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Broncos need a healthy Andy Janovich for the stretch run

It’s apparent to just about everyone the rookie fullback is the engine that makes Denver’s offense hum.

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Good morning, Broncos Country!

Oh, the bye week.

You love that your team has the time off, but you’re not exactly sure what to do. Do you take a break from football and spend time with your significant other or binge on football knowing you have no devoted interest?

Of course, for the Denver Broncos it’s about getting away from football so that players and coaches can clear their minds and heal their bodies. Two Broncos have gotten the focus in that regard, and perhaps rightfully so, Aqib Talib and Derek Wolfe.

There’s no question whatever happens over the last six games for Denver, the defense will be why it happens. But one player is perhaps the most crucial, and he too needs this time to get as healthy as he can get. That player is rookie fullback Andy Janovich.

For the last couple of weeks, he’s had a club on his right hand. Needless to say, when Janovich has been on the field, it’s pretty apparent why. It’s kind of hard to catch passes with one hand. In the last five games, he has two catches and one carry.

That has to change in the last six games. As Adam Malnati and I said on this week’s Mile High Report Radio podcast, it’s apparent to just about everyone that Janovich is the engine that makes this offense hum. It’s no coincidence over those five games the offense has been trash, save for the Monday Night game against Houston.

While it’s imperative Talib and Wolfe get healthy, it’s paramount for Janovich to get back for the Broncos offense. For Denver to keep pace in the AFC West and AFC playoffs, it needs the rookie fullback to pave the way. If that happens, his legend will only grow.

Broncos Tracks

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AFC West Tracks

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Given that when I looked at the schedule in August I thought 7-9 would be the team’s most likely record at the end of the year, it seems silly that I am so disappointed by the Chargers sitting where they do.

NFL Tracks

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The Jets-Rams game was just 2 minutes and 25 seconds into the second quarter Sunday at MetLife Stadium when the Jets scored what would end up being their only points of the game — a razzle-dazzle touchdown on a nifty hook-and-ladder play.

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The future of football might eventually be defined by the tears running down Luke Kuechly’s distraught face.

NFL | Carolina Panthers, Luke Kuechly have become face of NFL's struggle with concussions | The Charlotte Observer
Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly’s very public meltdown after he suffered a head injury Thursday night that has landed him in the NFL’s concussion protocol should be a wakeup call. He’s the sixth Panther to end up in the protocol this season, most in the league.

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Surely, we can all appreciate this explanation. Right?

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So, now the NFL is cool with having Mike Tirico replace Al (Exigente) Michaels in NBC’s Thursday and Sunday night booths.

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