Ray says “possible timetable” is 2-3 months
Broncos linebacker Shane Ray hopes a fourth surgery on his left wrist will be the charm, allowing him to play pain-free and possibly be available for the Sept. 9 opener against Seattle.
Ray will travel to Houston for surgery Thursday and, he said, he’ll have a “bone fusion” to repair damage.
“It’s super frustrating because you go all offseason thinking you’re good and thinking you’re 100 percent healthy and then you get a checkup and find out you’ve got some injured stuff in there and need to get it fixed,” Ray said Tuesday. “For me, it was like, ‘Dang, another step in recovery when I thought I was good after surgery last year.’ ”
Ray said his “possible timetable” for return is 2-3 months.
“But I think, because it’s bone and not like repairing ligaments, I’ll be able to heal a lot faster and try to be ready for Game 1,” he said.
Broncos coach Vance Joseph declined to estimate Ray’s return date, saying, “He’ll be back (in) the early part of the season.”
Ray was limited to eight games last year due to a wrist injury. He participated in the Broncos’ offseason program, including the first two weeks of organized team activities. Even though he was on the field, Ray still experienced discomfort.
“My wrist has been sore since last year, and I was thinking in my head that it’s because of the recovery and part of the process,” he said. “When I got back here, it was still sore. I started to go through practice and workouts, and it wasn’t getting any better. I asked to get a checkup, and thankfully we caught it now instead of training camp.”
Said Joseph: “He understands he’ll be back to help us and we’ll get it totally fixed so he can play at a high level again. We know what it is and can finally fix it the right way.”
Footnotes. Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas suffered a foot injury during team drills Tuesday. After being attended to by trainers, he tried to lightly jog before being shut down. Joseph said Thomas “tweaked” his foot. … Joseph said left guard Ron Leary (knee) and right tackle Jared Veldheer (foot) will be ready for training camp next month. They missed all 10 organized team activity workouts and will not practice this week. Joseph said neither player has experienced a setback. “We’re just being really, really smart, especially with guys we know have experience playing in this league,” Joseph said. … Joseph said the three minicamp practices this week are “not much different” than the 10 OTAs. “We want to build our library in all three phases to carry us through the season (and) continue to work on technique and our overall scheme of things,” he said. … Cornerback Chris Harris had the only interception of 11-on-11 work, picking off quarterback Case Keenum. … Keenum’s book, “Playing For More,” will be released Sept. 4. Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy wrote the foreword. “It’s pretty special to me. I’ll let people in and tell some pretty cool stories that many people probably haven’t heard,” Keenum said. … Keenum was coy when asked if he will have a passing camp with his teammates before training camp. “I may or may not,” he said.