Mike Anderson

[Randall]

Article Last Updated: 9/11/2005 11:12 PM

broncos notes

Anderson left running to nowhere

By Mike Klis and Bill Williamson

Denver Post Staff Writers

DenverPost.com

Miami - Mike Anderson kept running on the Denver sideline, trying to figure out a way to get back in the game Sunday after suffering a rib injury.

 

"I kept running and running, but it didn't feel right," the sorely missed Anderson said after the Broncos' 34-10 loss at Miami. "I couldn't do it."

 

Anderson departed on the Broncos' second series and did not return, being replaced by second-year player Tatum Bell. Anderson finished with 5 yards rushing on four carries.

 

Anderson said he expects to be able to play Sunday when Denver hosts San Diego. He described his injury as a bruise, "like a charley horse on your ribs." He'll be evaluated, and likely get an MRI, today.

 

"Physically, I'm fine. Mentally, I'm beat up," said a downcast Anderson, who could not make a difference for the Broncos in his first game after earning the No. 1 tailback job in training camp.

 

The Broncos especially missed Anderson in the second quarter. Bell was stopped three times inside the Miami 3, including a 1-yard loss from the 1 on fourth-and-goal.

 

Anderson was frustrated while watching from the sideline. Denver, which struggled inside the opponents' 20 last season, scored a touchdown on only one of four trips inside the red zone Sunday. The Broncos were 1-for-12 on third- down conversions.

 

"That's what we worked on all training camp," Anderson said. "We've got to get better there."

 

Bell finished with 47 yards on 13 carries. He, too, was discouraged by the red-zone issues.

 

"I will have to find a way to get (in the end zone) like the coaches say, but we just can't make excuses, just have to get (the ball) in there," Bell said. "We have to find a way to stay on the field in third-down situations."

 

Dayne not active for game

 

For the longest time, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan was often dubbed "The Mastermind."

 

The moniker was against his wishes. If Shanahan could have wished for anything Sunday, it would have been the mind of Nostradamus.

 

Perhaps the Broncos' most surprising game-roster decision was deactivating running back Ron Dayne, while Todd Devoe dressed as the fifth receiver. The decision backfired when Anderson was hurt early in the first quarter, leaving Bell as the Broncos' only experienced tailback.

 

"You don't regret; you make decisions and you go with them," Shanahan said. "If you would have told me Mike Anderson was going to go down on the second (series), would you have wanted a third running back, oh, sure. But when you have 45 guys (to choose from the 53-man roster), you have to make decisions."

 

That Dayne didn't dress Sunday despite a strong preseason (34 carries, 187 yards, 5.3 yards per carry) showed the confidence Shanahan had in Bell as his backup to Anderson and also fullback Cecil Sapp's ability to spot in at tailback. When Anderson went down, however, the Broncos could have used the more powerful Dayne on their first-and-goal opportunity from the 3-yard line in the second quarter.

 

Shanahan indicated that if Anderson can't play Sunday against San Diego, Dayne would be activated.