The Denver Broncos finished up their second day of mandatory minicamp Wednesday afternoon and despite high-energy, it was a sloppy practice on the field. Head coach Gary Kubiak concluded it will a fiery speech.
His words were not clear to the media on the far edges of the practice fields but it was clear it had to do with being accountable to teammates and the Broncos.
Aqib Talib and the incident that left him with a gunshot wound to his right leg must have been on Kubiak and many others minds. Talib did return to the Broncos facility as expected Wednesday but did not join his team on the field.
“I saw him briefly this morning before I went into the team meeting and then from there he is being evaluated medically. It was very brief,” Kubiak said Wednesday after practice. “I know Greek looked at him briefly this morning. We sent him to our doctors today and then they will meet sometime this afternoon to gather a plan, see where we are at and what we are doing.”
The incident remains under investigation and currently, the police report states that he was a victim of aggravated assault, being shot by an unknown suspect. BSN Denver was first to report that multiple sources claimed Talib admitted to shooting himself accidentally. Either way, the team certainly is not happy that the Pro-Bowl cornerback will miss time on the field while he heals and the NFL and Dallas Police investigate further.
“I’ve obviously had many conversations with Aqib since this has taken place, but no. Right now, to me, that’s between he and I and the club,” Kubiak stated when asked if the gunshot was self-inflicted. “[We’re] still trying to get more information on exactly everything that happened. I’m going to continue to say the thing: I’m concerned about is health and where he’s at physically and where we’ve got to go next. We’ll sort through all the other stuff.“
Talib’s gunshot wound missed all bones, ligaments and major arteries and did not require surgery but just stitches as ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported. His injury will still keep him off the field for possibly a number of weeks. The Broncos have three more days of mandatory minicamp followed by June 15-18 voluntary organized team activities before a break leading up to training camp in July.
Asked Wednesday whether Talib would be staying in Denver over the players break Kubiak answered quickly.
“Oh yeah, he is definitely going to be a guy that is going to have to be here with that going on and the rehab process which is being evaluated as we speak.”
As the shooting Sunday morning becomes clearer, Talib may either continue to go uncharged of a crime and thus remain a victim of a crime, or he may face legal problems in addition to healing from what is luckily a minor wound.
Asked about his trust in Talib moving forward Kubiak decided to wait and answer that on a later day.
“Until I’ve gathered all the information and know wholly and confident that I know exactly everything that took place and what’s going on and what’s happening, I don’t want to go there right now,” he explained graciously. “I want to get him healthy. I want to check his frame of mind. I want to keep this football team going and keep them focused on what we need to do.”
As the end of practice demonstrated, staying focused after a player has been shot is no easy task. Hopefully, for the Broncos, Talib can heal quickly and avoid any more trouble but until then the distraction of an investigation will continue.
