Injured Purcell expects Chargers to test defense
Mike Purcell didn’t know anything was wrong with his right thumb until his removed his gloves following the Broncos’ Week 7 loss in Cleveland. The swelling prompted an immediate Xray.
Purcell’s thumb was broken in two places, the result of an injury that occurred on a tackle on the Browns’ final drive. He had the thumb surgically repaired about 36 hours later, on Oct. 23, in an effort to get back on the field as quickly as possible.
“My mindset was that I didn’t want to miss time again,” Purcell said.
“Last year was a seasonending (foot) injury, but thankfully this one wasn’t that serious. They put some hardware in there, and whether those stay in long-term will go by my feel. … I knew the quicker I got (the surgery) done, the quicker I could come back.”
After sitting out Week 8 against Washington, Purcell returned to practice on a limited basis in Week 9. But he didn’t play against Dallas, returning instead for Week 10 against Philadelphia after a week of full practice. He played against the Eagles with a cast on his right hand and will do so again Sunday against the Chargers.
Purcell said the cast didn’t bother him against the Eagles, when he played 36% of the defensive snaps but didn’t tally any tackles or pressures in the 30-13 blowout loss.
“I can feel my thumb is getting back to full health,” Purcell said. “I’m used to the cast by now. I’ve got a couple weeks with it under my belt, and the last game obviously. Hopefully I can get out of it sooner rather than later.”
Like the team overall, the performance of Broncos’ starting defensive line of Purcell, Shelby Harris and Dre’mont Jones has been solid in some games and sketchy in others. Against the heavily favored Cowboys, with Purcell out and in the first game of the post-von Miller Era, the Broncos all but neutralized Dallas’ high-powered rushing attack. But it was a different story against Philadelphia, which gashed Denver for a season-high 214 rushing yards.
Yet another challenge faces the Broncos Sunday with the Los Angeles Chargers set to visit Empower Field at Mile High.
Last November in Denver, the Broncos erased a 21-point second-half deficit to beat Los Angeles 31-30 on Drew Lock’s last-second touchdown pass to KJ Hamler.
But Purcell said, “this is not the same Chargers team we faced in the past.”
“With Jusitn Herbert at quarterback, he’s just so dynamic and he’s grown (as a QB), and we need to make sure to pressure him,” he said. “Also (running back Austin) Eckler’s a hell of a playmaker, and their wide receivers as well. Their offensive line is definitely improved… and they’ve got some good people they signed up front. It’ll be a good challenge.”
Herbert’s 2,927 passing yards rank fifth in the NFL, and the combination of wideouts Keenan Allen and Mike Williams make coach Vic Fangio wary of giving the Chargers QB too much time in the pocket. In the Broncos’ last home win, over Washington, Denver tallied five sacks. But the Broncos only had two sacks in the each of the two games since.
“We need to do a good job playing our part against the run, and we need to get some pass-rush on this guy,” Fangio said. “Obviously (Herbert) is a really good scrambler, and we need to have a good day rushing the passer.”