ENGLEWOOD, Colo — They packed up their shoes and shirts. Threw away a thing or two they forgot was there. Some players were going around with a jersey to have their teammates sign.
Teammates, perhaps, for the last time. Monday was locker clean-out day for Broncos players.
Right tackle Mike McGlinchey said it would be great if the Broncos could keep their offensive line together for next year. But he’s been around long enough to know better.
“Obviously, this is the modern-day NFL and things like that don’t always happen,’’ McGlinchey said. “There’s a lot of turnover all the time which is what makes this day always one of the worst of the year because you never know what’s going to happen and you never know who you’re going to lose. And so as a player you always want to keep the teammates you’re with but we know things like that don’t happen.”
McGlinchey as it turned out had two fractures in his ribs after receiving a friendly fire blow from the leading helmet of running back Javonte Williams in the previous week’s win against the Chargers. There was no way he could play in the Broncos’ finale Sunday against the Raiders, marking the one and only time Denver didn’t start the same five offensive lineman during the season.
The season’s end meant no more point to keeping injuries and illnesses a secret. Special teamer Dwayne Washington missed the last two games and two weeks of practice because of “messed up lining up in my stomach.” He otherwise had a good year.
Backup safety Dellarin Turner-Yell, the Broncos’ special-team tackles leader, had a brace the size of a tree trunk around his left knee to stabilize damage to his ACL, MCL and meniscus from a non-contact injury in the Chargers’ game. He still needs to wait two or three weeks for the swelling to subside so he can undergo corrective surgery.
Tight end Chris Manhertz came down with hand, foot and mouth disease last Monday, a highly contagious, blistering condition he caught from his 2-year-old child. Manhertz had to be quarantined away from his teammates last week.
Another tight end, Greg Dulcich, missed most of the season with a recurring hamstring injury. And then when he was finally cleared to play last month, his foot ballooned after the first practice. He never did get back on the field.
“It was weird. Of course it had to happen the week I was coming back to practice,’’ Dulcich said. “Just some weird swelling. I have, unfortunately, some bony feet and my cleat irritated it in a freaky way. Just a bummer.”
He goes into the offseason with a simple plan.
“The plan is going to be try and get healthy and stay healthy and make sure I put this stuff behind me,’’ Dulcich said.
A physically sculpted athlete, Dulcich was advised by specialists to drop a few pounds in hopes he can keep his hamstring from straining.
“I mean, it worked, my hamstring feels great,’’ he said.
A couple players were asked about Jarrett Stidham and what they think about what will happen this offseason at the Broncos’ quarterback position.
“I think Stidy’s a very smart quarterback,’’ said receiver Jerry Jeudy, who combined for six catches for 133 yards in his final two games with Stidham as the Broncos’ quarterback. “He knows the game, knows how to read defenses, knows how to make plays and put the ball in playmakers' hands. I feel like he can do it all as a quarterback.’’
As for the quarterback position, that’s up for head coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton to decide.
“My job is to get better at blocking,’’ McGlinchey said. “It’s up to them to do what’s right and I believe they will do what’s right and excited for that. But at the end of the day everybody should worry about themselves before they worry about what’s looming over our program because everybody’s got to improve. It’s not just a quarterback problem it’s everybody’s got to get better and that’s what we’re going to do.”
The Broncos finished their season with an 8-9 record. Pretty good considering they started 1-5. Disappointing considering they went on a five-game win streak that brought them to 6-5.
Overall, a decent improvement from recent years. But still a seventh consecutive losing season. For many players – somewhere between 33 and 40 percent of them – Monday was goodbye.
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