to Bly and he needs to step up and get more physical. So who do you start on the other side, Jack Williams, unproven rookie who’s about 5′8, Karl Paymah, who has never faired well in one on one pass coverage, Josh Bell, he’s been on the practice squad all year. We only kept 4 CB’s so right about now I wish we had Foxworth. We also need better play out of our Safeties…….they have been no where near as good as I hoped they would be.
I liked the blitz packages we put together in the last 2 games, that’s what i’m talking about now let’s figure out how to STOP THE RUN!!!! My lord, what I saw was our inexperienced linebackers getting lost behind the line and completely losing sight of the running back. Our leading tackler has only 20 more tackles than Marquand Manuel who plays safety, the last line of defense. This can’t happen.
I love Jay, I mean the guy is a good quarterback, he’s got all the potential to lead this team IN THE FUTURE to a Super Bowl and you can see it on his face now more than years past that he wants to win in the worst way! However, you can also tell when Jay gets down on himself he seems to give up and fold. He look dejected on the sidelines and from his expression you would have thought it was the 4th quarter with a minute left but this was in the 2nd quarter……..be a leader and go around and pick your mates up! Also I know we were without Stokely and Scheffler and that hurt but quite trying to force balls into Marshall. On that long interception Jay threw the Pats were in a Zone and Royal ran a great route and got behind the linebacker and was in between the corners but Jay chucked in 20 yards over his head to a reciever that was double covered and what happened……..pick! Dang it that upset me.
Oh and I can’t wait for Torain to finally get in a game, I want to see what he can do…….Selvin runs scared and Hall can’t hang onto the ball. I like what Pittmans doing but he’s getting the snot knocked out of him out there.
Thank the lord for the bye this week and go Saints. As for the next 6 games……..win the home games and win at least 1 on the road and we are looking at 8-5 heading to Carolina. Let’s get healthy and take out some frustration on the Phins. Go Broncos!
Watch for them to bring Foxworth back, unless he signed elsewhere. He played large. John Elway ran down as a headhunter on the kickoff team during special teams practice sometimes. That is what I mean about Jay learning about being the true team leader. Gasperdn said sarcastically that he should have spoken with no confidence. I meant he should speak with humility. I know John Elway, and he certainly has an ego and is very competitive. That is what makes guys great, but he has humility and would never make that kind of answer to a reporter. Jay is great and has a great future with us, but he is also a kid and needs to grow. He would do well to seek out Elway for some guidance. Look what Rod Smith has done for Brandon Marshall.
LET’S KEEP IT SIMPLE! WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK OF THIS? SCENARIO!
Boss, thanks for the effort but it’s time for Woodyard. I’m not knocking Boss, but this kid can get it done.
Secondly it’s time to bring back Fox and Lynch. Someone want to tell me that Bly is better than Fox? I’d put Fox opposite Williams and let #47 clean up the mess. That’s right!!!
Champ the God is out for at least a month. It’s time to put a general on the field. Can you see Lynch and Webster combine their energy? Sprinkle in some D.J. and Woodyard!!! WWWWEEEEE! we’re having fun now!!
oh wait it get’s better! Nobody has a scouting report on Torain. and just when the AFC thinks we’re tapped, right before we enter a playoff picture even as a wild card, you reunite CHAMP WITH LYNCH!
Just a thought,
GO GET EM’ BOYS!
With Boss out, will Koutouvides or Moss take his position? And i think that Jack Williams will be a good back-up for Champ. But don’t forget that these past few weeks, we haven’t been 100% on offense. But after the bye, we will be back at full strength and with that, we should be able to score like we were our first 3 games. That is unless we turn the ball over 5 times a game. Our defense is atrocious AND WE NEED TO LEARN HOW TO TACKLE. We need Lynch back because we have no leadership on defense and he would be a great help against the run. And people say that he couldn’t do anything against the pass, but our safeties now are doing worse then he would do. And the AFC sucks this year so we could always have a shot at wild card spot.
DJ Williams is the NFL leader in tackles, so to the dude who asked where is DJ, he is everywhere. Get Woodyard “Optimus Prime” in there. I hope Jack Williams starts instead of Paymah.
We are F@#ed!! Plain and simple. There is no hope for this defense now!
This sucks! Champ Bailey is by far the best defensive player on this team. I don’t expect to do very well without him. The only way we can win is if we have the offense like the first 3 weeks! Go Broncos!
I’m just going to say one more thing and then I’m done with this thread … We do need to make more tackles, stay in gaps but why in the hell we are running the 3-4 I will never understand!! Denver DOES NOT, I repeat DOES NOT have the personnel to run a 3-4 effectively, the lb’s we’ve got in spades but you need a huge NT and two very big very good run stopping DE which in case you looked … we do not have! It was foolish of Slowick to put in 3-4, I would rather see the broncos use a 4-6 with straight man coverage and a safety over the top to help you, teams have learnt to exploit the entire left side of our defence and that wont stop until we get a big ass DT in there to stop anything to that side.
I was very disappointed when I found out Lynch wasn’t a Bronco at the beginning of the season. He was picked up by New England cut and cannot come back. He was not only an inspiration to our Defense he was also support. A promising beginning leaving us fans once again to embarrassment. Monday’s performance was just awful. Our defense is the worst I have seen it years. Injuries have demolished this season.
On another note….
Champ Bailey is the best. I hope he recovers quickly. We just have to wait till next season once again.
I like Spencer Larsen’s toughness but he is not going to play defense. Woodyard might get a shot but do any of you guys see this as an improvement? HELL NO! It’s going to take more then gving these two guys a shot. We are in BIG trouble without CHAMP!
poor Champ….
=(
Some things i don’t understand: why we kept toast-karl paymah and got rid of fox??? why we got rid of lynch and instead kept a bum who got cut–hamza abdullah. why we even still have bly. he reminds me of the the flop king we had by the name of ray crockett..who every time -which was a lot–got burnt..who either fall down or faked an injury. Bly looked like my 8 year old son–trying to get the ball from me–on the touchdown he pretty much handed to randy moss. but most of all why people keep giving up hope on our team. yes we might be #$*%ed but never know when luck will come back our way.
boss is an every down lb and we’ll miss him next year i hope he returns and we get our 4th d coordinater in 4 years. champ will be back in three games hes a man
wanagi randy moss got 23 of them handed to him last year shut up hes one of the best so what he cant cover randy moss only champ bailey can cover every reciever bly is gonna be a hall of famer show some respect
Ok guys Champ being down is really a blow, but we can put in Jack Williams and then we really just need to do a better job of disguising our defense and we will do enough to be in games that we don’t turnover the ball.
Boss being out, he was a great player. I have to remind you guys that he was hurt in the pre season and you all said come on back Boss, hurry back please, we need you waaa waaa waaaa! SO WHAT DOES HE DO? HE COMES BACK EARLIER THAN HE SHOULD HAVE, and you have the damn nerves to get mad at him for taking an injury time out each game? SHUT UP YOU DISGUST ME!
We don’t have the proper personell for 3-4 thats true, but IT HELPS DISGUISE OUR NORMAL D!
We really can still do this, how many wins does it take to get respect from the fans? This season proved 3! How many losses does it take to have every fan complaining about everything? This season proves 1!
Stop jumping ship just cuz we lost, and have some injuries, think the cry baby charger fans said their season was over when Merriman went down? I’m dissappointed to affiliate myself with some of you! Broncos just keep working out the kinks, hold onto the ball, and wrap up some tackles!
wanagi get off Bly’s back, on that TD pass Moss shoved him with both hands and got away with it, remember? Moss is the best WR in the league its hard for anyone to cover him, Champ being a monster said he is one of the toughest and you bail on Bly because he couldn’t?
But I have to agree with you a little about the luck comming back our way, but I add that it’s not so much luck that could come our way. But a fair shake from refs would be much appreciated too! Each ref every game has done more than make up for Hochuli’s mishab!
GO BRONCOS!
Lets get somethings straight yes lynch bac why not? al wilson… we had a defense when he was around….our defense now people hav to step up and i hate gettin critisized for the broncos so far so defense lets do work. Offense play action bootlegs lets get the ball to the playmakers AND UNLESS ANY HAS FORGOT WE ARE STILL WINNING THE DIVISION…………………..LETS DO WORK >>>>>GOOOOO BRONCOSSSSSS
I’m with2champ4pickSIX, things are bad right now, but they could be much worse. Cutler could be out for the season, instead of Ramsey! Now that would be the death knell for this team because there’s no way in hell that Patrick Ramsey can do anything well enough for us. Secondly, I think Jack Williams has some mad skills. If he gets some experience in the secondary and plays well, that can only help us. Michael Lombardi on nationalfootballpost.com, said our main problem is the design of our defense rather than production. In other words, I think Lombardi meant we’re working hard but we just have the wrong scheme for the talent we have. We’ve got nothing to lose at this point, as our defense can’t play any worse, (I hope…) so why don’t we mix it up even more. Perhaps it might work. The point is the team’s built to have the offense put up gaudy stats and not turn the ball over. If this continues, and the defense can make several key stops that should be enough. As for next April’s draft, obviously defense is the way to go.
I understand the concern in putting a rookie in Champs spot but lets look back on how many balls are thrown in his way champ is a known legend offenses plan around him. now jack williams gets some practice in his possition and it takes some passes off bly’s side and now both of our corners can be play makers. dre gets most of the balls. if hes not worn out from chasin down wide outs he may look like the play maker he was in detroit. i hate to say it but i think champ goin out may help our pass deffence. (not sayin hes bad hes just TOO good)
Very bad news . About champ , this defense was still bad but whithout its best player it can only be worse .Tell me which player will step up on this roster ? Paymah ?J Williams ?They still would have been one the field if they showed half the production of Champ the great . Boss , he can be replaced .Every team has injuries during the course of the season , some are more important than others but in Denver , it seems every injury is dramatic .About the offense , where is the unit that showed the first 3 games ??? Is Jay’s disease so manageable ? I’m wondering . Once again , the same story , exept 05 , we started fast and we faded as faster , there’s really a concern to be corrected for the seasons to come . For this one , it would really be a suprise if we make the playoffs .
Maybe it’s just me, but does anyone else feel there have been several INTs this year that could have been prevented by the receiver? I’ve played WR, and looking at a couple of those INTs, I feel the receiver just gave up on the ball and rather than trying to just deflect it and prevent the INT they just gave up on the play. I’m not saying EVERY INT, i’m just saying in the course of the season I think there have been a couple where the WR had a chance to break up the INT. But Jay really needs to watch where he forces the ball. He has a rocket arm, for all the controversy it will create I really think his arm is stronger than Elways, he just needs the experience that goes with it. He can put the ball basically anywhere he wants within 20 years, force whatever you want, but when he’s airing it out, he needs to pick his spots.
Injuries sick, but it’s a way of life in football. As bad as it is, it’s a good thing. Denver’s season doesn’t look fantastic, they probably don’t have a shot at the post-season but if they do, they need to have their young guys get more experience. This is probably a good thing because now the young guys have a chance for reps to show us what they’re made of so we can decide if they deserve more time. If we don’t make the preseason, at least those guys will have more exposure. A lot of times in football, it matters who your starters are but the real power of any football team is it’s depth.
Champ going down will kill the team just hope the young guys can step it up. Boss is great when healthy but Woodyard showed potential in the preseason and he can step up and replace Boss. There is NO REPLACEMENT FOR CHAMP but Jack looks OK he can step it up I hope Paymah doesn’t start over him. Is Ryan Torain any good? Can he come in and play over Hall seriously Hall had 3 fumbles WOW thats HORRIBLE?
Larsen was the man at middle linebacker in college….woodard is the man!!! lets get young and fast…..its all about FA and the draft for next year!! we are a team for the future…not this year…..as much as it hurts to say!!!
whos gonna start now boss is gone jamie (wimborn) niko (kutavides) or wesley (woodyard)
AND what about Anthony Aldridge!!!!
WESLEY IS THE GUY NEED HIM NOW
AND what about Anthony Aldridge!!!!
WESLEY IS THE GUY NEED HIM NOW!!!
what about Anthony Aldridge!!!!
I’m hoping the injuries turn out to be a good thing. Except for Champ, the defense already sux, so maybe some newer faces can improve it. Let’s hope its all a blessing in disguise. Now, if the offense can just HOLD ON to the ball a little tighter, things will be much improved all around.