Denver Broncos Believe Running Back Montee Ball Will Miss Quite Some Time
By Andrew Dill
Oct 5, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos running back Montee Ball (28) is injured on the field during the second half against the Arizona Cardinals at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Broncos won 41-20. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Denver Broncos starting running Montee Ball finished Sunday afternoon’s game with just seven yards on the ground. The reason? Well, the former Wisconsin Badger went down in the third quarter after blocking on Peyton Manning‘s 20-yard pass to Emmanuel Sanders; appearing to favor his groin. Denver went on to defeat the Arizona Cardinals, 41-20.
According to Mike Klis of The Denver Post, Ball will be “out for a while,” according to an NFL source. As noted above, Ball collected just seven yards on the ground in Denver’s win, on six carries — 1.2 yards per carry. His backups came in and stole the show however, which should give the Broncos’ fan base hope moving forward.
More from Denver Broncos
- The 2019-2020 Broncos Depth At Tight End Could Be A Huge Strength To This Offense
- Broncos Position Battles to Watch as Preseason Approaches
- NFL Draft 2019 Denver Broncos Day 2 Picks
- Losing Chris Harris Jr. Would Be A Tragic Loss For Broncos And John Elway
- NFL Draft 2019 Denver Broncos take Noah Fant with the 20th Pick
Ronnie Hillman, who has been in the Broncos’ dog house, carried the ball 15 times, resulting in 64 yards. Denver’s run game surprisingly got better once Ball went down. Even undrafted free agent Juwan Thompson got some repetitions; Denver fans have been clamoring for him sense his offensive outburst in the preseason.
Thompson recorded his first NFL touchdown Sunday afternoon in the fourth quarter on a 5 play, 46-yard drive which resulted in an eight-yard touchdown run. Thompson received three carries, accounting for 15 yards on the ground — 5.0 yards per carry.
Personally, I believe Denver’s run game will be just fine. It’s always tough to see a starter go down such as Ball who is important to protecting Manning on third downs, but Hillman and Thompson create a unique one-two punch moving forward.
Back to Ball, he is expected to undergo an MRI Monday.