Ja’Wuan James opens up on his injury struggles this season

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — By the time Ja’Wuan James suited up against Houston on Dec. 8, he had already missed 10 of 12 games and parts of the two that he played. In Week 1, he tore the medial collateral ligament in his left knee. Eight weeks later, he suffered a partial meniscus tear in the same knee, while also re-tearing the scar tissue in the MCL.

He made it through the first quarter fine. The Broncos were rolling, leading 14-0 en route to an eventual 38-3 lead. The knee was still “bothering” him early in the game, James said, but it wasn’t a deterrent.

Instead, he was energized. Adrenaline flowed not only because of his return but because of what had changed at quarterback during his second inactive stint.

“It was exciting to be together again playing with them — and honestly, playing with Drew,” James said. “That was my first experience with him in a game besides preseason and he’s doing a heck of a job leading us, getting the ball in and out of his hands and making plays. I feel like the future is bright, especially on offense. I feel like we’re really starting to find ourselves on offense.”

All seemed well.

Then James felt his knee buckle.

“Honestly, the first quarter was all right, and then I went to hit a linebacker and it buckled on me, ad then after that, after the buckling, that’s when it started to just give out on me,” he said.

And that’s when the physical pain also turned into mental trepidation in the wake of two lengthy absences because of the previous injuries.

Thirteen days before James’ brief return against Houston, Broncos coach Vic Fangio noted that James was physically cleared to return, but that he needed to “get mentally ready to play [and] emotionally ready to play and be able to go out there and play good, not just go out there.”

A moment later in that Nov. 25 press conference, Fangio explained what that meant.

“He’s just got to have confidence that he can go out there and play with his knee and coming off the injury,” Fangio said then. “I don’t think he had that the last time he tried to play when he came back. He was fine physically, but I don’t think he in his own mind was comfortable and confident.”

When James’ knee buckled in Houston, the emotional and mental readiness that he had built up evaporated.

“The pain of it is one thing; you can deal with pain,” James said. “But when I’m out there and I feel like I’m on one leg and stuff like that, that’s when I’m worried about my knee.”

The plan was for James to play the entire first half, and he remained in the game. But at halftime, James knew he couldn’t proceed.

“I talked with ‘Munch’ [offensive line coach Mike Munchak] at halftime, and I was like, ‘Man, it’s giving out on me,’ so he was like, ‘All right, I understand; we’ll roll you out,'” James said. “After [that] I got an MRI, they were like, ‘Yeah, you tore another part of your MCL during the game probably,’ and that’s when I got done talking to doctors and we made that plan.”

James hopes that plan does not involve surgery. If all goes well, he expects to be at full speed when the Broncos begin OTAs in May.

“They say my meniscus doesn’t look like it would need surgery, hopefully with time to heal, and also the MCL,” he said. “But I’m going to get checkups and MRIs throughout the offseason just to make sure after about a month that it’s healing properly.”

But caution will remain the watchword for James, who noted that he and the Broncos are on the same page regarding his recovery and timetable.

When he returned for the Week 8 game in Indianapolis after a six-week absence because of the initial MCL tear, James was confident that his issues were behind him. But he didn’t even last a half before succumbing once again.

“In my mind, when I was coming back for that Colts game, I was like, ‘I’m back.’” James said. “I know Coach Munchak was saying he as going to rotate me in and we’re going to keep you on a snap count, but then, unfortunately, it’s football. You get rolled up on at my position and my knee got hurt worse.”

Now, James’ focus is on the offseason. He will not play against Oakland, and by the end of that game he will have missed 30 of a possible 96 regular-season games since breaking into the NFL in 2015. This year is also the third in his six-season career in which he has failed to play more than half of the games.

But there is a pattern with James — good health one year, misfortune the next. He played in all 16 games in 2015 and 2017 and in 15 games last year. If that continues, he should be good to go for 2020, and his play against Houston before his knee gave way offered a glimpse of why the Broncos gave him a contract with $27 million in guarantees.

James will be back with the Broncos in 2020, and their plans at right tackle for that year have to revolve around him.

He praised his fellow offensive linemen for the support they gave him this year. Now he hopes to repay that by being a healthy contributor next year.

“I’m a new guy in this room; everybody saw what I was capable in camp, but I want to be able to go out there and show it for 16 games on the field and be able to help this team win,” James said. “That’s all I’m really concerned about is these guys in here, these guys in my O-line room that grind every day with each other and I just want to be able to have their back.”

The Broncos need James. Lock needs James. For one half, the world saw what their offense can look like when the two are in the huddle at the same time.

Now they just need for James’ knee issues to finally be in the past.