PatsWin2002
08-17-2005, 12:46 PM
http://cbs4denver.com/broncos/local_story_229151146.html
Davis Enjoying Life With Broncos
by Jennifer Tavlian, DenverBroncos.com
(CBS4/DenverBroncos.com) HOUSTON Many people would give their right arm to play for the Denver Broncos.
Dorsett Davis almost gave his left pinkie.
During the second day of training camp last season, the defensive tackle locked his finger in a teammate's helmet.
"I was in a pass rush and I stuck it in there," Davis said. "It was Dan Neil. He ducked and my finger got caught in the side grill of the helmet.
"I tried to snatch it out and he pulled the opposite way."
Instead, the tendon was ripped off the bone.
He wasn't feeling any pain at first and it wasn't until he tried to grasp a water bottle that he realized something was wrong.
"I couldn't bend it," he said. "It just stuck straight out. No matter how hard I tried to bend it, it was just straight out. There wasn't a tendon up there pulling it together like all the other fingers."
As a matter of fact, the tendon had fallen down to his palm and doctors had to pull it back up to the tip and staple it to the bone.
"And you talk about some pain," Davis said. "I never thought a finger could bring that much pain – just throbbing, agonizing pain. I can suck up pain. I mean, it's a finger.
"But it was serious."
The doctors thought his injury was so serious, they gave him an ultimatum: Either cut the injured finger off and come back to play the second half of the season, or take the whole season off and rehab the finger.
"I just took the season," Davis said. "I didn't want to lose my finger. Some people look at me like ‘You missed a whole season for a finger?' But it was serious."
Now Davis is back with the team and gearing up for the 2005 season. He started strongly, showing the coaching staff he's well on his way back after a season on the injured reserve by ringing up a pair of solo tackles in Saturday's first preseason game against the Houston Texans.
"It felt good," he said. "My first play, I just had to get some cobwebs out. I had to just go get that first initial game contact to get the spider webs out and once I got the spider webs out and just calmed down, things started coming to me.
"The game started slowing down to me and I started seeing things before they happened and everything was just coming into its own."
Even if it was a preseason game, it is still a far cry from where Davis was this time last year. While everyone else was on the field, he was rehabbing his injured digit. Now he's back with the team, cutting up with his defensive mates he missed so much last season.
"You just don't know," he said. "You just do not know. You never realize how much you miss it until you're not able to do it. It wasn't by choice. It was something I had to go through."
He knows he has to come back and work hard, but that comes as second nature to the fourth-year, third-round draft pick out of Mississippi State.
"I'm going to work hard, regardless," Davis said. "I'm working and everybody can see I'm working and making plays and making strides to get better. I'm just trying to make this team win."
The fierce competitor isn't thinking about his finger and only looking ahead to getting the Broncos to a successful season and Super Bowl win. He has even taped his pinkie and adjacent finger together on each hand because he doesn't want one to look like a handicap.
He's confident in his ability to help the team and in the recent incorporation of some 3-4 defensive looks.
"That's a whole lot of teaching and it's a whole different style," Davis said. "We mix it up in what we're doing now, but that's an all new technique. It's not as easy as people think. People think if you play a 4-3, you can play a 3-4. A 4-3 defensive lineman is different from a 3-4 defensive lineman. But I'm confident I can play it."
Davis keeps his long-term goals foremost in his mind, but right now he's just thankful he's back from a serious injury and playing on one of the most powerful defenses in the NFL.
"Man, it just feels so good," he said. "I'm happy to be back and my teammates are happy that I'm back. They were hurt that I got hurt last year too. They wanted to see me play, too. But it just didn't happen like that. God had other plans for me."
Davis Enjoying Life With Broncos
by Jennifer Tavlian, DenverBroncos.com
(CBS4/DenverBroncos.com) HOUSTON Many people would give their right arm to play for the Denver Broncos.
Dorsett Davis almost gave his left pinkie.
During the second day of training camp last season, the defensive tackle locked his finger in a teammate's helmet.
"I was in a pass rush and I stuck it in there," Davis said. "It was Dan Neil. He ducked and my finger got caught in the side grill of the helmet.
"I tried to snatch it out and he pulled the opposite way."
Instead, the tendon was ripped off the bone.
He wasn't feeling any pain at first and it wasn't until he tried to grasp a water bottle that he realized something was wrong.
"I couldn't bend it," he said. "It just stuck straight out. No matter how hard I tried to bend it, it was just straight out. There wasn't a tendon up there pulling it together like all the other fingers."
As a matter of fact, the tendon had fallen down to his palm and doctors had to pull it back up to the tip and staple it to the bone.
"And you talk about some pain," Davis said. "I never thought a finger could bring that much pain – just throbbing, agonizing pain. I can suck up pain. I mean, it's a finger.
"But it was serious."
The doctors thought his injury was so serious, they gave him an ultimatum: Either cut the injured finger off and come back to play the second half of the season, or take the whole season off and rehab the finger.
"I just took the season," Davis said. "I didn't want to lose my finger. Some people look at me like ‘You missed a whole season for a finger?' But it was serious."
Now Davis is back with the team and gearing up for the 2005 season. He started strongly, showing the coaching staff he's well on his way back after a season on the injured reserve by ringing up a pair of solo tackles in Saturday's first preseason game against the Houston Texans.
"It felt good," he said. "My first play, I just had to get some cobwebs out. I had to just go get that first initial game contact to get the spider webs out and once I got the spider webs out and just calmed down, things started coming to me.
"The game started slowing down to me and I started seeing things before they happened and everything was just coming into its own."
Even if it was a preseason game, it is still a far cry from where Davis was this time last year. While everyone else was on the field, he was rehabbing his injured digit. Now he's back with the team, cutting up with his defensive mates he missed so much last season.
"You just don't know," he said. "You just do not know. You never realize how much you miss it until you're not able to do it. It wasn't by choice. It was something I had to go through."
He knows he has to come back and work hard, but that comes as second nature to the fourth-year, third-round draft pick out of Mississippi State.
"I'm going to work hard, regardless," Davis said. "I'm working and everybody can see I'm working and making plays and making strides to get better. I'm just trying to make this team win."
The fierce competitor isn't thinking about his finger and only looking ahead to getting the Broncos to a successful season and Super Bowl win. He has even taped his pinkie and adjacent finger together on each hand because he doesn't want one to look like a handicap.
He's confident in his ability to help the team and in the recent incorporation of some 3-4 defensive looks.
"That's a whole lot of teaching and it's a whole different style," Davis said. "We mix it up in what we're doing now, but that's an all new technique. It's not as easy as people think. People think if you play a 4-3, you can play a 3-4. A 4-3 defensive lineman is different from a 3-4 defensive lineman. But I'm confident I can play it."
Davis keeps his long-term goals foremost in his mind, but right now he's just thankful he's back from a serious injury and playing on one of the most powerful defenses in the NFL.
"Man, it just feels so good," he said. "I'm happy to be back and my teammates are happy that I'm back. They were hurt that I got hurt last year too. They wanted to see me play, too. But it just didn't happen like that. God had other plans for me."