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When John Elway took the podium Wednesday and revealed that DeMarcus Ware, after being held out for all of OTAs and minicamp, would start training camp on the non-football injury list, it gave reason for actual concern to be raised about the health of the nine-time Pro-Bowler.
On Thursday, though, Ware spoke for himself and did his best to quell those concerns.
“They’re just being a lot more cautious” he said of the reason he’s on the sideline. “Are you going to beat him through training camp or are you going to really take care of the veteran and make sure he is ready for the season?”
“If you do something 12 times, I think that’s enough,” he added of his 12 training camps. “This is 12 years for me and I know what I’m doing. It’s all about getting your body ready for the long haul. There is a 16 game season and getting ready for a postseason.”
It makes sense for the aging Ware and it makes sense for the Broncos who will need his services much more In Week 13 than they do on day one, or two, or three of training camp. So while he can’t participate now, he’ll be out there when they need him.
“If the game was tomorrow, I’d be out there playing,” he explained. “The timeline is what the trainers think and what [Executive Vice President of Football Operations/General Manager John] Elway and all those guys think, what they want to do right now and just going from there with their plan.”
“I wouldn’t say there is any discomfort,” Ware added. “Now it’s strengthening and making sure it’s strengthened through the whole season. Instead of just saying, ‘Okay you’re just ready to play the first preseason game.’ Let’s get it all the way to the point where it’s iron clad and it can withstand the whole season.”
As for when you can expect to see him back working with the team, nothing official yet, but he did make it clear he would like it to be well before they take the field against the Panthers in Week 1.
“I’d like to get out there and put the pads on before the preseason is over with,” explained the wily vet. “You can still get some of that rust off and get out here and practice and play a little bit. A timeline of that is making sure that you get a lot of fill work before the season starts.”
And he doesn’t exactly need to be at 100-percent to be effective.
“To be honest with you, I was probably around 70 percent in the playoffs,” he said of a postseason in which he wreaked havoc. “Now, knowing everything is right and having some time off in the preseason to get everything stronger and a lot more stable, I’ll be at 94 percent when all said and done.”
As an 11-year veteran, 100-percent health is a pipe-dream, so 94-percent will have just have to be enough for No. 94.
