Chris Harris injury: Broncos cornerback out for playoffs with torn ACL

[Denver Native (Carol)]

The Broncos will have to play the AFC championship game Sunday without starting cornerback Chris Harris. A magnetic resonance imaging exam Monday morning confirmed the team's fears: Harris has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, according to two NFL sources.

That means the Broncos must play without one of their most valuable defensive players against the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game — and Super Bowl XLVIII on Feb. 2 in New Jersey, if the Broncos win Sunday.

rest - http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_24901253/chris-harris-injury-broncos-cornerback-out-playoffs-torn-acl

[LawDog]

Weird to say, but Champ, next man up brother...

[Northman]

Time for Champ or whoever to bring the noise.

[topscribe]

Frankly, I couldn't imagine a better "next man up" than Champ . . .

[igoe4broncos]

Really the one other guy on defense we couldn't afford to lose going up against a surgeon like Brady. If Jammer is our other full-time CB, Brady will go after him all day. Perhaps Tony Carter, Webster or Champ gets the call out wide instead, but then you've still got to worry about Edelman and Amendola in the slot.

[Army Bronco]

Wtf.....could you imagine a healthy Denver Defense? We need a damn break on these injuries.

[VonDoom]

Yeah, even if Champ moves back outside (which I don't know if I would do right now - he doesn't seem to be able to handle the amount of snaps necessary to play every down), someone has to cover the slot. This sucks. Brady is going to expose whoever is out there opposite DRC.

[BigDaddyBronco]

I really can't hate on our defense giving up pass plays. If they can stop the run and make teams throw on us and keep them from scoring 30, they will be doing what they can.

It's all on Manning putting up 30+ from here on out IMO.

[BigDaddyBronco]

Carter will get abused, Jammer will get abused. If Webster can play with a cast, get him out there.

Dang. They can get someone off the street can't they?

[Denver Native (Carol)]

from article:


A rusty Quentin Jammer replaced Harris on the outside Sunday, but the Broncos could also consider moving Champ Bailey from nickel to the outside corner and insert rookie Kayvon Webster into the nickel.

Or, they could keep Bailey inside and give Jammer or Tony Carter another shot at outside coverage.


http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_24901253/chris-harris-injury-broncos-cornerback-out-playoffs-torn-acl

[Northman]

It's all on Manning putting up 30+ from here on out IMO.

Manning and the offense are the crutch of this football team, its our identity. You are 100% spot on here. Defense wont win it for us (well maybe against a team like the Hawks or Niners but not against the Pats).

[Denver Native (Carol)]

Lindsay Jones ‏@bylindsayhjones 40m

Power of the QB. Broncos and Pats defenses are decimated. Yet here both are in the AFC Championship game.

[NightTerror218]

Time for bailey to earn his paycheck this season. For his money he needs to step up. We know his speed is missing. So put drc on the fast wr champ on a slower wr and webster in slot. Jammer is just slow.

We could really use moore right now so bolden can move back to corner ad well.

[Broncolingus]

...been sayin it since Sep...

...THE story this year has been injuries and that damn bug Denver just can't seem to shake...

...Harris was playing very well, too, doggone it :tsk:

[GEM]

Champ has to be better than Jammer. Throw Carter or Webster on nickel and throw Jammer on the bench.

[VonDoom]

Carter can cover but not tackle. Webster can tackle but not cover. What's the better option there?

I agree, though, we'll need about 35 to put down the Pats. Stop the run and we should be okay. I'll take Brady beating us for a few big plays as long as our offense is on point.

[Denver Native (Carol)]

Chris Harris ‏@ChrisHarrisJr 42m

Blessed to be able to help the team get this Far , and will still do my part in meeting room to help my guys out.

[Denver Native (Carol)]

Vic Lombardi ‏@VicLombardi 42m

RT @spetersengolf: @VicLombardi Is Rahim Moore eligible for this weekends game?----- eligible, yes. Ready, no.

[Denver Native (Carol)]

Lindsay Jones ‏@bylindsayhjones 15m

RT @ChrisHarrisJr: Thanks for the prayers , Gonna work extremely hard and come back a Monster next year . God is on my side. #broncosup

[Denver Native (Carol)]

"I played like [crud]," Jammer said after the Broncos' win, via the Denver Post. "It wasn't anything physical. It was mental. I was sitting on routes I shouldn't have been sitting on."

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24408152/report-broncos-cb-chris-harris-tears-acl

[BroncoNut]

Lindsay Jones ‏@bylindsayhjones 15m

RT @ChrisHarrisJr: Thanks for the prayers , Gonna work extremely hard and come back a Monster next year . God is on my side. #broncosup

well that's great and all, but I dont' really care about next year right now. I'll pray to a god that can get your ass out on the field this weekend at 100% . Until then however, you can pray to your "god" all you want to.

[artie_dale]

Carter has stepped up before and has started the outside Corner a few times. Either put him back there and let Champ play the slot, or vice versa. ANYONE BUT JAMMER!

[Army Bronco]

Lindsay Jones ‏@bylindsayhjones 15m

RT @ChrisHarrisJr: Thanks for the prayers , Gonna work extremely hard and come back a Monster next year . God is on my side. #broncosup

well that's great and all, but I dont' really care about next year right now. I'll pray to a god that can get your ass out on the field this weekend at 100% . Until then however, you can pray to your "god" all you want to.I know right?... lol a guy has a chance to play in possibly the game of his life and now he's hurt. I don't think praying has helped much.

[jhildebrand]

Has Namdi's skills really declined that much? :confused: Can we bring the dude in for a workout? I know the guy "retired" but it would be worth a look!

[broncofaninfla]

I trust the coaches to make the best move but from where I'm sitting I think I'd leave Champ in the slot and play Webster or Carter in Harris's spot. I lost faith in Jammer yesterday, horrible game. His 4th down "egg" looked eerily like Moores "egg" last year against Baltimore.

[Nomad]

Damn!

[Simple Jaded]

Harris sucks, the Broncos are better off without him.

[Ziggy]

They need to keep Champ covering the slot. That's where NE's strength is with Amendola and Eddleman. Their outside receivers are garbage. Put Kayvon, Carter, or Jammer outside in 3 WR sets.

[jhildebrand]

Harris sucks, the Broncos are better off without him.

Do you have anything to support/back that ridiculous assertion? Harris has been a beast all year. Also, if they were better without him how come they were blatantly worse without him yesterday? :confused:

[Nomad]

Do you have anything to support/back that ridiculous assertion? Harris has been a beast all year. Also, if they were better without him how come they were blatantly worse without him yesterday? :confused:

I believe he's kidding.

[Zweems56]

Do you have anything to support/back that ridiculous assertion? Harris has been a beast all year. Also, if they were better without him how come they were blatantly worse without him yesterday? :confused:

Sarcasm? Stupidity? Iono...

[Simple Jaded]

Do you have anything to support/back that ridiculous assertion? Harris has been a beast all year. Also, if they were better without him how come they were blatantly worse without him yesterday? :confused:

I was referring to the guy that thinks the Broncos are better without Von Miller.

[jhildebrand]

My bad. I didn't pick up on the sarcasm. I apologize. Anyone who thinks the Broncos are better without Von is silly. Find me one Broncos fan who wouldn't want Von for this game coming up.

[7DnBrnc53]

Luckily, NE only has Amendola, Edelman, and Austin Collie at WR. Not a murderer's row.

Also, two of their rookies, Dobson and Thompkins, seem very doubtful, and they had another rookie, Josh Boyce, who is lost for the year.

The Pats need to force turnovers to win and run the ball. I don't see Denver turning it over more than once, and I think they can contain their running game.

[Edmonton Bronco Fan (2)]

Carter can cover but not tackle. Webster can tackle but not cover. What's the better option there?

I agree, though, we'll need about 35 to put down the Pats. Stop the run and we should be okay. I'll take Brady beating us for a few big plays as long as our offense is on point.

Can we splice them together? Is that an option?

[Edmonton Bronco Fan (2)]

Have almost come to expect the worst when it comes to injuries with the way this season has gone in that regard but it makes this news no less disappointing. Harris was a rock back there for us this season; other posters have already mentioned his versatility as a run stopper and his consistency so I won't rehash those points but we're going to sorely miss his leadership and presence back there. Any time you lose a player of that calibre it's hard to stomach but it's just another bout of adversity that this team will have to overcome. They've done a great job rallying around everything they've gone through up until this point this season, I don't think they see any reason to stop overcoming it now.

I guess if there is a positive, and I use that term lightly, it's that the injury happened now and not sometime during the Patriots game. When we lost in Foxborough, we showed an inability to make ingame adjustments to the loss of DRC before the half and that bit us in the ass... at least we'll get a full week to work in either Kayvon or Tony into the defense and make a decision on whether to play Champ inside or out.

When we beat the Pats, I better not hear one injury excuse from them.

[Joel]

Man, this sucks. We have the NFLs best starting CB trio when they're healthy, but at least one of them's been hurt pretty much since Champs pre-season lis-franc, an injury that kept hiim from even practicing most of the year so his stamina's through the floor and he's on a pitch count in the playoffs. Now this, and ever since I read that article about the newly discovered antero-lateral ligament ACLs scare me more than ever, because I keep thinking, What if he has an ALL, too, and the docs don't see it? Hello, career-ending re-tear....

Dunno. Next week, I expect DRC to shut down Edelman as thoroughly as in NE, and there's a strong argument for Champ on a strictly average Amendola whose Combine 40 was 4.58; many track star WRs can beat Champ deep now that he's aging, but Amendola's not one of them. After that, NEs remaining receiving options aren't even average; the best is probably a RUNNING BACK (i.e. Vereen) and a BACKUP RB at that. Despite media talk about NE suddenly being a dominant running team in cold playoff games, it looks like necessity's been mother of invention.

As a third option though, and given all that, I still prefer Jammer to either Webster or Carter. None of our remaining options is great, but Jammer has the experience (including playoff experience) of a career starter at CB even if he's lost a step due to age as assuredly as Champ has.

Webster's gifted but green; NOT the guy you want in the playoffs. Everson Walls led the NFL in Ints 3 different seasons and is tied with Deion and Champ for most Pro Bowl Ints, but is probably best remembered for the last play of his rookie year: When Dwight Clark made The Catch over Walls to win the NFCCG, simultaneously ending Dallas' Dynasty and beginning SFs. That, a fractured thumb and opposing QBs abusing him for a month solid after he took over from DRC at halftime in NE, is why Webster shouldn't be next man up in the AFCCG.

Tony Carter's OK, but not up to covering quality #1/2 WRs in the playoffs. Even as much as refs generally seem to be "letting 'em play D" this year, Carter still gets flagged for too many grabs and early hits to be reliable in the playoffs. I'd take him over Webster since PI>TD (if only just,) and maybe over Jammer against a burner, but it doesn't look like we'll be facing any burners as #3 WRs the rest of this postseason; against possession guys on third and long, I'd take Jammers experience over Carter or Webster.

Nearly all of that still applies if Champs limited availability or Amendolas production keeps him in the slot and makes the next man up the outside guy. Against Brady, I'd rather have the CB who's started a playoff game against Brady before than the guy who got abused by Brady even with TWO healthy thumbs instead of one in a cast.

This REALLY sucks though; I hoped we wouldn't be facing this choice, and not just because the drop from our third to our fourth best CB is so steep (though it certainly is right now.)

[Denver Native (Carol)]

from article:


That leaves Champ Bailey, Tony Carter, Quentin Jammer, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Kayvon Webster as the healthy cornerbacks on Denver's active roster. Safety Omar Bolden also has experience at cornerback -- he was selected by the Broncos in the 2012 NFL Draft at that position.

full article - http://www.denverbroncos.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Harris-Jr-Out-for-Season-with-Torn-ACL/cbe5e925-4785-4dcb-9974-ae1f4860aa2c

[Denver Native (Carol)]

from same article:


Bailey, who has been playing the inside cornerback position since his return to the field in Week 16, said the defense talked briefly about moving him back to outside cornerback when Harris went down Sunday, but ultimately decided to keep him on the interior of the defense.

http://www.denverbroncos.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Harris-Jr-Out-for-Season-with-Torn-ACL/cbe5e925-4785-4dcb-9974-ae1f4860aa2c

[Joel]

from article:

full article - http://www.denverbroncos.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Harris-Jr-Out-for-Season-with-Torn-ACL/cbe5e925-4785-4dcb-9974-ae1f4860aa2c
Yeah, I remember Bolden; likes to illegally block guys who are out of the play on kick returns. Other than that he's been pretty awful; I'm surprised none of the "Champ can't play safety because CBs suck at safety" haven't trotted him out as Exhibit A. I'd have more faith in Bruton (which ain't saying much, but at least he's good on STs; I have no idea why Bolden's still here.)

[Denver Native (Carol)]

http://www.denverbroncos.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Teammates-React-to-Loss-of-Harris-Jr/e13ddb49-307c-42a2-b838-c46472c250ff

Also Coach Fox talking about the loss of Harris

[Denver Native (Carol)]

Lindsay Jones ‏@bylindsayhjones 3h

On @1023ESPN, Chris Harris said he was injured on a routine play while covering Eddie Royal. Planted foot, knee gave out. Able to hobble off

[CrazyHorse]

Is there any reason why ACL injuries seem to be so common? It appears to be the most frequent devastating injury that ends a player's season.

[sneakers]

Just score 49 points on offense.