Broncos' Green seeks quick return

By Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 11, 2008 at 7:04 p.m.

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Barry Gutierrez © The Rocky

Broncos linebacker Louis Green, standing, watched the Broncos practice on Monday. He had been carted off the field on a stretcher during Saturday night's preseason game in houston.

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Linebacker Louis Green watched practice Monday, sans the neck brace he sported after a violent collision in the preseason opener.

Green, who exited Houston's Reliant Stadium on a stretcher Saturday night, still has weakness in his left arm and soreness in his neck but hopes to return before the preseason ends, once he regains full strength.

"It's pretty much a bruise in my neck," Green said. "I have some symptoms of a concussion, but not really too bad. It could be a whole lot worse. I'm thankful it's as good as it is."

Green is the team's top backup at strong-side linebacker and a key special-teams player.

"Hopefully, he gets cleared at the end of the week and that numbness goes away," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said.

Green had entered the game after Boss Bailey went down with a severe ankle sprain. But Green's stint with the starters was brief, as he and weak-side linebacker D.J. Williams converged on tight end Owen Daniels after a catch.

Williams struck Green square in the upper-left-shoulder area.

"You always want to get up and walk off, and I asked them to let me to, but they wanted to take extra precautions and take me off on the stretcher and get everything checked out," Green said.

The Broncos have had their share of career-ending neck injuries at linebacker in recent years, from John Mobley to Al Wilson to Warrick Holdman, so Green felt fortunate to escape relatively unscathed. "That's always scary in this business," Green said.

"I don't know if I have bad luck or something, but every time I have a chance to go in when the guy in front of me goes down, something happens to me. But that's just part of the game."

Welcome back

Offensive lineman Montrae Holland practiced for the first time in camp Monday after a camplong conditioning session kept him off the field. Holland ran behind Chris Kuper at right guard and was fairly pleased with his run blocking but felt he needs to get a better feel in pass sets.

"Anytime you miss two weeks of camp, that's development and timing, and right now, mine's a little off," he said. Holland's return helps bolster a group that's hurting overall right now.

Kuper has been playing all camp with a cast over his broken right hand. Center Tom Nalen has been out for most of camp with a left knee problem. Tackle Erik Pears had a magnetic resonance imaging exam and a painkilling injection in his lower back since Saturday and missed practice.

And in Monday's lone workout, left guard Dylan Gandy was forced to leave with what appeared to be either a break or dislocation of a finger in his right hand. Trainers cut his glove off and tried to set his hand in place before Gandy exited for the training room.

Updating the Baileys

Cornerback Champ Bailey (hamstring) is doing rehabilitation work on the side but may not participate against the Dallas Cowboys in practices this week or during Saturday's game at Invesco Field at Mile High.

"I don't want to push it too much in the preseason and set myself back, so I'm going to be careful with it. But I want to be out there," he said.

Meanwhile, brother Boss Bailey isn't feeling his best, either, as he continues to walk with the aid of crutches on his sprained right ankle.

"Maybe a few weeks, but it's really hard to say," Bailey said of his timetable to return. "The first week is probably the most important week, trying to get off these crutches. I'm really working hard to do that because I hate them."

The linebacker wants to play in Denver's preseason finale Aug. 29 but isn't sure if that's realistic.

"The opener's the most important right now, and I have to work hard to be back at least by then," he said.

Familiar face

It's been a circuitous route to the first-team defense for linebacker Jamie Winborn. He played well to end last season at weak-side linebacker, but the switch by Williams to that spot from the middle and the signing of Boss Bailey relegated him to reserve status this offseason.

The injuries to Bailey and Green have changed that for Winborn. "I'm going to go out and give my all and see what happens. I have to make sure there's no drop-off at all."

Turning heads

One of the bright spots from Denver's game in Houston was the play of undrafted rookie free agent Wesley Woodyard, a linebacker out of Kentucky. He finished with eight tackles, all solo, and added a special-teams stop as well.

"Before the game, I was kind of shell-shocked, but D.J. (Williams) saw me and told me it was the same thing as college and just go out there do what I do and have fun," Woodyard said. "I had an opportunity to make plays and turn heads, and that's what I went out there to do."

Woodyard's biggest knock was a lack of size at 6-foot-1, 230 pounds. But he led the Southeastern Conference in tackles per game with 10.6.

"I had a lot of knocks coming out of college. But one thing: I'm a competitor. I love to compete. I love the game of football," he said.

ETC.: Chad Mustard returned for the first time since tearing a hamstring tendon and having arthroscopic knee surgery on his right knee. The tight end was injured in minicamp in the spring. He's being worked back slowly in practice.

"All I can do is control every rep I get in practice and in games. Hopefully, I do well on those reps and my past experience will stand for itself and I can earn a job," he said.

* Quarterback Jay Cutler was wearing a protective sleeve on his throwing (right) arm but didn't appear to be hampered in any way.

* Also sitting out Monday's practice were fullback Peyton Hillis (left hamstring), safety Hamza Abdullah (groin) and running back Ryan Torain (left elbow surgery).

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