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Lonestar
08-21-2009, 03:38 AM
The Denver Post
Posted: 08/21/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
Updated: 08/21/2009 01:16:22 AM MDT


Steve Watterson's name appears nowhere on the Broncos' staff directory, nowhere on the team's payroll.

But as the Broncos concluded the training camp portion of the preseason Thursday, quarterback Chris Simms was more than happy to thank the longtime Titans strength and conditioning coach for his ability to throw "maybe better than I ever have."

"Listen, if I don't go down there last year, I'm not here right now, I'm not throwing like I am now to get through this offseason, through this camp," Simms said. "I'm very indebted to them forever, to that team, to (Watterson). They took a vested interest in me and got me back to 100 percent.

"We did a ton of exercises, a lot of flexibility things as far as stretching my arm out and breaking up that scar tissue in my stomach. I probably wouldn't be playing at all without that."

Simms missed most of the 2006 season and all of 2007 after emergency surgery to stop internal bleeding and remove a ruptured spleen. Doctors later told him he had cheated death by about 45 minutes after finishing a game against the Carolina Panthers.

Initially, after his recovery, he felt like he didn't have the same velocity on his passes as he tried to restart his career with the Titans. The team checked his range of motion and discovered it was limiting how Simms could throw.

"Because the mobility of my arm at one point was almost nothing," Simms said. "When they operated on my stomach, they pulled everything tight.

"To get that throwing motion back, the ability to move my arm all the way through, has been everything."

Prater on sideline.

Kicker Matt Prater did not participate in Thursday's practice. Head coach Josh McDaniels would not say whether Prater was injured, ill or simply excused from the workout, but Prater spent most of the practice in the team's weight room riding a stationary bike.

"Wasn't anything big," McDan- iels said.

McDaniels said Prater will make the trip with the team to Seattle today but did not say whether he would kick in Saturday night's game.

Rookie punter Britton Colquitt attempted field goals in practice Wednesday and Thursday. In college, Colquitt attempted only one field goal — a miss — in his senior season at Tennessee in 2008.

Footnotes.

Cornerback Jack Williams returned to practice Thursday after missing five practices with an unspecified injury. . . .

Running back Knowshon Moreno and wide receiver Brandon Lloyd were the only players other than Prater to be held out of Thursday's workout. . . .

The Broncos broke camp Thursday, but they still have two weeks remaining in the preseason and just more than three weeks until their first regular-season game.

Jeff Legwold, The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13173401?source=rss