The Shamans came in (or maybe it was a few holistic healers from Boulder?) and exorcised the injury demons because the Broncos are at nearly full strength.
This time of year, most teams have multiple players listed as “questionable” or “out” from game to game. Knock on wood, but the Broncos are becoming stronger as the season progresses.
During Wednesday’s practice, the only player to sit out was Andre Goodman. That means one thing: Robert Ayers is back. Can I get an Amen?
Ayers broke his foot in early October, and yesterday practiced for the first time since the injury. In five games this season, Ayers has 19 tackles and 2 sacks recorded. His presence was certainly missed at outside linebacker, but that did give Mario Haggan a chance to gain some experience after moving to the position from inside linebacker.
Don’t expect to see Ayers get his normal playing time on Monday night when the Broncos take on the Chargers.
“How many plays Robert plays, how much he can play, what packages he plays in, those are all going to be things that we’re going to try to figure out as we go through the week,” said Josh McDaniels. “Not only is he just starting back to practice, but his stamina, and his overall ability to play is the big question for us.”
The Broncos will take the wait and see approach. They want to see how he reacts once he’s back on the field, and that will determine how many snaps he takes during the game.
Expect to see a combination of Ayers, Joe Mays, Jason Hunter, and Haggan. The linebackers will be “double-learning” eachother’s positions so that the Broncos can rotate at will.
With the Broncos playing the top QB in the league in Philip Rivers, they will be looking to get all kinds of pressure on him, and Ayers’ presence is certainly an added benefit.
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