Wade Phillips wore a big smile on his face sitting in the back of a meeting room Monday morning at Dove Valley, his regular roost in Broncos headquarters, less than a day after he — how should we describe it? — tumbled to the hospital.
“They say it was a collision on the sideline,” . “But actually I got run over.”
The Denver defensive coordinator returned to work after a scary moment in Sunday afternoon’s game against San Diego, when a Chargers player inadvertently ran into Phillips on the sideline, knocking him to the ground. Phillips’ head banged hard on the ground and he was put on a stretcher, removed from the sideline, and taken to the hospital.
Doctors determined he was healthy and able to rejoin the team.
“He’s sore. But he’s feeling good,” Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said. “He’s back at it. I’m trying to get him some rest today, but he doesn’t want that.”
Phillips, 69, by Chargers’ running back Melvin Gordon in the second quarter Sunday as Broncos cornerback Bradley Roby was returning an interception 49 yards for a touchdown. Gordon was blocked out of bounds by Broncos linebacker Von Miller and ran into Phillips.
Medical personnel strapped Phillips onto a hard board and put his neck in a brace before carting him off the field.
“It was a scary situation,” Kubiak said. “But he was talking to us and responding to us on the field. We’re fortunate he’s OK.”
Gordon, who was not at fault, apologized to Phillips after the game.
“Usually if it’s a player (you run into). They usually catch you, regardless of what side it’s on,” Gordon said. “They try to catch you. I just kind of ran into him and I couldn’t stop. I was going too fast. I’m really sorry about that, especially when I found out that I was the one who kind of hurt him and there wasn’t any mean intention on that.”
Broncos linebackers coach Reggie Herring took over play-calling responsibilities for Phillips after he left. Kubiak dismissed the idea Phillips would be better situated in a suite above the field than on the sideline.
“There are a lot of guys down there who can’t move very good,” Kubiak said.
