There isn’t a scarier sight in football than a player being strapped onto a backboard after a hit to their head and/or neck leaves them motionless on the field.
Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe was in that position last Saturday during a game against the Seahawks and he was ultimately taken to the hospital in an ambulance to see if he had suffered a cervical spine injury. Thankfully, Wolfe avoided that injury and was able to fly home with his teammates.
Wolfe’s still sore on the right side of his neck, but he was able to do a full upper body workout in the weight room on Thursday. He’ll need another MRI when the soreness goes away to be cleared for action, but Wolfe is hopeful that he’ll be in the lineup when the Broncos open up the 2013 NFL season against the Ravens.
“I could move everything the whole time, it was just everything felt kind of fuzzy,” Wolfe said, via the Associated Press. “Obviously, when you shock your system like that, it has to kind of reboot. As of now, everything is back to normal. As soon as the pain goes away, I’ll be all right. I’ve got full motion back.”
Wolfe said that he doesn’t plan to change his playing style, which helped him to six sacks as a rookie last year, as a result of the injury. With Von Miller serving a six-game suspension, having a healthy Wolfe playing at a level close to the one he was at in 2012 would be a very good thing for the Denver defense.