Broncos Injury Front So Far So Good

In football, it’s the age-old question. What’s the benefit to risk ratio with preseason games?

Teams need the live practice, but with that comes the risk of injury.

The Broncos came out of their week one preseason game relatively unscathed, which is quite remarkable considering the limited football action there’s been since February. Bodies still aren’t totally accustomed to taking or giving hits. Running live routes over the middle is still foreign, and the possibility of wayward knees didn’t really exist until camp started two weeks ago.

The spot where the Broncos are aching right now is at wide receiver.

Demaryius Thomas is out with a torn Achilles Tendon, Eddie Royal is experiencing pain in his other hip (he had off season hip surgery), Mark Dell was waived because of a serious knee injury, and Britt Davis suffered a knee injury in the Dallas game. Brandon Lloyd (swelling in knee) and Matt Willis (soreness from the preseason game) had to miss some practice time last week. Tight end Richard Quinn is also out with a strained MCL.

“We’re obviously looking to get legs,” John Fox said. “I don’t think there’s anything longterm except for Demaryiuus [Thomas]. Hopefully guys will get back out there fairly quickly.

In an attempt to “get legs,” the Broncos signed Greg Orton out of Purdue to help fill the temporary void at receiver. The Orton-to-Orton connection probably won’t be the talk of the 2011 season, but his signing helps put bodies on the field.

With all of the minor injuries at receiver, that doesn’t mean that the Broncos are going to hold back in practice or in their preseason games. The guys need to get used to taking and giving hits.

The later was a major complaint during week one of preseason. Almost every team seemed to have a problem with missed tackles and poor tackling technique.

John Fox thinks the the Broncos faired okay in this department.

“It’s always a concern and it’s usually real sloppy that first game because you don’t practice live to the ground. For our first game, I thought our tackling was pretty good.”

The Broncos will prepare to take on the Buffalo Bills this week for their home opener on Saturday.

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