It’s been an eventful off-season, but you know that when they lace ‘em up, the Denver Broncos will be on top of their game, and BroncosLocker.com is right there with them. This is your daily dose of Bronco-mania, from the field to the locker room to the “man on the street.” Get it all right here!
The Broncos have placed 23-year old WR/PR/KR Kenny McKinley on the Injured Reserve List. He played in 8 games for the Broncos last season but he didn’t catch any passes. He returned 3 punts for 32 yards (10.7 avg) and 7 kickoffs for 158 yards (22.6 avg) last year. The Broncos will miss McKinley a little bit because he played on a lot of the special teams.
The Broncos have lost OLB/DE Elvis Dumervil for at least the next four months due to a torn pectoral muscle. Dumervil played in all 16 games for the Broncos last season and he finished up with 49 tackles, 17 sacks, 3 passes defensed, 4 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery. In Dumervil’s 4 years in the NFL he has played in 61 games in which he has 129 tackles, 8 passes defensed, 43 sacks, 10 forced fumbles and 1 interception. This is a huge blow to the Broncos’ defense as Dumervil is the one player on it that they can’t replace.
Offensive tackle Ryan Clady has had surgery to repair his patellar tendon of his left knee (it was torn). The 2009 All-Pro selection was injured playing in a pick up basketball game. The 23-year old Clady could miss the start of the 2010 season because of this injury which comes at a really bad time for the Broncos with the draft being last weekend. He has started all 32 games the Broncos have played in his two years with the team. This is a huge blow to the Broncos who were counting on Clady to have another outstanding year in 2010.
The Broncos have lost rookie safety Darcel McBath for the rest of the year with a broken forearm. McBath played in 13 games for the Broncos last season and he made 26 tackles, defensed 3 passes and he had 2 interceptions. McBath was a second round pick last April out of Texas Tech and he appears to have a bright future in Denver.
The Broncos better have their fingers crossed that Kyle Orton’s injury to his ankle is not too bad because if it is the season is pretty much over for them. Orton has started all 9 games for the Broncos this season and he has completed 181 of 287 passes (63.1%) for 2,031 yards with 11 TD passes and 4 INTs (91.1 QB Rating). He also has carried the ball 14 times for 27 yards (1.9 ypc) so far this year. If Orton is not ready to go on Sunday then the Broncos will turn to Chris Simms. The lefty has a strong arm and he has blond hair just like his dad (Phil Simms). It’s too bad that is where the comparison ends as Simms stinks as a QB. He only completed 3 of 13 passes (23.1%) for 13 yards with 1 INT last week when he replaced Orton. He was also sacked three times as he was holding the football way too long. Simms has now played in 21 games in his NFL career and he has completed 295 of 507 passes (58.2%) for 3,107 yards with 12 TD passes and 18 INTs (69.2 QB Rating). He has also carried the ball 30 times for 52 yards (1.7 ypc) with 1 TD run. The Broncos will have absolutely no chance of making the playoffs or winning the division if Simms has to start games so they better hope that Orton is ready to go this Sunday.
