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Battered Broncos Griese, Frerotte both ailing as Denver heads to Baltimore
DENVER (AP) -- While preparing for Sunday's wild-card game against the Ravens, the Denver Broncos fretted about the health of quarterbacks Brian Griese and Gus Frerotte. Oakland's 52-9 win against Carolina on Sunday turned the Broncos into a wild-card team, and they open next Sunday at Baltimore, thanks to Tennessee's 31-0 rout against Dallas on Monday night. In Saturday's 38-9 rout of San Francisco, Griese reinjured his throwing shoulder and Frerotte bruised his lower back, left elbow and right knee. The Broncos were most concerned about Griese, who returned to the starting lineup Saturday after missing five games with a separated throwing shoulder. On only his fifth play of the game, Griese was hit after throwing a short pass and landed on his shoulder, with 305-pound defensive tackle Brentson Buckner on top of him. Frerotte replaced him and played most of the game. Griese returned for one play after Frerotte was shaken up on a sack in the second quarter. Griese handed off to KaRon Coleman, who darted 24 yards for a touchdown. Frerotte also was banged up on a 13-yard scramble for a touchdown in the third quarter. He was hit and upended by cornerback Jason Webster at the goal line and had to be assisted from the field again, but he played into the fourth quarter, when third-stringer Jarious Jackson took over. "Like I said after the game, Brian's shoulder didn't pop out or anything," Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan said. "It's just sore. He can still raise his arm. It was nothing like it was relative to the Raiders' game [when Griese separated the shoulder on Nov. 13]. We'll see how he does during the week. Right now, it's too early to tell." After Saturday's game, Frerotte limped badly from a hit to his back that made his left leg go numb momentarily. Frerotte was improved on Sunday. "Gus is a little bit sore," Shanahan said. "It's typical with what goes on with a quarterback." Frerotte has gone 4-2 this season as a starter. Most of Denver's other injuries from the 49ers game were of the bumps-and-bruises category. Wide receiver Travis McGriff sprained his right ankle when he stepped on a coach's foot during pregame warmups. "The coach is no longer with us," Shanahan joked. Defensive tackle Trevor Pryce has a bruised right calf, and safety George Coghill has a pinched nerve in his neck.
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