Change in air for Plummer

[SoCalBronco]

Change in air for Plummer
Sore left knee will force quarterback into adjustments

By Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News
August 20, 2005

ENGLEWOOD - Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer said he might have to adjust what he does before and during games this season to deal with his sore left knee.

Plummer originally injured the knee in the Broncos' playoff loss in January against the Indianapolis Colts, then had some cartilage surgically repaired during the off-season. He has worn a wrap on the knee during training camp but has left only one practice early because of it.


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Plummer was pulled out of a practice Aug. 6 after getting tangled up with tackle Matt Lepsis and defensive tackle Luther Elliss. Last season, Plummer took every snap for the offense.

"It's going to be something I've got to maintain and try to keep healthy throughout the year," Plummer said. "There's nothing I can do if I take a shot on it that I can't avoid. It's just something I've got to deal with, play through and keep going.

"I've just got to keep on top of it, though. If I let it go a few days and don't keep up with my treatment, it gets a little more sore and stiff."

Plummer said Broncos trainer Steve Antonopulos put together a program the quarterback will follow each day through the season to maintain flexibility and range of motion.

Plummer has iced the knee after most practices during training camp.

About to enter his ninth season, Plummer, who turns 31 in December, said he also might have to be more selective about when he runs this season.

"I can't worry about it," Plummer said. "But at this stage of my career, maybe I won't be scrambling quite as much, but I'll be able to stay in the pocket and make some big-time plays.

"I was a little bit worried about it when camp started, but I knew I could get through it. I've played a lot of football and I've proven I'm tough and can play hurt in this league. There's a difference between being injured and being hurt. And this is not an injury. It hurts me, but I know it's not causing any damage. I'll just fight through it."

MORE WAITING: This time last year, Quentin Griffin was headed toward being the Broncos' starting running back.

He started the 2004 regular season with 156 rushing yards in a win against the Kansas City Chiefs.

But coming off surgery in October to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, Griffin probably will have to wait until the game Aug. 27 against the Indianapolis Colts to get his first carry of the preseason.

Griffin practiced once a day during two-a-days and did not play in the preseason opener Aug. 13 in Houston.

"There's an outside chance he could play (tonight)," coach Mike Shanahan said. "But when you're playing four running backs, you can only give one guy so many reps. Our game plan initially was to let him play the last two preseason games because of the injury."

REMEMBER WHEN: Shanahan and first-year San Francisco 49ers coach Mike Nolan were on Dan Reeves' staff in Denver in 1987 and from 1989 to 1991.

Shanahan was the Broncos quarterbacks coach or offensive coordinator in those years, while Nolan coached linebackers or special teams. Nolan's father, Dick, was the 49ers coach from 1968 to 1975.

"You get older you forget, (but) I was with Mike a number of years," Shanahan said. "I had a chance to spend some time with him at the owners meetings, him and his wife. It's always nice to get back with guys that you coached with. It's a great opportunity for him. He's a heck of a football coach."

ETC.: Tight end Stephen Alexander was not at practice Friday. He was excused to be with his wife, Mandie, who is expecting the couple's first child . . . Brad-lee Van Pelt again will be the No. 2 quarterback and should enter the game just before halftime . . . Cornerback Champ Bailey (left hamstring) and tight end Nate Jackson (right hamstring) will not play, but Shanahan said he hoped both would return to practice next week . . . Cornerback Roc Alexander (right hamstring) did not practice and will try to warm up before the game to determine if he will play . . . Shanahan said "there's no chance" running back Maurice Clarett will play. His most likely action will come in the preseason finale Sept. 2 against the Arizona Cardinals . . . There are 362 tickets remaining for the game available through Ticketmaster

[24champ]

Congrats to Stephen Alexander, nother good read socal!

[footstepsfrom#27]

I was a little bit worried about it when camp started, but I knew I could get through it. I've played a lot of football and I've proven I'm tough and can play hurt in this league. There's a difference between being injured and being hurt. And this is not an injury. It hurts me, but I know it's not causing any damage. I'll just fight through it.
Hmmm...I've got a pair of 'em that might say otherwise, but that's beside the point. He's turning 31 now. We need to look seriously at finding the next stud QB...someone as much like the last stud QB as possible...maybe Omar Jacobs.

[Rascal]

Hmmm...I've got a pair of 'em that might say otherwise, but that's beside the point. He's turning 31 now. We need to look seriously at finding the next stud QB...someone as much like the last stud QB as possible...maybe Omar Jacobs.

I agree. I ignored them for years in highschool and I regret that decision almost daily. I'll be lucky to be able to run when I turn 35 and walk at 50.

[watermock]

Lepsis will go down as the only player to not only take down Terrell Davis, but Jake Plummer. I think some team is whining about him as well. Great. Jake has to wrap his knee. Well, Elway didn't have an ACL, neither does Hines Ward. Suck it up big boy. "Starts scoping round 1 QB picks for next year....
'

[ludo21]

I hope Jake can learn to pass from the pocket. His game is no inside there, but he has the size so i think being careful and tossig the ball to a check down or away will make this injury a blessing in disguise.

Also congrats Alexander!! IM going to the game on the 2nd so it should be cool to see MoC get his first action there if that is the case.

[Bronco9798]

This week could be Roc's last hurrah at a shot if he don't so something. He seems to be getting outplayed by the rookies and he's nursing that injury, which could be his downfall.

[Play2win]

Maybe its a blessing in disguise. It might turn jake into a better passer and he will be forced to limit his mistakes (He will learn how to Pitch and not just throw the ball). Because he knows he can't always pull something out of nothing, he might play within himself more. And it just might, make him focus on his pocket passing skill, where he might actually (finally) show some improvement...

[Bronco9798]

I think limiting his mobility actually hurts. Jake is probably never going to develop into much of a pocket quarterback. He makes plays on the run. That's what he does best, along with throwing interceptions.

[Play2win]

I hope Jake can learn to pass from the pocket. His game is no inside there, but he has the size so i think being careful and tossig the ball to a check down or away will make this injury a blessing in disguise.

Also congrats Alexander!! IM going to the game on the 2nd so it should be cool to see MoC get his first action there if that is the case.
ha!! you must have made your post right after I started to make mine. Great minds think alike... ;D

[ludo21]

ha!! you must have made your post right after I started to make mine. Great minds think alike... ;D


Ya after i posted i thought u just copied pasted mine and changed some words around lol.

I agree with 98 also tho, he is a moblile QB, hopefully with the injury he can still bootleg well and it wont hamper him. ALtho the td he threw to alexander was a bootleg and he looked pretty good.

[footstepsfrom#27]

Maybe its a blessing in disguise. It might turn jake into a better passer and he will be forced to limit his mistakes (He will learn how to Pitch and not just throw the ball). Because he knows he can't always pull something out of nothing, he might play within himself more. And it just might, make him focus on his pocket passing skill, where he might actually (finally) show some improvement...
If he were 21 instead of 31 I might agree. Tough to teach an old dog new tricks.

[Play2win]

I think limiting his mobility actually hurts. Jake is probably never going to develop into much of a pocket quarterback. He makes plays on the run. That's what he does best, along with throwing interceptions.
I think he's got to, or we aren't going any where with him, Uhem, behind center. Shanahan's system is dependent upon the QB being able to make the throws. Shanahan's sytem depends on a Good Running Game, Creating Miss-Matches, and the QB's Making the (correct) Throws.

[Play2win]

If he were 21 instead of 31 I might agree. Tough to teach an old dog new tricks.
Yeah, I know, but we've got to hope for the best with what we've got now. BUT, we do need to upgrade the position this offseason, Most probably with the Draft. Jakes got a few years left IF HE SHAPES UP, and it would be a perfect time to bring in a young stud.

[watermock]

Does anyone else think that the Greek is like Doc on Gunsmoke? He's been a great medic, but we honetly need a new assistant. He is very well respected, but there have been alot of curious injuries for several years. It's time to bring in a new head assistant for injuries. You can't fire a legend. I wear the military watch Dr. Mongomery wore in Korea when he was full bird Colenel helping kids live, He was a fine man. I had the opportunity to talk about his experiences in Korea. I asked about when the Chinese attacked and he had to to triage and his eyes teared up ao I stopped.

Had another conversation with the old man, my vet. He was a medic on D-Day. He was reticent to talk, but I talked him into it.

I told him I needed to know to let everyone know the sacrifice.

So after we got done clipping Beezlebub's balls, he told me.

He said he was at Omaha. They were dropping left and right. He was just a kid, and only one medic. He had to choose which one would die and which one might make it, and this was under enemy crossfire. He said they got under the cliff, and rested, but didn't sleep. in the morning, they had broken thru. He tended the still living and and tagged the dead as the bay ran with bood.

[Bob's your Information Minister]

There's at least a couple fart jokes and interception jokes somewhere in this thread.

[Bronco9798]

I think you play to his abilities and not force him into being something he isn't. Shanny's system is developed for more of a mobile QB instead of a Griese type. We saw where that went. The bootleg has to be effective and Jake needs to roll-out and run more in the red-zone this year instead of throwing fades from the 3 to the front of the end-zone. We need his mobility to be succesful, not vice-versa.

[watermock]

One other thing. My relative, Walter Krueger, took Luzon so McAurther could make his big prance thru the water onto the shores of the Phillipines.

[Bronco9798]

I think something else people forget is that our Offensive line is not well suited for a pocket QB. With the zone - blocking scheme and the smaller lineman, it's almost impossible to have a QB who sits back in the pocket all the time. You can get away with it when you throw a short timing route, screen, etc. but when the protection breaks down, you have to run or throw the ball away. Or in Jakes case sometimes, throw a pick.

[SoDak Bronco]

Lepsis will go down as the only player to not only take down Terrell Davis, but Jake Plummer. I think some team is whining about him as well. Great. Jake has to wrap his knee. Well, Elway didn't have an ACL, neither does Hines Ward. Suck it up big boy. "Starts scoping round 1 QB picks for next year....
'

Hines and Elway are rare, my personal experience with a torn ACL lets me have a different perspective on the injury. Its a tough injury to overcome, and he'll prob never be back to 100%

[BigPlayShay]

AS long as our run game is more consistent and a viable threat week in and week out, Jake will be fine and won't have to scramble as much. I thought his mobility looked fine in the Houston game anyway.

[Rock Chalk]

"But at this stage of my career, maybe I won't be scrambling quite as much, but I'll be able to stay in the pocket and make some big-time plays.
DOes this bother anyone else?

[-Slap-]

DOes this bother anyone else?
This is the beginning of the end for Jake. The coaching staff decided to gimmick up the offense with all those rollouts last year for a reason.

[Play2win]

I think something else people forget is that our Offensive line is not well suited for a pocket QB. With the zone - blocking scheme and the smaller lineman, it's almost impossible to have a QB who sits back in the pocket all the time. You can get away with it when you throw a short timing route, screen, etc. but when the protection breaks down, you have to run or throw the ball away. Or in Jakes case sometimes, throw a pick.

Two things real quickly here. One, we are changing our O-Linemen philosophy. We are getting bigger, but still athletic Linemen. Why? Because it is necessary in this day and age in the NFL. Two, we need or are going to need taller QBs. It is becoming evident, because of the size of the D-Line you need QBs to be atleast 6-3, while more like 6-4 and 6-5 would be much nicer. This allows them to keep the passing lanes intact. I did not realize it for a while, but it is a HUGE advantage to have tall a QB, it opens up holes for the passing game that weren't there previously.

[TheReverend]

This is the beginning of the end for Jake. The coaching staff decided to gimmick up the offense with all those rollouts last year for a reason.

Too early to tell, Slap. We'll have a better feel for Jake's long term mobility halfway through the season. He looked good on the run at Houston.

However, I do NOT like the idea of Jake Plummer, the pocket passer.

[orange 4 life]

plummer will be fine.

football players almost always have one nagging injury or another.

heck, this one is probably more publicity than reality anyway.

make other teams think he'll stay in the pocket more and then roll him out a ton in game one down in florida.
if something was really wrong would he have played last week?

not a chance.
shanny is VERY cautious with his vets in preseason (bailey?),
and if he thought jake was anything less than 100% he wouldnt have played.

this isnt the "beginning of the end", its just the beginning of a great season.
plummers third in this offense.

[TheReverend]

if something was really wrong would he have played last week?

not a chance.


Or had him bootleg as much as he did?

[orange 4 life]

Or had him bootleg as much as he did?

exactly.

plummer is fine, and coming into his third year in the offense he should
have an amazing season.

[TheReverend]

exactly.

plummer is fine, and coming into his third year in the offense he should
have an amazing season.

I feel the same way. Let no one forget, Im the 13-3, Plummer Superbowl MVP over the Viqueens, homer.

[DBroncos4life]

sounds like a bunch of crap to make teams think that we won't bootleg as much.

[Bronco9798]

How can you not bootleg against the Chiefs, especially at home. Jake makes them look stupid every year with the bootleg.

[gunns]

DOes this bother anyone else?


Yes it does.

[TotallyScrewed]

Jake DID look fine against Houston...not that Houston is all that on defense. I didn't notice any limping or favoring or loss of mobility in that game, did you?? What I saw was him get tangled up on one play (QB sneak) and limp out of it but that didn't last. So who knows how bad it is. I've not read or seen anything to suggest that he's got anything more than "some" cartilage damage that has been scoped to help out.

For the injury comparison to Elway...

Elway couldn't throw a touch pass to save his life prior to the biceps injury and he had too much confidence in his strength "to fit the ball inbetween defenders". Post injury, Elway played much better even though he was not a strong as before. BTW, Elway was old then.

Can Plummer benefit from limitations? Who knows?? But there are plenty of examples of regular Joes doing amazing things to compensate after injury.

As for MoC, this should end the "Clarrett IS history" crap. The fact that Shanny is willing to wait until the LAST preseason game just to see the kid play is a display of good coaching, project and patience.

That Q won't likely see action until next week tells me that the starter is clearly not going to be Moc or Q.

Lastly, I'm hoping that having a great offense isn't necessary.

[Crushaholic]

How can you not bootleg against the Chiefs, especially at home. Jake makes them look stupid every year with the bootleg.

Until they learn not to bite on the bootleg, Shanahan will keep going back to that play. It's hilarious watching the Chef fans around me cover their faces or throw their hands up in the air in disgust whenever the bootleg is played... Ha!

[TheReverend]

Until they learn not to bite on the bootleg, Shanahan will keep going back to that play. It's hilarious watching the Chef fans around me cover their faces or throw their hands up in the air in disgust whenever the bootleg is played... Ha!

How can you laugh when you're too busy wretching from the smell?

[Play2win]

JElway couldn't throw a touch pass to save his life prior to the biceps injury and he had too much confidence in his strength "to fit the ball inbetween defenders". Post injury, Elway played much better even though he was not a strong as before. BTW, Elway was old then.
The way I heard it was, Elway said he could throw the ball HARDER after the injury...

What a Stud!!

:militia: :strong: :boxing:

[Crushaholic]

How can you laugh when you're too busy wretching from the smell?

good point... LOL