After making an impression in the second season by collecting eight sacks during the 2016 campaign, Broncos linebacker Shane Ray expected to come out of the gate swinging in 2017. It was not to be. Ray tore a ligament in his left wrist early in training camp; a disappointing injury that was expected to keep him out until the end of October.
Ray’s recovery has been right on schedule, and after practicing with the team since last week, head coach Vance Joseph said on Wednesday that the struggling Broncos would have Ray back in the lineup — and starting opposite of Von Miller — when Denver visits Kansas City for a pivotal, divisional battle on ‘Monday Night Football’.
The Broncos, who have seen Shaquil Barrett fill in for Ray in more-than-adequate fashion, won’t need to lean too heavily on Ray in his 2017 debut “[In] his first game back, you can’t play him the entire game,” Joseph said. “So, absolutely, he’ll be on a pitch count. Shaq’s played solid for us, so he deserves to play, anyway.”
Ray, however, will be immediately installed as the starter. “Obviously, he’s not in great football shape, but Shane’s going to play [Monday]. He’s going to start,” Joseph explained. “Shane provides, opposite of Von, a great rusher — so they can’t tee off on Von… They can chip both guys, but it’d force them to run three-man routes. We like that. Having Shane back — obviously a great player, a guy that plays with great energy — that’s going to help our defense.”
The 3-3 Broncos find themselves at something of a tipping point after losing two straight games in embarrassing fashion and now traveling to Arrowhead Stadium — which has become a house of horrors for them far too often — where they will face hyper-explosive gamebreakers in wide receiver Tyreke Hill and rookie running back Kareem Hunt, as well as MVP candidate Alex Smith, who orchestrates the Chiefs’ offense with alarming precision.
The Chiefs are on a two-game losing streak of their own and look to get right at home, so the return of Ray to the fold — even in a limited fashion — makes the Broncos’ defense even more formidable. They’re probably going to need him.
