No Update on Orton, Simms for Cincinnati

Kyle Orton's availability at Cincinnati is unknown. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey )

Several readers have pointed us in the direction of this AP article, which casually states that neither Chris Simms nor Kyle Orton will be ready to go against Cincinnati next Sunday, and that rookie QB Tom Brandstater will start.

For our tastes, the statement was made a little too casually. News like this wouldn’t be buried three paragraphs deep under a “Broncos release nine players” headline, it would be front page news.

We spoke to the Broncos; indeed, the report is mistaken in that there is no update on the statuses of Orton or Simms for the season opener September 13th.

That doesn’t mean the report is wrong; Brandstater very well could start next Sunday in Cincinnati. But stating it as fact is misleading; no one knows how well Orton’s finger or Simms’ ankle will heal in time for the game at this point, and so no one is sure who will start against the Bengals.

Fans dying for an update will likely have to wait until Wednesday, when the Broncos are expected to release their first injury report, per NFL policy.

Even then, Josh McDaniels comes from the Bill Belichick School of Injury Censorship. Don’t be surprised if settling on a starting quarterback comes down to a “game time decision.”