We're about 24 hours from kick-off, and I wanted to tie up some loose ends from the week.
*--First, there was a good interview with Champ Bailey over at ESPN.com, and you can read it Here. The interview was done by Graham Bensinger, a Syracuse student and Sports Media phenom of sorts. You may remember Bensinger, who was the man interviewing Terrell Owens last season when he made the disparaging remarks about Donovan McNabb, specifically regarding the state of the Eagles if Brett Favre were the Quarterback. Nothing controversial in this interview, but it is solid none-the-less. Below is an exchange the two had regarding Jay Cutler:
Bailey: Awesome. He's got a big time arm and a lot of confidence. I love the way he plays. He hasn't shown me anything yet, but as long as he's healthy he's going to be a great QB.
Bensinger: If you're the head coach, at what point do you make the change in QBs?
Bailey: I don't know. I think every year a guy has to prove himself. It doesn't matter whether it's during the season, in training camp, or the offseason. You have to keep proving yourself. Every year there's a measuring stick. It will be an open battle whenever he [Mike Shanahan] thinks Cutler has just as good of a shot as [Jake] Plummer. I don't know when that will be. Let's just see how Jake performs. That's really what it's based on.
*--After a scare during the game against Baltimore, John Lynch appears ready to go, listed as probable on teh Injury Report. Officially, Lynch suffered a stinger, and had a precautionary MRI on Tuesday. Of course there was concern because Lynch had neck surgery during the off-season before he was signed by Denver. Lynch was in cheery spirits when discussing the injury in Andrew Mason's BLOG on DenverBroncos.com --
The game would conclude with Sam Brandon handling Lynch's free-safety duties, and Tuesday would dawn with some medical tests -- not because of any lingering worry, but just to be certain.
"It was a precautionary measure," Lynch said. "Greek (Head Athletic Trainer Steve Antonopulos) and the doctors wanted me to take an MRI, and I did, and it looked exactly like the one that I came here with a couple of years ago."
The same MRI that showed no lingering problems after Lynch's troublesome 2003. The same MRI that showed Lynch's neck was healed enough for him to continue his career, and return to the Pro Bowl stratosphere he reached with the Bucs.
"I'm feeling good," Lynch said, "and I feel blessed to feel like that."
*--It will be a reunion of sorts when the Broncos face the Raiders on Sunday Night. We all know Jake Plummer had a great career while at Arizona State. Plummer heald most passing records for the Sun Devils, that is until Andrew Walter came along and broke them all. Now Walter is the starting QB for the Raiders and will head into Invesco Field to face his one-time practice partner. For his part, Plummer is a fan of Walters -
"You obviously like to see quarterbacks come out of that school and have a chance to have some success. He's struggled a little bit, but he's young and he'll get better as he goes."
*--Finally, the Broncos newest memeber, Defensive Lineman Kenny Peterson is happy to be in Denver, and happy just to be back playing football --
As to what the Broncos have planned for the third year player out of Ohio State, where he won a National Championship in 2002 --