Broncos report: Nalen's knee isn't in good standing

By Pat Rooney, Special to the Rocky

Published July 31, 2008 at 4:21 p.m.

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Photo by Barry Gutierrez

Broncos center Tom Nalen, above, missed his third day of practice Thursday with a sore knee and was scheduled to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging exam Thursday afternoon.

The belief, so far, is that Tom Nalen's sore left knee simply is a residual effect of the arthroscopic surgery he endured in June.

Still, Nalen and the Broncos are concerned enough to take pictures in the hopes of making certain all is well.

Nalen missed his third day of practice Thursday and was scheduled to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging exam Thursday afternoon.

Casey Wiegmann once again worked with the first offensive line in Nalen's absence.

"He's going to have an MRI . . . just to check everything out, make sure that there's something we haven't missed," head coach Mike Shanahan said.

"According to (trainer Steve Antonopulos), it's not the knee. It's beneath the knee, the bursa sac, that's causing him a little irritation right now. He doesn't think it's anything serious."

Nalen, beginning his 15th season with the Broncos, aggravated his left knee during the team's June minicamp and underwent a relatively minor operation. But he experienced soreness in his knee earlier this week, which kept him out of practice Tuesday and forced an early exit after he tried to practice Wednesday morning.

"It's more preventative than anything," Shanahan said. "We'll check it out with an MRI and, hopefully, everything is fine and he's just a little bit sore."

Utility man

It is Josh Mallard's versatility that could make him a valuable cog in the revamped Broncos defense.

Mallard, signed in early November as a midseason stopgap, still was productive enough on the defensive line that his 3.5 sacks ranked third on the team.

Now in his first training camp with Denver, Mallard has seen time at every spot along the defensive front and also is an experienced long-snapper.

On Thursday, Mallard spent a great portion of practice working with Elvis Dumervil, Jarvis Moss and Dewayne Robertson on the first pass-rush front in third-and-long situations.

"He's in the process of establishing himself, and one thing he does is that he's an explosive pass rusher," defensive line coach Bill Johnson said.

"He loves to rush the passer, and what we have to do as the season goes on is see where he is as far as where he fits. I'm sure glad we got him, and he's done a good job for us to this point."

Rookie runs

Running back Ryan Torain enjoyed a few more repetitions with the first offense Thursday, and the rookie from Arizona State is well aware of how well young, previously unheralded running backs have fared during Shanahan's tenure with the Broncos.

Torain, a fifth-round pick in the April draft, was slowed by nagging injuries during his senior season, but he boasts the sort of north-south style Shanahan always has favored.

"Coming out to Denver to play running back is a huge opportunity," Torain said. "They have a good thing going out there with this offense. I just have to stay positive and focused. Have fun with it, and good things will come."

Etc.

* Second-year tackle Ryan Harris and defensive tackle Kenny Peterson got into a post-play shoving match during team drills, but tempers quickly were cooled.

* Tight end Brett Pierce made the catch of the day, during a seven- on-seven session, running a seam route down the middle of the field to make a diving catch of a pass from Jay Cutler.

Friday

The Broncos will practice at 8:30 a.m. and 3:40 p.m. The morning practice is open to the media only. The afternoon practice is special teams only, and the gates open at 2:40 p.m.

• July 31, 2008

  6:50 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dynamicdave writes:

  I sure am glad Shanahan picked up Casey Wiegmann. Nalen sounds like an uncertainty to be able to finish, let alone start, the season. I hope he is able, but if not, we have a solid replacement.
  GOOOOOOO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• July 31, 2008

  8:07 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Pigskin writes:

  Wiegmann is old, undersized, and underpowered.
  At this point, Lichtensteiger's shoulder concerns me more than Nalen's knee.
  Fact is, Nalen doesn't have a lot of time left. I'm a Nalen fan, but his best days are a few mile markers back. If he wasn't a Bronco, he'd be a sure-thing for Canton. But we all know how that works ....

• July 31, 2008

  8:11 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  FTR writes:

  Tom-- Love ya Bro. He played a second half of a football game with a dislocated sholder. Not sure how many surgerys he has had, but him and Mark must be close. Crap I would have come out with a dislocated little finger! : )-- I hope he does not push himself so hard he can not walk in 5 years!!!
  Go Broncos!
  FTR

• July 31, 2008

  8:32 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  R8R_H8R writes:

  Listening to sports radio I keep hearing, "the Broncos are known as EASY to push around on offensive line and defensive line". Nothing happening now is making that even remotely better. Old, injured, and severely undersized with J.Moss outside, Ekuban as an interior lineman?! c'mon Mike.

  today on Irv & Joe & Jim

  Joe said; "lets just go ahead and say it, this team aint any good."
  After watching 6 days of camp and determining the o-line and d-line are going to get pushed around all season.

• July 31, 2008

  10:19 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  FTR writes:

  R8R_H8R
  "Broncos OL "Easy to push around" Humm you are listening to too much radio bud. Look at the stat's. As far as DL I agree. But Denver OL in top 5 in 9 out of 10 years in rush per carry! Pull your headset out of your ahh ears.
  FTR

• July 31, 2008

  10:33 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dynamicdave writes:

  R8R_H8R, just keep in mind, they are nothing but broadcasters. They have zip for coaching experience. They are merely someone with an opinion. Just because they have the benefit of saying it on the air, doesn't make them right. And Ekuban has not been getting pushed around. Just remember. Opinions are like, well, you know. We all have one and they all stink. You've been posting for a long time. Use your own mind and quit buying into all the negative hype. Do you actually enjoy going into the season, negative, before a down in regular season has even been played? Be better then that.

• July 31, 2008

  11:06 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  lamborghini2415 writes:

  honestly nalen has always been known for being strong hes supposedly going to be back tomorow if everything goes as plan but as a back up weigman isnt to shabby and eather way thats not the most important issue on the o line. lt lg c are already inplace im more worries about rg and rt and if hollan will be at his specified wait before preseason and if not kuper has a broken hand and is still play so im a little scared at the position and that battle seems to be pretty strong between harris and pears but pears should be out harris for the starting position

• August 1, 2008

  7:33 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  LingLingfor_prez writes:

  Where do I begin...Season hasn't started yet and the press makes negative assumptions that never hold up. Knee problems are common in sports last I checked and so is repairing of knees. And last but not least, go Chargers.

• August 1, 2008

  3:18 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Brain writes:

  Maybe last year the OL was being pushed around but it was also injured, if Nalen can't go Weigman is very capable and comes from a system that did have great success running the ball themselves. The whole left side of the line is solid; hopefully Clady will be better than average in his rookie season; right guard with Holland (he will get his weight down) backed up by Kuper is solid and then Pears has shown to be a very solid OL backed up by Harris; hopefully they don’t have a OT go down; this is not the same OL as last year.

  The anti-Elway Joe? Does he ever have anything positive to say about the Broncos? He always plays the devils advocate.
  
  I think the DL is unknown at this point; Jarvis Moss should be fine at DE rotating with Dumervil, Ekuban and Engleberger but the Broncos do seem a little shallow at the DL/DT position hopefully Dwayne Robertson will come through for us and Marcus Thomas does well in his second season. Josh Mallard is listed at 265lb; that is too small for a DT; hope they have no injuries at that position.

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