By now, Chris Simms’ career-threatening and possibly life-threatening injury has been well documented.
Three games into the 2006 season, Simms — then the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — suffered a ruptured spleen against the Carolina Panthers.
The fact that Simms could start an NFL game on Sunday for the first time since that fateful day, and a subsequent splenectomy, has not been lost on Head Coach Josh McDaniels.
“I have a great deal of respect for what he’s overcome now to come back and do this, and I can also see every day why he’s overcome it,” McDaniels said. “He works as hard as or harder than anybody we have on our team.”
According to McDaniels, there isn’t much, if anything, not to like about how Simms handles himself on a daily basis. He deems Simms’ attitude as “phenomenal,” and considers his work ethic to be top notch. McDaniels said the seventh-year pro “lives in the weight room” and is always the last one working out after practice — usually when nobody is looking.
“Those are the kinds of things that make you believe in a kid like this that went through an injury the way he did,” McDaniels said.
“His outlook, I am sure, was probably affected by (the injury), and I think he enjoys every day that he’s here and he takes advantage of it,” McDaniels continued. “That’s why I think that our team embraces him in his role and would embrace him in whatever role he would serve for us because, again, I think you gain a great deal of respect from your coaches and your peers about how you work and how you handle yourself, and I don’t know anybody who does that better than he does.”
While it is still up in the air as to who will take the helm at quarterback for the Broncos in Week 11, this much is for certain: If Kyle Orton can not take the field due to injury, McDaniels has confidence in Simms’ ability to lead the Broncos against their AFC West rival, the Chargers.
“Chris had a good day (on Wednesday),” McDaniels said. “I feel very good about the way he practiced. Mentally, he’s on top of the game plan, as is Kyle. I think any quarterback is going to benefit from the reps. I think he certainly did. As practice went on, you could see there’s a little juice to him and (he) got more confident. It was good to see that. We know he can do that. I think everybody has great confidence in him.”
Simms missed the entire 2007 season due to his injury and worked diligently to regain his form in 2008 while serving as Tennessee’s third-string quarterback.
After a long road back, Simms does not hesitate when asked about his enthusiasm level when thinking about the posibility of starting on Sunday — with first place up for grabs, no less.
“I am extremely excited,” Simms said. “I really am. Any time you have the chance to play, it’s exciting. And in my case, it’s been a long time.”
MORE TICKETS AVAILABLE
Extra tickets are now available for Sunday’s AFC West matchup between the Broncos and Chargers at INVESCO Field at Mile High.
The Broncos announced on Thursday that the Chargers have returned 300 tickets for Sunday’s game, and those tickets are now on sale to the general public.
The tickets are being sold at all Ticketmaster outlets, via Ticketmaster Charge By Phone, through online sales at www.ticketmaster.com and at the INVESCO Field at Mile High box office.
There were four changes to the Broncos’ Injury Report on Thursday. After neither player participated in Wednesday’s practice session, Josh Barrett (hamstring) was a limited participant on Thursday and Brandon Marshall (neck) was listed as a full participant. Correll Buckhalter (knee) and Brandon Lloyd (foot) were both limited participants on Wednesday, however, neither took part in Thursday’s practice session.
For the Chargers, TE Antonio Gates (foot) and OLB Shawne Merriman (foot) were full participants on Thursday after both did not practice on Wednesday. DE Travis Johnson (groin), DT Ogemdi Nwagbuo (ankle) and OLB Shaun Phillips (ankle) were all listed as limited participants after not practicing on Wednesday. P Mike Scifres (bilateral groin) practiced in full after being listed as a limited participant on Wednesday.
– Zach Eisendrath, DenverBroncos.com
Here are some pictures from the onset of Thursday’s practice session at Dove Valley:
Tags: Chris Simms, Head Coach Josh McDaniels, Kyle Orton, San Diego Chargers, Week 11
IN……COM……PLETE…….!!!!!
Go Broncos
“DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS”
IN COM PLETE!!!!!!!! LEts here it! haha its nothin like the real thing tho…
Tough game right to the end. We win 20-17. I believe in the Broncos and in the coaching staff.
Actually it is..IN…COM…PLETE…Waa Waa Waaaaaaa!!!!! LOL
I really think that Simms will be better. Maybe not great, but i think that he will try to show people he can still paly, and i think that it will work out. guys who go to the game,,,,,SHOUT LOUD! Man i wish to go to a game! u guys gotta be ;loud for me! we gotta get this one!
go broncs
Once area I’m really concerned about is our punting. Giving Sproules a short field to work with will give SD amazing field position. And of course, we all know River’s talent…….giving him a short field can will most likely lead to points on the board. Come on Berger…..if you’re the guy, DO YOUR DAMN JOB OR JUST RETIRE ALREADY!
This is gonna be a tough battle for both teams. My prediction:
BRONCOS 27
CHARGERS 24
I think it’s time we’ve seen a pick-six from Champ!
I would rather here INTERCEPTED! AGAIN! FOR A 5th TIME TODAY! RIVERS IS HAVING THE WORST DAY OF HIS CAREER AS DENVER TAKES A 30-3 LEAD INTO THE 4TH!
I would rather here INTERCEPTED! AGAIN! FOR A 5TH TIME TODAY! RIVERS IS HAVING A CAREER WORST DAY!
I think that it is time to get bloody. We haven’t seen some good hard running this season..I mean some good ol’ smashmouth running. You see all the old films where there is blood all over their pants and jerseys,that’s what we need. The kind of running that makes the D get up slow and makes the CBs scared to stick their nose in there. I would love to see us come out with Hillis and Larsen. Oh man that would be something just punch right in the mouth early, but call me old fashioned, I love watching that kind of football.
@ brian…. ya im with you! some hard nosed smash mouth football. we need to get MEAN!! run hillis early to beat em up, then knock em out with moreno! then by the 4th quarter deep passes will be there to “stick the fork in em”. lol oh and ya, the wah.. wah.. wahhhh lmao
Go Broncos
“DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS”
WOW Moreno and Hillis in the backfield…Smash and dash V.2.0
Just to clarify my previous comment, I said “Hillis and Larsen” Hillis being the HB and Larsen being the FB. I’m sure most of you got the point but just thought I’d clarify any confusion made. It’d be like a “Jumbo” backfield.
Glad to see some optimism back in the blogs….WE are still in this….a 13-3 finish is just as likely as a 6-10 finish…we dont know what the future holds but what we do know is our team was solid enough to sin 6 in a row and that doesnt come with luck. We get back to playing as a team and we can beat the chargers and take our rightful place as the leaders of the AFC West by sunday night and all the way to the playoffs
As long as simms is put into the game plan and is ready…I have faith he will do well with some assistance from our Running Game and A Defense I hope finds its pride again. Orton is pretty much a no go…I say Simms and Brandstater get all the reps incase things go REALLY south with Simms, like 3 INTs no yards in the first Half bad lol…..ANyway, I got faith, glad to know some of yall do too.
Ill go ahead and say we win 23-17…,,,and if we lose we lose 28-13…but I prefer the first one lol
GO BRONCOS!!!
Brian_Shneider!
I totally agree! Could you imagine Larsen blocking for Hillis on short yardage plays?
However, I will say this. Why isn’t it happening? I mean you and I and others on this blog would love to see that. What’s happening in practice to stop this from happening?
I know JMac talks highly of Larsen becaue of his versatility playing FB, LB and a HUGE part of the special teams. I wonder if this is more roster depth vs. anything else.
However, with Buckhalter’s knee a little banged up maybe this is the game we see him.
GO GET EM’ BOYS!
HILLIS, HILLIS, HILLIS, HILLIS!!!!! Enough Said.
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!
tradeorton for vick
H-BOMB, obviously you haven’t watched Vick play this year, or you’re just here in an attempt to cause trouble. He has clearly lost some of his speed and agility, the strong part of his game and has therefore been totally inefficient for the Eagles. It would be a horrible trade.