LT Garrett Bolles leaves game with leg injury...MRI pending

[Broncofan]

Getting back to Bolles deserves its own thread....given our choices at T we all hold our breath and hope it's a high ankle sprain (that's a 4-6 week timeframe for HAS, low-ankle much shorter, which is what Wolfe had).  If it's a fracture that requires surgery (because it's unstable), season's over.  

Adam Schefter 

 

✔@AdamSchefter

Broncos are concerned that rookie first-round pick Garett Bolles broke his ankle, per source. Hoping it's a high ankle sprain. MRI in am.

[Broncofan]

Probably the final news we'll get tonight that's most accurate....

Mike Klis 

 

✔@MikeKlis

Broncos hopeful Bolles suffered high ankle sprain. Serious, probably going to miss a few games. But nothing conclusive till MRI. #9sports

[jsthomp2007]

Here is to it being a high ankle sprain and he can rub some wolf sperm on it to heel faster.

But, one thing...barbe  didn't look half bad in the LT role. Cooler idea is that the Broncos make a move for a middle tier LT who is versitle enough to play both tackle spots, so that when the wolf sperm  kicks in and Bolles returns we then have a competent RT. Or, shoot move Barbee there...I like that dude. Best trade this off season by far.

[iLikeDefense]

Regardless of broken bone or ankle injury, seem like a 4-8 weeks sort of injury. I'm just glad it was not the knee or Achilles.

[broncos_fan _from _uk]

4 minutes ago, iLikeDefense said:

Regardless of broken bone or ankle injury, seem like a 4-8 weeks sort of injury. I'm just glad it was not the knee or Achilles.

Not necessarily. If there is a hairline fracture of the fibula (small lower leg bone) near the ankle in addition to a tear in the syndesmosis (high ankle sprain) it could require screws depending on where it's at regardless of severity. This is due to limited blood supply of that part of the bone. If this is the case he would be non-weight bearing for 6-12 weeks. Then rehab would start. 

Now this is worst case scenario, and my gut tells me it's unlikely (this combination can usually be seen on plain X-ray). 

If the HAS is minor he could return to practice during the bye. Then it will simply be a pain control thing the rest of the season. 

[iLikeDefense]

23 minutes ago, broncos_fan _from _uk said:

Not necessarily. If there is a hairline fracture of the fibula (small lower leg bone) near the ankle in addition to a tear in the syndesmosis (high ankle sprain) it could require screws depending on where it's at regardless of severity. This is due to limited blood supply of that part of the bone. If this is the case he would be non-weight bearing for 6-12 weeks. Then rehab would start. 

Now this is worst case scenario, and my gut tells me it's unlikely (this combination can usually be seen on plain X-ray). 

If the HAS is minor he could return to practice during the bye. Then it will simply be a pain control thing the rest of the season. 

Yikes. Yes, let's hope that is not his diagnosis!

If it is HAS, I always feel like those things linger but you're right it may be a pain issue around the bye week. He's one tough dude so it was rough to see him cry, maybe he was just caught up in the moment of wrecking those fools and getting injured.

[broncos_fan _from _uk]

Yeah, he's an emotional dude. If the trainers were telling him they were afraid he ruptured his Achilles then he might have been crying over the thought of letting his team down

[Broncofan]

If you've never had a HAS, it's an incredibly painful injury the moment it happens.  People often hear a pop when it happens - that's where the fear of a fracture comes in. 

The Achilles fear is always there, but usually ruled out by clinical tests done in the locker room (or even sideline).  Those rule out complete tears, but partial ones are still possible.  Those would be the worst case scenarios, along with a fracture that requires an operation.   Realistically while @broncos_fan _from _uk is correct about the 8-12 week timeframe, for contact competitive sports, the median recovery time is > 3 months for athletes, so it's basically a season-ender.    Fortunately, that's usually seen on plain films.   The missed fractures that are picked up on MRI are usually non-operative (but nothing is guaranteed).

A HAS, even if it's severe, is still the best case scenario.   When Odell Beckham went down, honestly, a HAS was the best case there too.   While his prognosis is listed at uncertain for MNF (it's been 4 weeks there, but if you've read the stories, a 6-8 week normal timeframe is given depending on severity, he may be fudging how bad it is, kind of a drama queen like all WR's can be lol), the severity of a HAS and the fact he's a WR who needs to explode off cuts, plant, jump, etc. -  that usually requires a longer time interval for recovery than an OL who just plants and moves in limited space.  But given the severity, for most HAS OL's, it's 4-6 weeks. 

Either way, we should know soon....hoping for the best news.   

[iLikeDefense]

 

We may have dodged a bullet.

 

[Broncofan]

4 minutes ago, iLikeDefense said:

 

We may have dodged a bullet.

 

HAS is definitely the best diagnosis possible.  The bone bruise does mean it's more severe.  Two weeks is awfully optimistic, even with OL being able to return sooner than skill players.   Most guys, even OL, are out 4+ weeks.  Still, it's way better than a season-ender (duh).

[paul-mac]

Well it means we'll have to face Khalil Mack without him, but should get him back for the 3 game road trip in late October and possibly the home game against the Giants before that.

 

Not as bad as first feared, but makes for an interesting decision on behalf of the offensive line coaches. You could move Allen Barbre out to Left Tackle and install Max Garcia as the full time starter at Left Guard, but that may make things difficult for Barbre in terms of building chemistry with Matt Paradis and Ronald Leary on the interior. Another option is to bring in Donald Stephenson (either straight in at Left Tackle, or put him in the right and move Menelik Watson over). 

 

I cant see us making a trade for a 2 game fill in, although wouldn't surprise me to see another OL brought in for depth off the street. 

[iLikeDefense]

If the team were to put either Stephenson or Watson at LT, they'd be making a huge mistake. I mean, we can't even trust them on the right side.

I'm not saying Barbe will do great at that spot but he has experience playing tackle and probably is a better pass blocker than the other two.

[BroncoBruin]

Good news that it will only be a few weeks, but we can't forget something like this is sure to linger for a while. For a very athletic and mobile OT, will be interesting to see how he holds up the rest of the season. May need more help in pass pro the rest of the way.

[broncofan48]

Bills and Raiders before the bye.

 

Giants and Chargers after it.

 

Hopefully he's back by the Chargers game, but if not the Chiefs game the following Monday night would be great to have him back for.

[Broncofan]

33 minutes ago, BroncoBruin said:

Good news that it will only be a few weeks, but we can't forget something like this is sure to linger for a while. For a very athletic and mobile OT, will be interesting to see how he holds up the rest of the season. May need more help in pass pro the rest of the way.

The fact that there is a bone bruise reinforces the above point - this is way more likely to require the full recovery than being a "mild" injury (Wolfe, for the record, had a low ankle sprain, so much faster recovery).  Again, I would be shocked if this didn't go 4+ weeks, and there's no guarantee that he will be playing at peak level for a while.   

I don't think we should trade for a T if it's only 4-6 weeks, the market for T is just insane (remember Ty Sambrailo went for a 5th round pick while we were debating on cutting him outright).  But we probably need to commit to an indefinite solution on who we play there.  

I said it in the 53-man roster thread, I don't see Stephenson as a viable option for more than just in-game.  If we need to rely on him, we are in major trouble.  Barbre at LT, and Garcia/McGovern as swing, makes the most sense, even if Barbre isn't as rangy/mobile as we'd like for LT - we know Stephenson can't cut it.   I'd definitely look at bringing JJ Dielman in since he's been waived and we wanted him, putting in a waiver claim before, and using him as more internal C/G swingman, in case McGovern is needed to play snaps.  Losing Barbre weakens our overall G corps, so getting Dielman to give us 5 C/G OL makes too much sense.