The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton was not at practice on Thursday due to his injured left ankle. They also report this bit of troubling news: Orton has torn ligaments in the ankle.
Orton has not worked on the ankle since hurting it last Sunday, but he says he has made progress on it and considers himself “day-to-day”. Orton elaborated that this ankle injury is different from the one that sidelined him for a game last year, because that injury was on his right ankle, which is his plant foot.
Head coach Josh McDaniels did not offer much insight into whether Orton would play, merely saying that backup Chris Simms will take the practice reps.
Despite being listed as questionable with an ankle injury, NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi reports that Denver quarterback Kyle Orton will play in the team’s pivotal divisional showdown against the Chargers.
Considering how poorly backup Chris Simms played in relief of Orton against the Redskins, this is certainly great news for the Broncos, who will also be without standout offensive tackle Kyle Harris.
After starting the year 6-0, the Broncos have dropped three straight to fall into a tie with the Chargers for the division lead. The Broncos currently hold the tiebreaker by virtue of their win over the Chargers earlier in the season, making this weekend’s game so key: with a win the Broncos can open what amounts to a two-game lead in the division; a loss leaves them one back.
During the Broncos' game against the Redskins at FedEx Field, quarterback Kyle Orton left the game. Adam Schefter tweets:
Kyle Orton had his ankle rolled up on in the second quarter. Chris Simms now preparing to take his first series for Denver.
With the Broncos only leading the lowly Redskins by a score of 17-14, it will be interesting to see how Simms handles the reins at quarterback. We'll post more news on Orton as it becomes available.
Orton Almost Certainly Out For Week 11
Football Outsider's "Injury Expert" Will Carroll tweets:
Unfortunately for the Broncos, this means that the struggling Chris Simms will likely get the starting nod when Denver takes on San Diego on Sunday with first place in the AFC West on the line.
Nov 20 11:27a by Matt O'Brien - 0 comments