It's hard to get a handle on Broncos' injuries
Q&A: It's hard to get a handle on Broncos' injuries
By Jeff Legwold
The Denver Post
POSTED: 08/13/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT
Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno injured his hamstring during training camp. (Denver Post file photo)
Today's question comes from Jerry Gates in Anchorage, Alaska. Send your question about the Broncos via e-mail to jlegwold@denverpost.com.
Q: How do all of the injuries to the Broncos during training camp stack up against other teams? Are they having the same concerns? Are there any types of injuries that seem to dominate throughout the league?
A: Jerry, several teams are having the same kinds of concerns the Broncos are — it's a common theme this time of year. Some — the Baltimore Ravens come to mind — are feeling worse, as they have basically watched their secondary dissolve with injuries to Walt Harris, Domonique Foxworth and Ed Reed.
Foxworth and Harris are already lost for the year, having been moved to injured reserve.
Teams track games lost because of injury in the regular season.
In the two years the Broncos won the Super Bowl, the Broncos had 31 games missed by starters because of injury in 1997 and just 15 games missed by starters because of injury in 1998.
They had 67 games missed by starters in 1999 and finished 6-10. Of course John Elway had retired, but Terrell Davis also missed 12 games that year, John Mobley missed 14 and Shannon Sharpe missed 11.
In 2005 the Broncos had just 10 games missed by starters because of injuries, went 13-3 and advanced to the AFC championship game.
All of those years came under Mike Shanahan, with almost exactly the same practice schedule, amount of hitting in camp and strength program. So it does show there is a bit of good fortune involved.
And while there are plenty of theories out there: the players train too much in the offseason or the players' break from offseason training comes at the wrong time or that some teams hit more than others in camp or they put on the equipment more days, etc there is really no solid data to support an overall trend.
The trend may really be that these are large, fast, highly trained athletes whose job entails smashing into each other.
And there is the belief that the only way to prepare to play football is to practice it fully.
But even that thought varies widely around the league. Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy ran some of the most noncontact training camps in NFL history during his tenure with the Bills — some folks went as far as to call it "Club Marv" — and the team went to four consecutive Super Bowls.
Some may say the Bills went to four Super Bowls because they were a talented team that Levy took care of in training camp, while some would argue they didn't win it all because they were a team that was coddled.
Take your pick.
You do see certain kinds of injuries — hamstring pulls, groin pulls, calf strains — in camp at times because of the hot weather, the effort being put in and the fact that some players, especially younger ones, don't hydrate the way they should.
The Broncos' injuries this year are varied. It's difficult to see if anything in their strength program could be adjusted to prevent some of them.
Running back Knowshon Moreno was untouched when he injured his hamstring. But was it because Moreno wasn't flexible enough, had not warmed up properly, hadn't hydrated the way he needed to or was it just a fluke?
Those are all things the team has to consider.
The Broncos have, in my estimation, hit less in this training camp than they did in last year's and have had significantly more injuries in this one.
Ryan Clady was injured playing basketball, Jarvis Moss fractured his hand because he caught it awkwardly when he engaged with another player and Elvis Dumervil was in a 1-on-1 drill that he has done countless times in his career without an issue.
It is a big, powerful, physical game and injuries will always be part of it. It's why, when guys who have been in the NFL a long time make a list of what a team needs to win a Super Bowl, they always put luck on there as well.
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
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