By the time the Broncos return to the practice field tomorrow afternoon, the team will have had two complete days of rest. A little R&R is just what this team needs right now, especially after a hard hitting practice at Invesco on Saturday.
Dove Valley has turned into an infirmary of sorts. No other team in the league has suffered so many injuries to key players as the Broncos have. Just in camp alone the Broncos have seen Elvis Dumervil, Knowshon Moreno, Correll Buckhalter, Jarvis Moss, Kenny McKinley, Eric Decker, and Demaryius Thomas get hurt. Ryan Clady hasn’t been able to participate since his off season injury on the basketball court. Those are just the most notable injuries.
I’m sure every guy on the squad is bruised and sore. There is no reason for Josh McDaniels and the Broncos organization to be criticized for practicing “too hard.” Like I said before,
"” 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.”"
With a couple of days off and a few new hairdos, the Broncos should come back re-energized, re-focused, and ready to go for their first preseason game against the Bengals on Sunday.
The NFL season is long and brutal. Each game is like a sprint within a marathon. With at least 16 games to be played, one has to expect injuries in some capacity. What’s hard to digest is the injuries that take place during training camp or preseason games.
Just last night, TE John Phillips of the Dallas Cowboys, tore his ACL in the Hall of Fame game. That ends his season. You have to feel bad for a player like that, Bronco or not. That would be like you working on a power point presentation for a few weeks to present to prospective clients only to go in there and find that half of it has disappeared.
The preparation is what many athletes hold near and dear to their heart. It’s the hours in the weight room or on the track running sprints or in the film room that NFL fans don’t get to witness. The public glory may come on game day, but individual gains are made in the off season. To get hurt before the season begins washes away all of the off season hard work before being able to at least compete in a meaningful game.
With that said, tip your orange and blue hats to all of the NFL athletes out there who make our Sundays on the coach enjoyable.
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