AN EVOLVING ROLE

Ware still a presence on team

The bomb dropped around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. Texans star defensive end J.J. Watt reinjured his back and would probably go on the injured reserve list.

The Texans would re-sign Antonio Smith, a 34-year-old who won a ring with the Broncos in February, and Watt’s football future — both short term and long term — would be re-evaluated.

Broncos outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware knows the feeling, physically and mentally, of the uncertainty Watt now faces. The 12-year veteran Ware has an injury history that few can match and is now recovering from a broken forearm, a follow to the back injury that sidelined him for more than five games last season and all of this offseason and preseason.

Ware’s focus is on his long-term health, not a quick return. It’s a lesson he said he learned with experience.

“Once you get that little thing, it stays there,” he said. “You got to take care of yourself.”

Wednesday, a week removed from surgery, Ware roamed the Broncos’ locker room as though little had changed. He still poked fun at teammates. Still offered pointers about the upcoming game at Tampa Bay that he will have to sit out. Still recorded Von Miller and C.J. Anderson dancing in the locker room.

Since he arrived in 2014, Ware has taken pride in becoming the Hulk of the defense and the heart of the locker room. He knows the routine of the NFL, as careers die and legacies depart with them. That is why his place on the Broncos and his approach with the younger players — be it Miller or Shane Ray or Shaquil Barrett — continues to play a prominent role. Ware always has placed an emphasis on his health and training, but his body hasn’t always cooperated. His contributions, however, never stop.

“I was very proud of Shane when he went in and played like he did,” Ware said of Ray’s performance in the Broncos’ victory at Cincinnati. “Because sometimes you get a guy that comes in and doesn’t listen. The whole time in meetings, he didn’t write anything down before the meetings. But I saw when he was out there playing that he was doing every single thing that I was telling him — what the tackles were going to do, how to attack it — and after the game he was like, ‘It worked.’ I told him, I’m going to give him everything I got, because I want you to be great.”

Over the years, Ware has learned to control what he can control, and to teach others to do the same. He has been as much a coach and teacher and father figure as a player, bringing together a defense that outsiders now fear and revere.

“They play as one heartbeat,” said Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, “and that’s what we work to get to.”

It starts with Miller and Ware on the field, but especially Ware off the field.

“I’ll give them little keys and stuff and say, this is a time to where I think some guys need to be writing some stuff down,” Ware said, grinning. “I take notes, but I’m more of a film guy. I file it away. I remember it. As soon as something happens, I’ll have already broken down the stuff that they did for Tampa, so when we’re in the meeting for Tampa, I’m like, ‘Listen guys. This is what we’re doing.’ They looked at me like, ‘Yeah, right.’ Then it was like, ‘Oh, I see it.’ I’m like, I know, man. I’ve been doing it for a while.’ ”

There’s a self-awareness inherent in the game and a requisite of its greats. Consider it a lesson learned — and passed along by Ware.