For a 7-1 team, things seem to be awfully gloomy in Denver.
Falling to the Colts is one thing, but the real loser of the week is the Broncos’ injury report, which includes both running backs, Emmanuel Sanders, Shane Ray, DeMarcus Ware and most notably Peyton Manning. Plus, as we all know, Aqib Talib will be missing this week’s game with an NFL suspension.
Safe to say, the Broncos are banged up. But where does that leave them as they head into their Week 10 matchup against the Chiefs, and how big of an impact will these injuries (and Talib’s suspension) have on the Broncos’ play?
Here’s what the team had to say this week:
Gary Kubiak on the idea of sitting Peyton Manning:
“If he can play, if he can go out and do all the things that he normally does, we need him to lead our football team. I would say [that for] every player. We want to be at full strength in everything that we do, but at the same time, if you think a guy can’t go out there and do the job that he normally does, you make the decision accordingly regardless of who the player is.”
Kubiak on how Manning looked during Thursday’s practice:
“He did good. He was limited in what he did. He took a lot of the early portions of practice. He went through all of the things that we do in walk through. He did them full speed so that we could get all of our checks and all of those things, but he looked fine. Hopefully we’ll do more tomorrow and see where he is. He’s feeling better today.”
OC Rick Dennison on whether Manning’s foot is affecting his throwing on the run:
“No, I think we’re trying—if they’re closing down to make the plays in the run game on the back side, then we’ve got to move the pocket just a little bit. If they’re moving up, then we get to use our play pass. It’s just one of those things—you see them closing down, let’s get him outside and see if we can make something happen. He does a good job.”
Kubiak on whether he’s concerned about Emmanuel Sanders’ status:
“We’re two days deep into it. Yeah, I’d say there’s concern, but I’ll tell you what I think he’ll get there. My gut tells me that he’ll get there. We knew we were going to go through a week like this. My expectations are for him to do some stuff tomorrow and I know he’ll push to play Sunday. We’ll see. I think we expected it to go this way this week.”
Kubiak on if Shane Ray will be able to play this week:
“He looked good. He went a full practice and was taking scout team, too, and special teams. It’s not like he was limited at all in anything that he’s done. All indications are that he should be there on Sunday if there are no setbacks.”
DC Wade Phillips on if Ray’s snaps will be limited:
“You have to consider that. Anytime a player has been out, just stamina for one thing, but we’ll see how he is. First we’ll see if he can play or not, but we’ll know more tomorrow. You have to monitor him some, but those other guys will play quite a bit. [OLB] Lerentee [McCray] has played quite a bit. Shaq played quite of bit. Of course, [OLB] Von [Miller]—so we’ve got three guys that can alternate anyway.”
Chris Harris Jr. on how Aqib Talib is handling his suspension:
“He’s hurting. He’s definitely disappointed in himself. You know how it is when you feel like you let the whole team down. For one, he felt like he let us down in the game because we still had a chance to get the ball back, and then just not being able to play. He feels bad. It’s something that will help him out in the long run, I think.”
Von Miller on not having Talib around:
“Oh yeah. I talked to Talib yesterday. I was talking to him right when we had our first meeting. Right when we had our first meeting, I looked down at my seat and I shot him a text. I wasn’t supposed to have my phone out, so don’t put that in there. I guess I just told on myself. I shot him a text. That’s our guy. The energy just is not the same without him. That’s our guy. Life is just good with Talib and it’s contagious. It rubs off on me, T.J. and the whole locker room. It definitely feels strange not having him, but we’ll have him back in a couple of days. We’ll have that cornerback back, the cornerback we’re used to.”
Miller on playing without Demarcus Ware:
“I’ve got a lot partners in crime. You’ve got [OLB] Lerentee [McCray], [OLB] Shaq [Shaquil Barrett], [OLB] Shane [Ray]—he’s looking good in practice this week. My main partner—he’s not going to be there. It’s unfortunate, but injuries are part of the game. Shaq, he’s proven that he can come in and play at a high level. That’s what we’re looking forward to—him coming in, making a lot of plays for us while DeMarcus is down.”
Kubiak on Shaquil Barrett stepping in for Ware:
“He’s going to play more than he’s ever played. I think we’re going to find out a lot about him here over the course of the next few weeks because now you know you’re the starter, you know you’re going to play a lot. We’ll see, but his work has been really good. We really need Shane Ray to step up for us and this football team here. It’s good to have him coming back. The group has got to play well. However that pans out, the group needs to play well. [OLB] Lerentee [McCray] needs to play better. [DE] Kenny [Anunike] may get involved outside. We just need them to do their job as a group.”
