Just another game? Probably not.
But then, I can’t tell you for sure. Why? Because Casey Wiegmann isn’t talking.
“Not this week,” he said.
Not Chiefs week.
While he isn’t saying so, it’s probably a good bet that Sunday will be an emotional time for Wiegmann. He did, after all, start 111 consecutive games for Kansas City before signing with the Broncos during the offseason.
Why did they sign him? Simple. They wanted to get younger at center. The incumbent starter, Tom Nalen, was 37, and Wiegmann is a mere 35.
Now that Nalen has gone on I.R. with knee problems, Wiegmann has emerged as a key figure in the Broncos’ offensive line. If they hadn’t signed him, they would have been in full-scale scramble mode.
Any number of scenarios could have played out. Left guard Ben Hamilton or right guard Chris Kuper could have moved to center. Either that or the Broncos would have been forced to start a rookie, fourth-rounder Kory Lichtensteiger.
Fortunately for the Broncos, none of the above happened. Instead, Wiegmann has stabilized what could have been a problem area.
“Casey was such a great player from Kansas City for so many years, and we were just shocked that he was on the market,” Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. “When we saw that he was on the street, we just tried to grab him up as quick as we could.”
This was no aging veteran on his last legs. The Broncos lucked out because Wiegmann didn’t fit into the Chiefs’ full-blown youth movement. And so he finds himself in Denver, where, for all we know, his days as the Broncos starting center could stretch into next season or beyond.
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
