What Can Shane Ray do For the Denver Broncos in 2015?
May 27, 2015; Englewood, CO, USA; Denver Broncos outside linebacker Shane Ray (56) watches from the sidelines due to a toe injury during organized team activities at the Broncos training facility. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
The Denver Broncos traded up in the first round of the draft to get outside linebacker Shane Ray. Like all first-rounders, Ray wants to make an immediate impact but he’s behind the eightball. He already has to compete with 32-year-old Demarcus Ware, coming off a productive season, to start opposite Von Miller.
Then on top of all that, his taste has been all about rehabilitation every since he got there. Ray suffered a turf toe injury during a January bowl game with Missouri, and his recovery was delayed because of predraft workouts. When he arrived in Denver, the Broncos slowed his rehabilitation down to allow his toe to heal before he stepped back on the field.
Ray told Denver Broncos.com a couple of weeks ago, “They [the training staff] didn’t want to rush me back and cause more injury. They wanted to make sure that when I started getting work that my foot was feeling good and it wasn’t going to have any setbacks. We’ve got plenty of time so today what I was able to do was just pretty much they kind of let me go a little bit, let me get some work in because they felt like I was progressing well and throughout the week I’ll be doing more work.”
And after a few encouraging days of work, a strained quadriceps limited him to stretching and strength drills with trainers on the sideline Thursday. The good thing is defensive coordinator Wade Phillips has been impressed by Ray’s ability to quickly pick up the defense in the classroom. So he will at least know what he’s doing when training camp comes and he’s competing for a job.
But Ware doesn’t look like he slown down much so we’ll see what Ray brings to the Broncos in 2015.