Clifford Russell has been placed on injured reserve, Head Coach Mike Shanahan announced Tuesday.
Russell suffered a sprained neck on a scary injury during the Broncos’ loss to the Chiefs Sunday, and he had to be taken off the field on a stretcher. He did make it back to Denver on the team plane following the game after being cleared by doctors at a Kansas City medical facility.
To fill Russell’s roster spot, Shanahan also announced the re-signing of Glenn Martinez.
In 17 career games with Denver and Detroit, Martinez has posted 15 receptions for 186 yards. He also owns 14 career punt returns for 157 yards with one touchdown and 15 kickoff returns for 330 yards.
In Denver in 2007, Martinez was the team’s primary punt returner — he returned one for a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football.
He spent the 2008 offseason and training camp with the Broncos but didn’t make the final roster as the team trimmed down to the league-mandated 53-man limit.
Now he’s back in Dove Valley.
Tags: Adam Zinser, Clifford Russell, Glenn Martinez, Injury, Transactions
Welcome back Martinez.
woo-hoo,
this guy is much better to have on the team than russel.
unfortunately the defeat of Denver vs Kansas
really shows the condition of the defense of the Broncos. In short they have no defense, so they will not get anywhere. just shows the foolishness of Shanahan and the mediocrity that has characterized Denver in the last 10 years
rnst that has nothing to do with martinez and you dont know football they were put in bad spots and did ok you try to do better fatty
hahaha,
yeah bailey, I agree, shut up RNST, you really don’t know your butt from a hole in the ground. Denver just cant seem to get it done in KC, but we are 3-1, and we have great things to look forward to. If it werent for shanny, we would probably not have cutler, marshall, or dumervil, clady royal or peyton hillis, we have some great young players and…. bailey the bronco is right, you nonsense, nor mine that i just went off on has nothing to do with this blog. So best wishes to russel, and I am just glad martinez was still available.
I’m glad Martinez is back bc they can let him do the punt returns and let Royal focus more on the Offense. I’m just scared Royal is gonna get beat up and worn down trying to do both. We need him more on Offense catching passes and running trick plays. Martinez return is a good good thing for sure!
bring back some more punts to paydirt
does anyone else think martinez is the slowest man in the nfl?
im glad martinez is back because hes a better receiver than russel.
best wishes to russel.
i dont,
if martinez can outrun the whole titans ST, then chances are….. sam adams is much, much, much slower.
Welcome back Martinez. I don’t, I think Martinez has average speed.
Welcome back Martinez, I wish you and the Broncos well it is time to forget about last week, our focus now is on the Bucs,
Lets go get them Broncos, Martinez run one back for us, GO BRONCOS!!!!!
Thank god he is back i didnt want him to get cut i thought he was pretty good at running routs atleast that is what one bronco said so im pretty glad he is back with denver. He can catch better than Russel i can tell you that much remember how many drops russel had in the preseason and Martinez hung on to that ball Patrick Ramsey through to try and kill him. I wish the best for Russel though
Hey,
I know this is off subject, but I think the Broncos should sign Lane Kiffin as an assistant coach or something…just to piss the old man off!!!!
RNST, that was the exact same post you put on the Saccomano blog. Yes, it would be nice to have a defensive line star, but in the interim, I’m glad to have Martinez back. Russell is a good player, but Martinez is SO much better. GO BRONCOS!!! Let’s crush the Bucs.
Russel had skills and i am sad he went down but i was always more of a Martinez fan (probably cuz he has been with us longer). When i heard Russell went down, I knew they would sign Martinez back by Wednesday.
I was sad when he was cut and didnt think he shoulda been cut. He can do the punt returns and both him and royal can handle the kick off returns. Royal is just too much of an asset in special teams to leave him completely out of it.
Nice pick up this week…Now if we could only get John Lynch as a safety/linebacker to improve our defense but sadly that wont happen
PS: Denvers D isnt that bad. they do well for a D whose offense scores so much and so fast that they are always on the field. They do well but always randomly give up big plays that make their play look worse than it is.
Glad to hear Martinez is back. He knows the offense and seemed to run good routes last year. His punt return against the Titans was the first we had had returned for a TD in quite a while.
Welcome back Marty, glad to see you stayed in shape. It’s a shame that Russell may not play again, he had promise as a 4th wideout in the system. Can Jackson EVER stay healthy again? I SWEAR unless the guy’s the #2 or #1 WR he’s suddenly “injured”. Anyone else noticing that or is it just me?
gasperdn, I think that is an awesome Idea that would kill the old man.
not trying to be rude…but why????? honesty out off all the WR’s to bring back….or have on the roster. we get martinez and russell…..even…i mean i dont get it one bit…we get cedric wilson from the browns and dont even give him a shot…we only know what he can do in big games when he killed us in 05” at home for the chance to go to the superbowl….we could have went after a chris henry…which was an option since he can now play!! i think he was the man!!! or a reche caldwell..which is game ready and makes plays…just ask TOM BRADY!! Or a Joe Horn which im sure still has a lil game left!!! or Travis Taylor
I agree with you in a way rambo. But to pick up a receiver that is new to the offense doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Martinez in his second year with the broncos knows the offense well and is a great route runner he has showed this last pre-season. I think it’s a great idea bringing him back,afterall who knows better than Shanny.
chris henry is good but mike shanahan doesnt like those type of players. henry has issues and he dont like that marshall is lucky is is so good or he’d probably be gone. i mean travis henry chris henry pot head and pothead/ crackhead.