The Broncos will be without three starting players for this coming up weekend’s tilt against the Jets and longer after the Ravens beat up on them last Sunday.  Veteran safety Brian Dawkins will miss the next 2-3 weeks with a strained knee ligament.  Dawkins has played in 5 games for the Broncos so far this year and he has 27 tackles, 1 tackle or a loss, 1 sack, 3 passes defensed and 1 interception.  The Broncos will really miss Dawkins at the back of the D as he is still a playmaker even though he’s getting old.  CB Andre Goodman has a thigh injury that might only cause him to miss the Jets’ game.  Goodman has played in 3 games for the Broncos this year and he only has 2 tackles.  OLB Robert Ayers will miss at least the next six weeks with a broken bone in his foot.  Ayers has played in all 5 games for the Broncos so far this year and he has 19 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks.  This is a big blow to the Broncos as Ayers is tied for the lead in sacks (1.5) for a Broncos’ team that only has 5 on the year.  These injuries are really going to hurt the Broncos unless the backups step up big time.

Starting RB Knowshon Moreno injured his hamstring earlier today in practice and he will miss at least the next two weeks.  Laurence Maroney, Correll Buckhalter and Andre Brown will have to pick up the slack with Moreno out of action.  Coach Josh McDaniels really wants to try out his new toy so look for Laurence Maroney to get the bulk of the carries this weekend against the Colts.

23-year old WR/PR/KR Kenny McKinley has committed suicide.  He was on the Injured Reserve List this year due to chronic knee injury.  McKinley was a rookie last season for the Broncos and he helped them out on special teams.  He returned 3 punts for 32 yards (10.7 avg) and 7 kickoffs for 158 yards (22.6 avg) last year.  McKinley also made 3 tackles as a rookie last year.  My thoughts and prayers go out to the family & friends of Kenny McKinley. 

The Broncos have placed 25-year old RB LenDale White on the Injured Reserve List with a torn ACL.  White played in the last two pre-season games for the Broncos in which he carried the ball 17 times for 53 yards (3.1 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also caught 1 pass for 6 yards.  The plan when the Broncos signed White because of a league suspension of four games was to stash him until Week #5.  It appears as they will be on the hunt for a RB as teams begin to cut down their rosters later today.

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.

UPDATE:  (9/6/2010) – The Broncos have placed Elvis Dumervil on I.R. ending his 2010 season.

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.

The Broncos will be without starting RT Ryan Harris for at least the next three weeks due to two dislocated toes on his right foot.  This is bad news for the Broncos with a date with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming up this Monday Night.  Tyler Polumbus will get the start which will be the first of his NFL career.  He has played in 6 games this season for the Broncos and 22 overall in this two years in the NFL.  This is a big loss for the Broncos but the team seems confident that Polumbus can do a decent job so we will see if they are right on Monday Night.