Linebacker Louis Green suffered a right finger dislocation during the first half of the Broncos’ preseason win Friday night against Arizona. This is a guy who returned a week after he was carted off the field with a neck injury. Think a mangled finger was going to prevent him from playing with his career at stake?
“They couldn’t pop it back in on the sideline, so we had to go to the locker room to do it,” Green said. “But we got it back in, and I took a shot to deaden the pain and was able to keep playing.”
Green is one of eight linebackers on the Broncos’ 53-man roster. He knew his immediate future was shaky after he suffered serious neck trauma early in the preseason opener at Houston, but he made it on the strength of his terrific play against the Cardinals. Green tackled Arizona running back Edgerrin James for a 5-yard loss on the first series and recovered a fumble to stop another Arizona drive.
“I’m not going to say I’ve made it until I see that ball kicked off in Oakland,” Green said. “I’m a bubble guy. I know it, and I’ve accepted it. I’m on the bubble every year, and I go out and play every game like I have to make the team.”
Running out of rookies.
The biggest disappointment going into the Sept. 8 opener at Oakland is that neither of the Broncos’ rookie running backs will be healthy enough to play. Ryan Torain, a fifth- round draft pick, is out until at least late October because of an elbow injury suffered in training camp. And undrafted Anthony Alridge was placed on injured reserve Saturday after tearing a ligament in his left foot Friday against Arizona.
Footnotes.
First-round running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones will start their rookie seasons as backups, while the player who blocked for them at Arkansas, seventh-round fullback Peyton Hillis, will be a starter if the Broncos open with a two-back backfield. McFadden is playing behind Justin Fargas at Oakland; Jones is second on the depth chart at Dallas to Marion Barber III. Hillis is the Broncos’ No. 1 fullback after Cecil Sapp was placed on injured reserve. . . . The Broncos are trying to work out an injury settlement with Sapp, but the fullback will first get a second medical opinion on his injured thumb and groin.
Mike Klis and Lindsay H. Jones, The Denver Post
