Broncos’ Barrett thrilled he’s back
When Shaquil Barrett took the field against the Chargers on Monday night, he was preparing to play his first game in nine months. The fourth-year outside linebacker missed all of training camp as he recovered from a hip injury, and he didn’t play in any preseason games.
No big deal, a teammate assured him.
“One of my real good friends who used to play for the Cowboys, he told me his best season he ever had was when he missed training camp,” Broncos outside linebacker Kasim Edebali said of former NFL defensive end Anthony Spencer. “So I told Shaq, ‘Don’t worry about nothing. I’ve heard if you miss training camp, you’ll have the best year of your life.’ He’s like, ‘All right, cool.’ He started off with a sack, so he’s on track.”
Spencer missed the 2012 preseason because of injury. All he did when the regular season began was register a career-high 11 sacks and 95 tackles on the way to a Pro Bowl berth.
Missing the grind of training camp may not be a scientifically proven method of success for an NFL player, but Barrett was sharp Monday night while registering a sack of Philip Rivers — Denver’s lone takedown of the Los Angeles quarterback — and participating in 92 percent of the defensive snaps during the Broncos’ 24-21 victory.
With the Broncos missing Shane Ray — their normal starter at outside linebacker opposite Von Miller — until the end of October, Barrett’s return was a boon to Denver’s defense.
“I thought he played very well,” Broncos defensive coordinator Joe Woods said. “When you can have somebody opposite Von that’s a threat, that helps us just in terms of how they’re going to try to protect against us. It helps us setting up our schemes in terms of our pressure package and our pass stunts. I think he did a nice job.”
Even before Ray went down with a wrist injury at the start of training camp, Barrett was earmarked for a larger role as the team went about replacing retired pass rusher DeMarcus Ware.
So Barrett changed his diet. He followed Miller’s lead and hired a personal chef, who constructed a meal plan heavy on seafood and chicken and light on red meat.
“I had to keep working on my body, be in the best shape I’ve ever been in,” Barrett said. “I wanted to put out more consistency in games. I had games when I made good plays, and I had games when I don’t do anything. So that was my next step, just being consistent in every game, week in and week out.”
But Barrett’s preparation for his fourth season screeched to a halt in May, when the former Colorado State star suffered the hip injury while working out on his own. The Broncos initially feared Barrett would need surgery that would endanger his sea- son. Instead, he was able to rehab without an operation, putting into motion a recovery that would take three months.
Barrett refused to be discouraged. He had big plans for the season, and though he didn’t make it back for the Broncos’ third preseason game, his own initial goal, nothing was going to keep him from the Monday night opener.
“Even when he went down with the injury, he was the first one in here and the last one to leave, constantly working and rehabbing his injury so he could get back out there,” Broncos safety Justin Simmons said. “Especially when Shane went down, it was even more apparent that we were going to need him. Shaq’s done a great job, man. I’m excited to have him back, and he obviously makes our job in the back end that much easier.”
Lined up on the right side of the line in the third quarter Monday night, Barrett faked a step inside on first down and then curved around Chargers offensive tackle Russell Okung, reaching Rivers for a 7-yard loss. The Chargers punted three plays later, and the Broncos drove for a field goal on the ensuing drive to take a 24-7 lead.
Despite the highlight, Barrett took a critical view of his performance.
“I felt pretty good. I had some mistakes that could have been potentially big and could have hurt us a lot, but I’m happy that didn’t happen,” he said. “I just have to work on focusing out there on keying in on my reads.”
Woods conceded that 54-of-59 snaps may have been a few too many for Barrett to play in his first game since early January. He wants to get Edebali (five snaps against the Chargers) and rookie DeMarcus Walker (six) more involved against the Cowboys. But Monday night proved Barrett is ready to shoulder the responsibilities of a starting spot.
“He showed that he is a playmaker for us,” Woods said. “He doesn’t have to do anything outside of doing his job. If he does his job, and he does it the way he’s done it in the past, he’s going to make plays for us.”