View Full Version : Marshall wants to make presence felt during camp
dragondawg
08-10-2007, 03:33 AM
ENGLEWOOD - This was supposed to be the training camp for Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall.
The one where he made a claim for a starting spot, the one where he really started to tap into the vast reservoir of talent those around him say he has.
Instead, his first 11 days of Broncos summer camp have been summed up this way by coach Mike Shanahan: "He looks good on the treadmill."
Marshall, who originally pulled his left thigh muscle during the team's July minicamp, has yet to practice with the team and as of this morning has missed 11 days of two-a-day work.
He won't play in the preseason opener Monday in San Francisco and says his hope is to be able to practice at least some against the Dallas Cowboys in combined workouts next week.
"I'm definitely ready to get out there and run around a little bit," Marshall said. "It's one of those things when you're hurt, you'd do anything to get back out there. When you see the team running out there making plays and jelling together and getting that chemistry and you're not part of it, you want to be out there and part of it that much more.
"It's definitely taken a toll on me."
Marshall, who has spent the bulk of his days working with the team's trainers or strength and conditioning coaches, says he still feels "weak" at times in the leg, especially when he makes an aggressive cut.
But beyond the fact the Broncos, because of Rod Smith's left hip surgery, were looking to get Marshall into the offensive game plan early during training camp, there also is the matter of how an injury early last season spiraled the 23-year-old into a two-month funk.
"Right now, I know the toughest thing is to stay in it mentally, keeping up in the playbook," Marshall said. "I'm definitely frustrated. It can take a toll on you physically and mentally. You've got to be able to handle it.
"It's life. Tough people, strong people, they take on whatever is thrown at them pretty good. That's what I'm trying to do."
In the preseason opener last year in Detroit, Marshall tore the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and through the early going went on to struggle with his assignments and on-field approach even after his return from the injury.
The Broncos eventually became frustrated enough to largely move Marshall out of the rotation at receiver and play him on special teams until Shanahan moved him back into the No. 3 receiver spot for the Broncos' Nov. 19 game against San Diego.
Marshall stayed at No. 3 the rest of the way in 2006, finishing with 20 receptions, including a replay-worthy 71-yard catch and run for a touchdown against Seattle in early December.
In all, 18 of those 20 receptions and 287 of his 309 receiving yards came during the final seven games of the season.
"I do think I've done better this time. This is just a process that I have to go through and strengthen my leg to where I can go out there and compete," Marshall said. "I want to be at the best of my ability when I go back out there."
Shanahan said Thursday he didn't know when Marshall would be back on the field.
With Smith out and Brandon Stokley (left thigh), Glenn Martinez (right thigh) and Marquay McDaniel (left hamstring) having missed practice time, the Broncos usually have found themselves wafer thin at the position simply to get through a day's practice.
At one point during Wednesday's morning practice, three receivers were on the ground at the same time, getting stretched by the team's training staff, trying to get loose as they went through team drills.
"Happens every year," Shanahan said. "It's not always the wide receiver position, but it always happens. That's just the nature of camp, always will be. You've just got to push through it."
Marshall said he underwent a magnetic resonance imaging exam on his leg Monday to gauge the progress. He said, for the most part, the report was good, but he still could not pinpoint a return date.
"It showed that it's healing, and definitely that's a good sign, that's a positive," Marshall said. "But I have to keep working. I want to be back out there. I do."
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nfl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23918_5667255,00.html
DBroncos4life
08-10-2007, 04:33 AM
wuss
footstepsfrom#27
08-10-2007, 06:04 AM
I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. Eleven days is not the end of the world, but rushing him back to quick would be a mistake. Let's see if he's out there for the Dallas practices and move him along slowly. We need this dude to be healthy.
maher_tyler
08-10-2007, 06:23 AM
I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. Eleven days is not the end of the world, but rushing him back to quick would be a mistake. Let's see if he's out there for the Dallas practices and move him along slowly. We need this dude to be healthy.
I agree
some wabbit feed back on this guy would be nice.
That One Guy
08-10-2007, 07:43 AM
I think the fact that they're using an MRI to gauge his success says something. Obviously it's not just in his head if they can not only see it on an MRI but see that it's healing, that kinda makes it legit.
Dukes
08-10-2007, 08:03 AM
I agree that there's no reason to rush him back. He's still got a month to get healthy in time for opening day. As long as he's fully healthy by then, he'll really be able to contribute come late Sept when he has a few games under his belt.
Also, I don't think everyone would be so worried about the situation if it wasn't for our depleted WR depth. But with Brian Clark coming on strong lately and Brandon Stokely looking good, there isn't anything immediately to worry about IMO
no-pseudo-fan
08-10-2007, 09:15 AM
He needs to start practicing ASAP. I just wish he would be out there on the field. I don't want him hurting it worse, but we need him this year. We need him to be full speed, in sync, and ready to bring it by week 4
Man-Goblin
08-10-2007, 09:29 AM
He injured this thing on July 10th. It is now August 10th. Color me officially worried.
Steve Prefontaine
08-10-2007, 09:41 AM
"Happens every year," Shanahan said. "It's not always the wide receiver position, but it always happens. That's just the nature of camp, always will be. You've just got to push through it."
At first I read this and in the context of the article I thought he was calling out Marshall to just suck it up and practice. But I really think he is just saying that the team as a whole has to push through these types of injuries.
Ah, the dangers of the printed word.
I am not too worried about Marshall, but I have to admit I'm getting there. I am still hoping that he comes back healthy and thrives in that #2 role. I'm sure he's pretty frustrated that he can't be out there.
Odysseus
08-10-2007, 09:48 AM
"Looks good on the treadmill"
I don't mind seeing Stokely, Clark and Hixon getting the reps. If Marshall needs to get his confidence up playing third WR that is fine with me. One he'll go out there and score 14 points and be a one man wrecking crew at three WR. Who on our team actually has done that before? Stokely. Thin at WR? I think we will be alright.
listopencil
08-10-2007, 10:38 AM
The emergence of Stokely has pushed this worry to the back of my mind. Walker at #1, Stokely at #2 and whoever is healthy/talented enough at #3 and we'll still have more depth than in recent years. As long as Scheffler comes along as a pass-catching TE and Henry shows the hands that I've heard about in Training Camp we're going to be fine in the passing game.
The emergence of Stokely has pushed this worry to the back of my mind. Walker at #1, Stokely at #2 and whoever is healthy/talented enough at #3 and we'll still have more depth than in recent years. As long as Scheffler comes along as a pass-catching TE and Henry shows the hands that I've heard about in Training Camp we're going to be fine in the passing game.
Stokely is a much better player out of the slot though, and our WR routes are still very similar to what we used to run with Rod and Eddie Mac, where our guys on the wings need to be able to take yardage over the middle. I don't think Stokely is a good match.
In an ideal world we get Marshall and Rod back healthy soon, Rod starts the year as the #2 while Stokley and Marshall split duties as the #3, Marshall moves into the #2 role by mid-season with Rod spelling him and taking the slot snaps in shorter yardage passing downs (like red zone).
If all our receivers are healthy it's going to be a crowded pack of 2's. Rod, Marshall, Stokely, Scheffler, and maybe even Hixon all offer unique skills but none of them are a complete package at this point. Wouldn't surprise me if we see the lot of them play a role while Walker and Graham are the leading receivers.
Jesterhole
08-10-2007, 11:07 AM
Didn't he hurt himself just running down the field? Didn't Hixon separate his shoulder and come back out the next day? Marshall has me worried for sure...
Willynowei
08-10-2007, 11:26 AM
Didn't he hurt himself just running down the field? Didn't Hixon separate his shoulder and come back out the next day? Marshall has me worried for sure...
Its very easy to play through upper body injuries and still be effective in football. Much harder and more dangerous when it comes to the lower body.
Garcia Bronco
08-10-2007, 11:35 AM
I hear you talking Marshall.
DenverBroncosJM
08-10-2007, 12:03 PM
Why did the reporter even interview him? Could have just went back to last years interview moved a couple things around and submitted that.
DBroncos4life
08-10-2007, 12:10 PM
Its very easy to play through upper body injuries and still be effective in football. Much harder and more dangerous when it comes to the lower body.
Yeah it must be really easy to catch a football when you can't move your arm very well. My shoulder is messed up and it pops out all the time and I can say even the ones that don't go out that bad still make it hard for me to move my hand over my head at times. Sure Im not a football player but I don't believe that football players have super human strength either.
TheDave
08-10-2007, 12:19 PM
Folks there is more to this than just a "pulled muscle"
MRI's are not going to show the healing progress of a pulled muscle. This has to be at the very least a slight tear. If thats the case he can not rush himself back on to the field.
There is more to this story than the team is telling us...
cmhargrove
08-10-2007, 12:56 PM
I understand its fun to speculate because we haven't had anything else to do. But, can't we worry about this if he doesn't participate in the third and fourth preseason games? If he plays in Dallas, we are still way ahead. If he waits for the last 2 games, we are still good. If he misses the entire preseason, his year will probably suck.
However, I am really interested to see how Clark does in a real game as a wideout. He is really starting to come on strong. As I said before, I hated him as a KR, especially in the Seattle game, but he is starting to show some real skills at WR. He might be the guy to watch if Marshall can't get his crap together.
NorthPABroncFan
08-10-2007, 01:02 PM
I'm very concerned if Stokely and Hixon/Clark are the 2nd/3rd WRs on this team when the Broncos play in the 3rd preseason game. I'm officially *alarmed* if that's the depth chart when we open up against Buffalo.
theAPAOps5
08-10-2007, 01:07 PM
Folks there is more to this than just a "pulled muscle"
MRI's are not going to show the healing progress of a pulled muscle. This has to be at the very least a slight tear. If thats the case he can not rush himself back on to the field.
There is more to this story than the team is telling us...
I was thinking the same thing. MRI's show physical damage like a tear. I didn't think it showed a pulled muscle.
listopencil
08-10-2007, 01:37 PM
Stokely is a much better player out of the slot though, and our WR routes are still very similar to what we used to run with Rod and Eddie Mac, where our guys on the wings need to be able to take yardage over the middle. I don't think Stokely is a good match.
In an ideal world we get Marshall and Rod back healthy soon, Rod starts the year as the #2 while Stokley and Marshall split duties as the #3, Marshall moves into the #2 role by mid-season with Rod spelling him and taking the slot snaps in shorter yardage passing downs (like red zone).
If all our receivers are healthy it's going to be a crowded pack of 2's. Rod, Marshall, Stokely, Scheffler, and maybe even Hixon all offer unique skills but none of them are a complete package at this point. Wouldn't surprise me if we see the lot of them play a role while Walker and Graham are the leading receivers.
Yep, I know what you are saying but we are going to have to run with what health and talent will give us. I'd rather have Stokely at #3 but I'll take him for #2 if we have to because we can still make it work.
Garcia Bronco
08-10-2007, 02:20 PM
Folks there is more to this than just a "pulled muscle"
MRI's are not going to show the healing progress of a pulled muscle. This has to be at the very least a slight tear. If thats the case he can not rush himself back on to the field.
There is more to this story than the team is telling us...
What if it's an fMRI?
Mediator12
08-10-2007, 03:14 PM
I hate to tell you all this but a slight tear=strained/pulled muscle ;D A major tear or torn muscle is more likely what happened here and Shanahan is very notorious for doctoring the injury reports over the years. In fact, he has been fined and personally reprimanded twice in DEN for false Injury reports. This one smells fishy.
Man-Goblin
08-10-2007, 03:17 PM
I hate to tell you all this but a slight tear=strained/pulled muscle ;D A major tear or torn muscle is more likely what happened here and Shanahan is very notorious for doctoring the injury reports over the years. In fact, he has been fined and personally reprimanded twice in DEN for false Injury reports. This one smells fishy.
If he had a torn quad wouldn't he have been out longer than 30 days?
DukeWoody
08-10-2007, 03:18 PM
LOL (This Thread)
Thats some good drama right there, i almost got sucked into this...
I'm just glad B-Marsh is back and feeling confident, there was a big void without him and the Sheff...
Mediator12
08-10-2007, 03:33 PM
If he had a torn quad wouldn't he have been out longer than 30 days?
Depends on the quality of the tear. Kaylore said he had scar tissue that was causing him pain, but was not an impediment to playing. Having fought through scar tissue before, he had to have had at least a decent size tear to cause that much pain from scar tissue. Minor tears/Strains do not leave enough scar tissue to cause that kind of feeling.
Plus, as I said before injuries are completely subjective to the eye of the beholder. He should be alright if its just pressure pain from Scar tissue.
The fact that he is doing work on a treadmill suggests it was never a tear people. I've had torn muscles and you don't jog, you limp. I've also had a deep thigh contusion once and I could bike and jog but I never could hit the floor and play basketball at full speed, I could actually but it was like my muscle just would not respond and I could not go full speed. It was like it felt ok but just didn't have the power it did before. I betting he may have had a really deep muscle strain or contusion. I betcha he's very close to being back at full strength now. All this just makes for good camp talk. More then likely he would not be getting many preseason game reps anyway so I'd rather have him wait until he is really ready to go at this stage. If it were mid season, yeah, you go play hurt. It's camp, stay off it and let it heal.
-Slap-
08-11-2007, 01:04 AM
He probably slipped into the fourth round, despite his TO-like physical attributes, because of his iron will and determination.
Sassy
08-11-2007, 01:14 AM
I hate to tell you all this but a slight tear=strained/pulled muscle ;D A major tear or torn muscle is more likely what happened here and Shanahan is very notorious for doctoring the injury reports over the years. In fact, he has been fined and personally reprimanded twice in DEN for false Injury reports. This one smells fishy.
Then he'd go to the extreme...a player would have a stubbed toe or whatever and they'd be listed as "probable"...Hilarious!
Odysseus
08-11-2007, 11:57 AM
LOL (This Thread)
Thats some good drama right there, i almost got sucked into this...
I'm just glad B-Marsh is back and feeling confident, there was a big void without him and the Sheff...
It's not too late. You can still get in on the pre season worrying. I think he should switch shoes laces and those shorts he was wearing were definitely so last year! 8')
It's not too late. You can still get in on the pre season worrying. I think he should switch shoes laces and those shorts he was wearing were definitely so last year! 8')
No shiit did someone like this board with the Martha Stewart discussion group?
cutthemdown
08-12-2007, 07:53 PM
If he had a torn quad wouldn't he have been out longer than 30 days?
A complete tear and for sure he would be. Really bad tears to the Quad or Hammy can be season ending, IE Mike Anderson. The notion some people are floating that scar tissue only is present on complete tears is wrong. Even a pulled muscle will create scar tissue. A pull or strain is really just a small tear, or many small tears etc. Scar tissue has to be broken up, the presence of a lot of it shows that his pull was probably worst then team thought though. But it doesn't take a complete tear to result in scar tissue.
I hate to tell you all this but a slight tear=strained/pulled muscle ;D A major tear or torn muscle is more likely what happened here and Shanahan is very notorious for doctoring the injury reports over the years. In fact, he has been fined and personally reprimanded twice in DEN for false Injury reports. This one smells fishy.
Why would he do that before a preseason game?
I hate to tell you all this but a slight tear=strained/pulled muscle ;D A major tear or torn muscle is more likely what happened here and Shanahan is very notorious for doctoring the injury reports over the years. In fact, he has been fined and personally reprimanded twice in DEN for false Injury reports. This one smells fishy.
Yeah - during the season I can see maybe trying to disguise it so the next team doesn't know he's damaged. But in camp? Gimme a break. Doesn't smell that fishy to me. Just a young kid who has never really been seriously hurt before and in college, you can write your own meal ticket and do what you want because you're the star. He just needed to be pushed a little once it healed up and seems that's what's going on right now.