While a few fans thought this week’s poll was aimed at “baiting” them, my intent behind the question was to gauge level of concern over some of the injuries in training camp. So joke’s on you; it was a serious question.
And it was serious because I always hold my breath during training camp, hoping there’s no news of an injury.
So when Jaylen Waddle isn’t practicing or Nik Bonitto is taking an extra day or Bo Nix “gets hit in the end zone,” I’m usually apoplectic until Sean Payton says, “he’ll be fine.”
Thankfully, most of you freak out a lot less than I do.
Preseason officially begins tonight for the Broncos, and while I’ll be excited to get to some real football (ok, semi-real), I’ll mostly be hoping everyone stays injury-free — for the next three 22+ weeks.
The recent dings to the offensive line are exactly what makes me nervous this time of year.
On Tuesday, depth center Michael Dieter was injured during a running play that turned out to be a season-ending quad injury. Third on the depth chart at center, Deiter was “next man up” after backup center Alex Forsyth missed a few days. And Forsyth was playing because starter Luke Wattenberg hurt his soldier earlier in the week.
Tonight’s option for center is likely rookie undrafted free agent Gavin Ortega. Veteran backup lineman Calvin Throckmorton could also see some minutes. And if either of those are out, all-Pro guard Quinn Meinerz is also an option.
Given that the fourth center is playing tonight, I’m more than relieved Nix is going to sit this one out.
“He wants to play, and he’ll play the next two weeks,” head coach Sean Payton said Thursday, adding that had been decided a month ago. “If we were playing a [regular season] game, I would say he would play and probably, you’d have to ask him, but I would say 100 percent.”
