Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey played until early in the third quarter Sunday before aggravating a left hamstring injury during Denver’s 28-20 victory over the New England Patriots.
The Broncos’ standout left cornerback wasn’t regretting making the effort after missing the first two games of his career in the past two weeks because of the hamstring.
“I got about a half in,” said Bailey. “I’ll take it.”
Bailey said the aggravation is not nearly as bad as when he suffered it Sept. 26 against Kansas City. Bailey said he doesn’t believe he needs an MRI exam and he should be ready to play next week.
“I don’t think it’s serious,” Bailey said. “I went as far as I could go today.”
Despite being relegated to the No. 4 cornerback, Lenny Walls played extensively because of Bailey’s injury.
Meanwhile, starting safety Nick Ferguson left the game in the first quarter with a sprained right ankle. He did not return and was replaced by Sam Brandon.
“It hurts, that’s all I know,” Ferguson said after the game. He said X-rays were negative.
When No. 2 is No. 1
For the second consecutive week, the Broncos’ backup tailback finished the day at No. 1.
Last week against the Washington Redskins, Tatum Bell came off the bench to rush for 127 yards on 12 carries. This week against the Patriots, Mike Anderson was again the starting tailback, only to quickly give way to Bell, who finished with 114 yards on 13 carries.
“The coaches are showing more and more trust in me and pretty soon I’ll be able to take this over one day,” Bell said.
It might not be this year. Broncos coach Mike Shanahan has indicated he will stick with this tailback-by-committee all year. The thinking is, because Bell is a big-gain runner, his legs are fresher and he becomes more productive with 12 to 17 carries a game than with 20 to 25.
Besides, Anderson is contributing. He had 57 yards on 15 carries. Both tailbacks rushed for a touchdown.
Love, football and spirit
Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer picked a good time to play his best game of the season, and not just because his two-touchdown, 262-yard performance helped beat the Patriots.
Once again, Plummer has miffed his superiors by alienating Broncos fans.
Last year, he flipped a behind-the-head, middle-finger gesture at fans who were riding him from behind the Broncos’ bench. Plummer publicly apologized.
Last week, Plummer made a disparaging comment about Broncos fans during an obscenity-laced tirade against Rocky Mountain News gossip columnist Penny Parker who had identified his girlfriend, Kollette Klassen, as a Broncos cheerleader.
When a local radio personality read the column and used another unflattering term to describe Plummer’s girlfriend, the quarterback reacted angrily, calling Parker and blaming her for publicizing the relationship in the first place.
Plummer apparently was concerned knowledge of his relationship would bring undue harassment to his girlfriend as she was cheerleading during home games.
“You think Denver has the greatest fans?” Plummer reportedly told Parker. “Well, they aren’t.”
That line gave Parker another column. Broncos officials were not happy Plummer chose to chastise the fans and said they would deal with the matter internally. Team owner Pat Bowlen declined to comment following the game.
“We’re done talking about it,” said Teresa Shear, the Broncos cheerleaders director. “We want it to die. There is no rule (against cheerleaders dating players). We have a great team of girls. Everything’s good.”
Protect yourself
Denver defensive end Ebenezer Ekuban said pushing and punching is not unusual during a game, but it’s not common on field-goal attempts.
Imagine his surprise when Ekuban was hit in the groin by New England rookie left guard Logan Mankins on a missed field-goal attempt by New England on the final play of the first half.
“You just don’t see it then,” Ekuban said, adding that Mankins lost his cool because the Patriots were losing the game.
“There was frustration there after the third-down play,” Ekuban said. “Trevor (Pryce) almost blocked the earlier field goal on that side, so I think there was some frustration there, too … That sometimes happens with a young player.”
Ekuban said he was glad to see the officials eject Mankins.
“That was the right call,” he said.
Said New England quarterback Tom Brady: “Hopefully, he’ll learn from that. I’m sure he’ll think twice about it next time.”
Bruschi coming back
The Patriots released a statement during the game, confirming reports that Pro Bowl linebacker Tedy Bruschi has been cleared to practice this week. The team said the ultimate decision will be up to Bruschi, but he is likely to practice this week with designs of returning to the playing field in the coming weeks.
Bruschi suffered a stroke in February.
“Physically, Tedy is completely back to normal, and is exceptionally healthy,” said his physician, Dr. David Greer, a stroke neurology specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital. “I have no doubt that he will be able to perform physically at a very high level. Tedy’s safety, on and off the field, has always been our number one priority. At this time, I have advised him that, in my opinion, there are no medical reasons for him to delay his return to football.”
Buffs revisited
Of the 23 former Colorado Buffaloes playing in the NFL, four of them were playing for the New England Patriots Sunday. There was Daniel Graham at tight end, Christian Fauria at H-back and fullback, Tom Ashworth at right tackle and Chad Brown at linebacker. Another former Buff, Ted Johnson, was in the pressbox working as a reporter for CBS in Boston. Johnson, a former Patriots linebacker, retired before this season.
It wasn’t much of a homecoming for any of them.
“It was nice coming home and seeing my family,” said Tom Graham. “But my mind was on the football game and we didn’t win today, so it doesn’t feel too good. We’ve lost three games now. We need to go into the bye week, and take care of some things.”
Pass didn’t fail
With Corey Dillon sidelined and the Broncos off to big lead, the Patriots’ running game produced just 89 yards on 19 carries. But Patrick Pass was a big contributor in the Patriots’ second-half comeback attempt, rushing for 64 yards on 10 attempts and scoring a touchdown on an 8-yard run to cut Denver’s lead to 28-13.
“I just have to prepare for every game like I’m going to play,” Pass said.
“Corey wasn’t able to go today and I had to be prepared to step up.”
Footnotes
The paid crowd of 76,571 was the third largest in Broncos history. … The Broncos have won six consecutive games at Invesco Field at Mile High, their longest winning streak at home since the stadium opened in 2001. … Dating back to the 2002 season opener against St. Louis, Denver has won six consecutive games when matched against the previous year’s Super Bowl participants.
Staff writers Jim Armstrong and Joseph Sanchez contributed to this report.
