Elvis Dumervil Done For A While

Source: Yardbarker

It may be sunny here in Colorado today, but the Doom and gloom days of August have tainted the Broncos training camp. The latest victim to succumb to the injury bug is Elvis Dumervil. Doom will at the very least miss most if not all of the entire 2010 season due to sustaining a chest injury during last night’s practice.

Dumervil just signed an extension with the Broncos worth $61 million a couple of weeks ago. He led the league in sacks last year and was expected to play an important role in Denver’s defense once again.

Hopefully, this injury train has come to a halt. The season hasn’t even started and we’re without RB’s Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter, and now Doom. If things continue to roll this way for the Broncos, NFL agents will see Denver as a hotbed for their clients.

Just yesterday, LenDale White was brought on board to help fill the gap at RB.

It’s difficult to find a happy-medium in terms of intensity when it comes to training camp. By nature, football is an intense contact sport. To get better, teams need to simulate game-like intensity all while limiting the amount of contact in order to prevent injuries. What does a team do? Go light in training camp only to fail during the regular season, or push hard in camp only to make players more susceptible to injury. The teams that can find a balance are often the teams that make playoff runs late into the season.

Thus far, I’ve been impressed by the intensity of the Broncos practices. There are some hard hits, but there’s also a lot of restraint. Injuries can happen whether or not a player is touched.

That’s just it – stepping onto the field is like rolling the dice in Vegas (ok, maybe with better odds). A player can make money on the field, but when bad luck comes along, a season or even a career can be over.

Stay tuned in later today as I report back after training camp.