Dwill update

[i4jelway7]

http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=334&storyID=5038

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Denver will likely have to make do without starting cornerback Darrent Williams for at least the remainder of the regular season.

An MRI examination revealed that the rookie suffered a pulled groin during the opening moment's of Sunday's 12-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens, and Head Coach Mike Shanahan said that he would miss "about four weeks," which would not only sideline him for the next three weeks, but the wild-card round as well, should the Broncos be playing that weekend (Jan. 7-8).

"That's this game," safety John Lynch said. "We've been very fortunate as a team. Dwayne Carswell is the only other guy that we've lost for an extended period of time this year. D-Will has become vital to this team in so many aspects, and we're going to miss him."

Shanahan said that Williams was en route to visit a specialist to see if the timetable for recovery could be accelerated.

"They've got a certain rehab program where they think it might be a little bit quicker," Shanahan said, "but I would guess somewhere in the area of four weeks."

The injury -- which came about thanks to a pair of kickoff plays -- one coverage and one return -- didn't have Williams completely downcast, according to safety Nick Ferguson.

"He's in good spirits," Ferguson said. "Obviously, he's disappointed by this injury and not being able to possibly play through this remaining season, and he was having an excellent rookie year. That's just something for him to look forward to next year. But the main thing now is for him to get healthy."

Added linebacker Keith Burns: "He's young and it's more of a mental thing now as far as (trying not) to rush yourself back."

Nevertheless, the injury to Williams is the latest in a recent run of late-season injuries at cornerback. That began two years ago, a hand injury forced Kelly Herndon to play the 41-10 wild-card loss at Indianapolis with a cast on his hand.

"You always want to play at full strength, but as the season starts to wear down, so does the body and sometimes injuries occur," Ferguson said.

"It's a high-risk position as the season goes down, by the nature of the game plus the nature of their body style," defensive coordinator Larry Coyer said. "It's very high. Guys get injured. We've been very unfortunate, yes."

A year later, the Broncos marched into the RCA Dome for their playoff game without both Lenny Walls and Willie Middlebrooks. That forced Roc Alexander into the lineup, where he was singed by Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne for several deep receptions.

"We were outmanned," Ferguson said.

But with Alexander just part of a reserve corps that includes Domonique Foxworth, Curome Cox and Karl Paymah, the Broncos feel as though they are better equipped to handle an injury like Williams' now than they were last year.

"If we didn't have a person like Foxie and Curome Cox and Sam (Brandon) with his versatility, it would make it really difficult for us," Ferguson said.

Added Burns: "We know guys are capable of stepping in, so we don't expect anything less."

[watermock]

"grunts"

[Archie]

http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=334&storyID=5038

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Denver will likely have to make do without starting cornerback Darrent Williams for at least the remainder of the regular season.

An MRI examination revealed that the rookie suffered a pulled groin during the opening moment's of Sunday's 12-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens, and Head Coach Mike Shanahan said that he would miss "about four weeks," which would not only sideline him for the next three weeks, but the wild-card round as well, should the Broncos be playing that weekend (Jan. 7-8).

"That's this game," safety John Lynch said. "We've been very fortunate as a team. Dwayne Carswell is the only other guy that we've lost for an extended period of time this year. D-Will has become vital to this team in so many aspects, and we're going to miss him."

Shanahan said that Williams was en route to visit a specialist to see if the timetable for recovery could be accelerated.

"They've got a certain rehab program where they think it might be a little bit quicker," Shanahan said, "but I would guess somewhere in the area of four weeks."

The injury -- which came about thanks to a pair of kickoff plays -- one coverage and one return -- didn't have Williams completely downcast, according to safety Nick Ferguson.

"He's in good spirits," Ferguson said. "Obviously, he's disappointed by this injury and not being able to possibly play through this remaining season, and he was having an excellent rookie year. That's just something for him to look forward to next year. But the main thing now is for him to get healthy."

Added linebacker Keith Burns: "He's young and it's more of a mental thing now as far as (trying not) to rush yourself back."

Nevertheless, the injury to Williams is the latest in a recent run of late-season injuries at cornerback. That began two years ago, a hand injury forced Kelly Herndon to play the 41-10 wild-card loss at Indianapolis with a cast on his hand.

"You always want to play at full strength, but as the season starts to wear down, so does the body and sometimes injuries occur," Ferguson said.

"It's a high-risk position as the season goes down, by the nature of the game plus the nature of their body style," defensive coordinator Larry Coyer said. "It's very high. Guys get injured. We've been very unfortunate, yes."

A year later, the Broncos marched into the RCA Dome for their playoff game without both Lenny Walls and Willie Middlebrooks. That forced Roc Alexander into the lineup, where he was singed by Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne for several deep receptions.

"We were outmanned," Ferguson said.

But with Alexander just part of a reserve corps that includes Domonique Foxworth, Curome Cox and Karl Paymah, the Broncos feel as though they are better equipped to handle an injury like Williams' now than they were last year.

"If we didn't have a person like Foxie and Curome Cox and Sam (Brandon) with his versatility, it would make it really difficult for us," Ferguson said.

Added Burns: "We know guys are capable of stepping in, so we don't expect anything less."

I'm no doctor but this sounds better then a "torn" groin...

[Blart]

I agree, it sounds like it's not torn. Lets hope the Broncos can get him a bye week so we have him for the playoffs.

[ludo21]

Either way, this season is pretty much done for DW. Fox is going to have to step up as well as Paymah and Cox.

This team is capable of getting through this.

Man, at the beginning we were bashing these moves, now we have come to rely on them. Very odd.

[Rulon Velvet Jones]

How do you figure he's done for the season?

No reports have made it sound that way.

[FantomForce]

Sounds pretty damn painful to me:vermeil:

[ludo21]

How do you figure he's done for the season?

No reports have made it sound that way.


not done, but he will only be back to 75% or so even if we get the bye. That injury sucks and will linger. So he will be limited.

[footstepsfrom#27]

not done, but he will only be back to 75% or so even if we get the bye. That injury sucks and will linger. So he will be limited.
Agreed...groin injuries are 2nd only to hamstrings for lingering around forever...let's hope he heals fast.

[broncosteven]

I say we send Blart to work his Groin Day & night!

[eddie mac]

For me this comes down to the offense a bit more as well. They were awful against the Ravens and really need to step up in the final 3 games to secure that bye week. If the D loses a little step with the loss of DW we need to give them a bit more time off the field and try to keep less pressure on them to come up with plays to win games. If we use Tatum a bit more over the next 3 weeks i think we can accomplish that and as anyone knows the best form of defense is attack.

[ozomulsion]

Normally I'd be crushed but I've had a feeling, for a long time now, something like this would happen to him on a kickoff return. I've been damn near sure of it. I have no problem using one of your most important players on punt return duties. Kickoffs on the other hand, are a different story. Jason Sehorn anyboy?

[Mediator12]

Agreed...groin injuries are 2nd only to hamstrings for lingering around forever...let's hope he heals fast.

Groin injuries are actually worse due to the reduced blood supply compared to most hamstring injuries.

[Conklin]

Groin injuries are actually worse due to the reduced blood supply compared to most hamstring injuries.

i dunno about you, but my groin area gets plenty of blood flow

[broncos love]

I was sitting behind the bench for the game and he was walking around ok but was not a full speed. I thought it was a hammy at first the way the trainers were stretching his legs on the trainers table behind the bench. I just hope he will be ready for the playoffs or JUST BE READY FOR INDY in the Afc championship -IF we get that far.

[Blart]

I say we send Blart to work his Groin Day & night!
Dream job. How hard would that be to get? What would I have to study? Just imagine, being able to massage sweaty bronco bodies every day!

[TD4HOF]

Darrent has been incredible. Next year, he's off special teams, period. Maybe punt returns, but that's it. I think we'll manage fine and he can play nickel back in the playoffs until he seems all the way back, or not.

So who is going to step as as #3? My money goes on Cox as the coaches have put him in with some regularity and Paymah is still in training. It'd be kinda sweet to see Roc as a comeback story down the line.

[Hulamau]

Groin injuries are actually worse due to the reduced blood supply compared to most hamstring injuries.


Reduced blood supply! Hit him up with Viagra and THEN send him to Blart.

He'll come back wearing more pink than Portis :-)

[broncos love]

Dream job. How hard would that be to get? What would I have to study? Just imagine, being able to massage sweaty bronco bodies every day!
Yikes!

[listopencil]

Dream job. How hard would that be to get? What would I have to study? Just imagine, being able to massage sweaty bronco bodies every day!



Ha, come on dude. Take one for the team. Get your ass on in there.

[ludo21]

Normally I'd be crushed but I've had a feeling, for a long time now, something like this would happen to him on a kickoff return. I've been damn near sure of it. I have no problem using one of your most important players on punt return duties. Kickoffs on the other hand, are a different story. Jason Sehorn anyboy?


I have no problem with him being on ST. ST is just as important as D. It takes all 3 aspects be a contender, having your best players out their is fine with me.

We have been lucky all year with no major injuries, so having a 3-4 week one aint too bad.

[Merlin]

I have no problem with him being on ST. ST is just as important as D.
Plus the injury did not really occur during the kickoff return, it just go aggravated. The injury occured during his tackle against the Ravens kickoff returner.

[SoCalBronco]

I say we send Blart to work his Groin Day & night!

We dont need D-Will demanding a trade at the end of the season.

[broncosteven]

We dont need D-Will demanding a trade at the end of the season.


We can have Spider screen Broke Back mountian for DWill while Blart does his Magic. Anything for the team right?

[ozomulsion]

I have no problem with him being on ST. ST is just as important as D. It takes all 3 aspects be a contender, having your best players out their is fine with me.

We have been lucky all year with no major injuries, so having a 3-4 week one aint too bad.

I was speaking of kickoff returns specificly. It's not smart to have one of your more important players return kickoffs. I've had a bad feeling about it all year and it came to fruit. Take a look at this list and see how many teams have a starter returning kickoffs. I count two, Terrence McGee and Pacman Jones.
http://www.nfl.com/stats/leaders/NFL/KRET/2005/regular

[broncosteven]

I was speaking of kickoff returns specificly. It's not smart to have one of your more important players return kickoffs. I've had a bad feeling about it all year and it came to fruit. Take a look at this list and see how many teams have a starter returning kickoffs. I count two, Terrence McGee and Pacman Jones.
http://www.nfl.com/stats/leaders/NFL/KRET/2005/regular

I would like to see Adams returning KO's I am on record saying that a couple of weeks back.

Not sure who we will have doing Punt returns, I bet Rod or Adams will have to now, IF the Defense can force a punt.

[ozomulsion]

I would like to see Adams returning KO's I am on record saying that a couple of weeks back.

Not sure who we will have doing Punt returns, I bet Rod or Adams will have to now, IF the Defense can force a punt.

We'll have Roc returnimg kickoffs and Adams returnimg punts, just like we should have been.