Linebacker Shane Ray to sit out this weekends rookie minicamp

Denver Broncos first round pick, linebacker Shane Ray will sit out this weekend's rookie minicamp to spend some extra time rehabilitating his toe injury. He suffered a turf toe like injury during Missouri's Citrus Bowl win over Minnesota on January 1st.

Ray is anxious to hit the field with his fellow rookie teammates but understands he needs to rest his toe to get back to 100%.

"I understand it's part of the process for me to be 100 percent, because that's the goal," Ray said Friday. "Me as a competitor, of course, I would like to be out there and compete and do what I can. But this is something I have to be smart with."

Ray met with foot specialist, Dr. Aakash Shah in Kansas City in late April, and he believes that surgery is not necessary for the pass rusher. If did have this surgery he would be sidelined for three to five months.  Broncos trainer Steve Antonopulos evaluated Ray before the team traded up for him last week, and he agrees with Dr. Shah. Ray just needs rest his toe.

Denver Broncos Head Coach Gary Kubiak could have worked out this weekend, but the team decided to give him some time off.

"He's been working and wants to work, but we wanted to take this weekend and kind of put our plan together on exactly how we want to proceed forward," Kubiak said. "He could, but he will not work.

Ray says he is "feeling better every week" and could be ready to participate in next month's mandatory minicamp.

Ray gets his number:

Yesterday it was announced that first round pick Shane Ray picked number 48 as his number. However, today it was announced that Ray swapped numbers with fellow linebacker Shaq Barrett and will wear number 56 for the Broncos.

LBs Shane Ray and Shaq Barrett have swapped jersey numbers. Ray will now wear No. 56 and Barrett will wear No. 48.

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) May 8, 2015

The swap didn't come without a price. Barrett will receive $2000 from Ray for the rights to number 56. Barrett could have asked for more, but he said he didn't want to do that to his fellow teammate.

"Shane gave me $2,000, nothing too big. Everyone else was talking about how he got first-round money, so I should charge him $20,000, but I'm not going to do something like that to him," said Broncos linebacker Shaquil Barrett, who wore No. 56 at CSU from 2011-13. "If I wore 56 for a whole year and was actually playing, it would have been a little bit tougher."

Barrett wore number 48 last season for the Broncos, and will return to that number this season.