Here is the link. Take it for what you will. Torian's return could just make for an even bigger time-share mess among the Denver RBs but it sounds like Shannahan likes him. Hard to say, but the situation is interesting in that they are talking about the guy five weeks out from his return and no Denver RB has really stepped up to show anything great.
www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/sep/26/broncos-report-injured-running-back-torian-close/A secret weapon? Not exactly.
"Just maybe one people don't expect," Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler said.
Somewhat lost in all the numbers the Broncos offense has put up in three games is
the fact the guy who just might have been their starting running back is close to returning to practice.Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said Friday that rookie Ryan Torain is on track to return to practice in the days leading up to the Broncos' Oct. 20 game in New England. If all goes well, Torain could play after the Broncos' Oct. 26 bye. The Broncos will face the Miami Dolphins on Nov. 2 at Invesco Field at Mile High.
"From what we saw in camp, the kid is an explosive runner and in the second half of the season, guys get worn down and we're going to pop this fresh kid in there," Cutler said. "It's going to be exciting to watch."
Torain suffered a fractured left elbow and some ligament damage that required surgery in early August. At the time, he steadily was moving up the team's depth chart,
with Shanahan saying, before any preseason games had been played, that Torain was headed toward being the team's starter.At the time, Shanahan called him "one of the most gifted running backs I've been around, and I've been around for a long time, very similar to Terrell Davis when he came in."Torain, who still is wearing a brace on his left arm for much of his day around the Broncos' Dove Valley complex, has been doing conditioning work and exercises to regain the range of motion in his arm.
"I'm excited, I'm just going to keep working hard and get back," Torain said. "I started running, and that's when it started to feel like it's getting closer, like I was taking some strides. It's going to be fun."
At 225 pounds, Torain is considered the team's best power/speed combination in the backfield. In two seasons at Arizona State, he averaged 5.4 yards per carry, and he rushed for 1,229 yards as a junior.
He played in only six games as a senior because of a foot injury that required surgery. Some teams didn't like his speed at the scouting combine - he ran in the 4.6s in his 40-yard dashes, 4.71 on the electronic clock - but others believed his speed would improve as he continued to recover from his foot surgery.
Shanahan consistently has pointed to Torain's ability to cut at nearly full speed during the Broncos workouts, which enable a runner to play faster than his timed speed. Torain showed enough in the first two weeks of camp that the Broncos kept him on the 53- man roster rather than place him on injured reserve for the season.
"The guys on defense were saying that all along," Cutler said. "He's going to have some impact for us."
For Torain, this week has been slightly disappointing. The back who went to high school in suburban Shawnee Mission, Kan., was hoping to play in Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday. Torain almost certainly will face the Chiefs on Dec. 7 in Denver, but he will have to wait until next season to play in front of family and friends.
"It would have been great to play Sunday," Torain said. "It would have been great for the family to come out and watch me. But the Chiefs still have got to come here, and my family is still coming out for that."