Henry says knee injury isn't that bad, Foster talks to bailey

[dragondawg]

By FRANK SCHWAB
THE GAZETTE

DETROIT -- Running back Travis Henry hurt his left knee in the second half of the Denver Broncos’ loss to Detroit but said he was fine.

Henry didn’t play much in the fourth quarter, but that was probably a result of the lopsided score. Henry said he could have gone back into the game had it been close.

“Most definitely,” Henry said.

Henry was hurt on a 22-yard run in the third quarter. But he had only 9 yards in his other eight carries.

Henry started with three 100-yard performances in Denver’s first four games but hasn’t gotten more than 65 yards in a game since. He missed Denver’s last game with injured ribs.

“I set my expectations high,” Henry said. “We started off rolling. Now, I don’t know. I don’t feel like we’re getting it done as a whole team. If everybody gets on the same page we can make some things happen.”

Denver’s other injured players included linebacker D.J. Williams and offensive tackle Matt Lepsis, who were each looked at by trainers on the field but came back in the game.
Receiver Glenn Martinez left the game in the fourth quarter after taking a hard hit.

Emergency plan
Tight end and long snapper Mike Leach took some snaps and threw some passes on the sideline after quarterback Jay Cutler went out of the game. If backup quarterback Patrick Ramsey had also gotten hurt, Leach was the emergency quarterback even though he has no experience at the position.

“I think it’s just the number of years I’ve been here and knowledge of the offense,” said Leach, who has been with the Broncos since 2002. “I think he feels comfortable that I know the plays, get everybody lined up and can take the snap.”

Safety mix
Broncos safety John Lynch, who suffered a pinched nerve in his neck last week, was inactive. Even though he was out, the Broncos replaced starting safety Nick Ferguson with Hamza Abdullah on pass plays. Domonique Foxworth replaced Lynch.

“Next question,” Ferguson said when asked if he was upset about coming off the field.

One Up
George Foster, the Denver Broncos’ former first round draft choice and current Detroit Lions starting offensive tackle walked up a Ford Field tunnel talking with his friend and former Broncos teammate Champ Bailey.

The Lions had just embarrassed the Broncos 44-7.

The two exchanged words throughout the their walk. Only some of the talk was about the game. But Foster couldn’t hold back getting in one last dig.
“Aww man, why you got to rub it in,” Bailey said, half smiling before walking into the

Broncos’ locker room.
Foster took his own smile, a much bigger one into the Lions’ locker room, and it seemed to remain plastered to his face.

“You know, it’s just good to get a win, just another step in the direction of where we want to go,” Foster said, trying to remain politically correct — and failing. “But it’s good to get that win to be able to talk a little stuff. Yeah, that was a good win.”

Not talking
Detroit Lions defensive lineman Shaun Rogers treated the post-game media contingent much the same way he treated the Denver Broncos.

Rogers bulldozed his way through the Broncos’ offensive line for 2.5 sacks for a loss of 15 yards. And on the big play, Rogers swiped a Patrick Ramsey pass and took it 66 yards for a touchdown.

It was a big game for a big man. But Rogers wasn’t ready to share his feelings.

“Ain’t nothin’ changed! Ain’t nothin’ changed!” Rogers said as he sat at his locker while media members gathered.

“Shaun, come on, you can’t run for a 66-yard touchdown and not talk about it,” one reporter said.

“Watch me,” Rogers said.

Then Rogers got up from his locker and started walking toward the showers, arms in front of him making sure folks moved.

“Excuse me! Excuse me! Excuse me!” Rogers said as he again, broke through a line.
Pressure problems

The Broncos allowed five sacks, including two on Cutler’s six dropbacks. The Broncos are missing guard Ben Hamilton and center Tom Nalen, and Cutler pointed out the line gave up some pressure.

“We were having trouble up front,” Cutler said. “I thought we were getting the right looks, they weren’t really surprising us, but we never got in a rhythm when I was in there. We had some turnovers, there was a lot of pressure on Patrick. I thought he played well under the circumstances.”

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