SB Nation User Blog: poorboywilly

Inisde the Injury Report

poorboywilly — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:52:24 -0000

Denver Broncos

Nate Webster - Out - Knee
DJ Williams - Out - Knee
Marlon McCree - Out - Ankle
Selvin Young - Doubtful - Groin
Champ Bailey - Questionable - Groin
Dewayne Robertson - Probable - Knee
Tony Scheffler - Probable - Groin

Atlanta Falcons

OT Sam Baker - Out - Hip/back
DT Kindal Moorehead - Doubtful - Foot
K Jason Elam - Questionable - Left Hip
CB Brent Grimes - Questionable - Knee/ankle
DE John Abaraham - Probable - Neck
DT Grady Jackson - Probable - Knee
OT Todd Weiner - Probable - Knee
LB Michael Boley - Probable - Foot
RB Michael Turner - Probable - Hand

Webster, Williams (if you saw the play), and McCree are no suprises here. They were ruled out in the first injury report this week. Selvin Young did not practice all week, the only reason he played the Browns was the emergency situation at RB. No way he plays this week.

One little suprise here is Champ Bailey. He practiced, limited, on Thursday and Friday. As noted by TSG, it is unlikely for a Shannahan-coached player to play if he does not fully practice at least on Friday's practice. If there is any player on the team who would be able to break this "rule", it would be Champ. Champ is mentally one of the most solid players in the NFL, and generally a physical specimen. If his groin feels OK, no doubt that he gets to play.

Tony Scheffler, after an amazing (and ballsy) performance last Thursday, practiced in full all week and should look good, and in much less pain this week. Robertson's "trick knees" have him a constant on the "probable" side of the injury report.

As for Atlanta, there are a few interesting things. Baker has been ruled out, not yet ready to return. Morehead, whom I believe is a rotation DT with about a dozen tackles this year is doubtful, could be an interesting depth problem for Atlanta with Denver likely to put Hillis into the game as the starting RB.

Also on the list for Atlanta is Elam, who didn't practice until limited participation on Friday. He is listed as questionable.

Discecting the Injury Report

poorboywilly — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 23:46:16 -0000

I'm always pretty interested in the injury report, in part to help determine who to play in my fantasy league, in part to decipher matchup dynamics. Today I'm taking a look at the report for this weeks Monday Night Football game against the New England Patriots.

Broncos

The injury report, according to denverbroncos.com, lists 17 Broncos. Yikes! Fret not, however. Fully 12 Broncos are listed as probable, with Robertson, Darrel Jackson, Dumervil, Manuel, who have all ridden the injury report for the first six games, expected to play. The other probables include several groins (Marshall, Ek, Larsen, Clady), a finger (Graham) and Boss Bailey's voodoo ankle. None of these should be a problem, as they've been practicing fully and have an extra day to get ready for Monday.

The seroius parts of the Broncos report are Scheffler, Young and Torain being questionable, all practicing in limited amounts this week. I don't see them risking Scheffler's groin if he is still iffy on Monday. Everyone (especially Cutler) would rather see him back 100% after the bye week. Selvin is a possibility to play in my mind because we need the RB depth in case Pitman isn't "the man" again this week, plus there's not a whole lot of downside (as a team) to re-aggravation as there is a bye week and a mending Torain as mitigation. I don't know if they'll risk Torain's elbow at this point, but, that's what questionable means.

Stokely is questionable with a concussion. He's a gamer, but with his head injury history, he'll have to pass the tests to play. Shaw is out, but probably due to disciplinary reasons. He's been inactive anyways. I don't really foresee any Shannahanigans with this report.

Patriots

On the New England side of the ball, tackles Matt Light and Nick Kaczur are doubtful. Light, however, wasn't listed Thursday or Friday and I heard on Yahoo! that he is playing. Doesn't sound doubtful to me. Lamont Jordan and Laurence Maroney are doubtful too, leaving the Patriots very thin at RB with Kevin Faulk and Sammy Morris. The other doubtfuls are second-stringers Jarvis Green and Eric Alexander and third-stringers Jonathan Wilhite, Kelley Washington, which shouldn't be too big of a deal.

So the Pats will be hurting on an already questionable O-line and in the backfield. The Broncos may be thin at RB and again probably be missing two of the top four receiving targets. The Patriots ARE known for Belitricks with the injury report, which is what I assume the Matt Light deal is.

Finally, a development that will not affect the MNF game, or even this season, (although interesting nonetheless) is that Tom Brady had an additional surgery to help clear up an infection he developed after the first surgery to repair his torn ACL and MCL.

Update

The associated press is reporting that Laurence Maroney has been placed on the IR. Obviously, this rules him out for this game.

Houston Texans sign Cecil Sapp

poorboywilly — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:05:10 -0000

As many over here at the Report predicted, Cecil Sapp has landed a job with the Houston Texans according to Yahoo, reportedly with a one year deal. Room on the roster was made by placing C.C. Brown on the reserve/injured list.

Sapp was put on the waived/injured list and then released with an injury settlement at the beginning of the regular season. The Texans' depth chart is listing Sapp as the third-string fullback, but given Sapp's skills it wouldn't suprise me to see him as an insurance tailback while Ahman Green continues to heal and Slaton continues his rookie campaign.

DeSean Jackson Adds Fuel to Fire

poorboywilly — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:58:39 -0000

DeSean Jackson just pulled a move that was so beautifully apropos. As controversy over "The Fumble" which led to "The Conversion" begins to rage, DeSean Jackson drops a sure TD catch before he enters the endzone. In a similar fashion as with the Broncos game this weekend, the play was reviewed and ruled a fumble, and the Eagles received the ball where it hit the ground because the ruling on the field initially had been a touchdown and thus play was dead.

Impeccable timing, DeSean, and extremely stupid to boot.

Depth Chart Intrigue

poorboywilly — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:32:37 -0000

I looked over at denverbroncos.com to see their depth chart, updated Tuesday, and found some interesting things I wanted to discuss.

First off, WR. I figured from the start that D-Jack was probably going to be receiver number 2, so no suprise that with Marshall out he is receiver 1, but I didn't forsee ER taking over the starting role next to Marshall when he returns. Stokely always was a lock at slot (see Shannahan's many "best slot in NFL" comments), Colbert didn't do anything to differentiate himself and I never figured Parker would stick.

Secondly (and related), TE. I still kind of wish Mustard was around, but the interesting thing here is that Scheff never really did much in preseason, but is number 2. Did Scheff ever really fall out of favor as some speculated, or are these simply Shannahanigans? I imagine Nate will help out in the slot or split wide quite a bit this week to help take on Marshall's load, but I think the Broncos like the 1-2 punch of Graham-Scheff quite well.

Thirdly, Jack MF Williams is listed behind Champ at LCB. Does that make him the nickelback, or does it depend on the situation?

Fourthly (heh), Michael Pittman gets the nod for third string kick returner. That'd be interesting to see.

Lastly, Spencer Larsen is no longer listed as a LB. I assume he's going to be playing mostly special teams anyways, what with Peyton Hillis appearing to be very good (and our traditional sparing use of the FB), but I wonder if his die has been cast now, or if the'll still give him a chance at LB too?

Nalen's Knee Not Damaged

poorboywilly — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 20:52:56 -0000

According to the AP, the MRI on Nalen's knee has revealed no damage. Hopefully the weekend off will get the soreness out so he can get back to practicing. However, if he has to sit even longer than this, I would rather see him healthy than well-practiced; I know he has the experience to be ready no matter what. The article also quotes Shannahan in saying that he's giving Nalen the discretion to play when ready.