Broncos leave Marshall behind on road trip
SEATTLE (AP)—Brandon Marshall’s(notes) feud with the Broncos continued on Saturday, with the disgruntled wide receiver left back in Denver while the rest of the team lost a preseason game at Seattle.
“Everybody who was ready and able to play in this game was here. And everybody we deemed not ready and able stayed back home,” Broncos first-year coach Josh McDaniels said late Saturday night after Denver’s 27-13 loss.
The coach added he “absolutely” expected Marshall to participate when the Broncos return to practice Tuesday.
The team also left safety Brian Dawkins(notes) home. The 35-year-old Dawkins, who joined the Broncos after 13 seasons in Philadelphia, missed a week and a-half of training camp with a broken right hand that required surgery. He returned to the field a few days ago week and picked off a pass despite a cumbersome club on his hand.
Broncos rookie cornerback Alphonso Smith(notes), a second-round pick for whom Denver traded a No. 1 pick in 2010 to Seattle to draft, left with an apparent injury to his right leg in the third quarter following a kickoff return. The Broncos said only that Smith had an injury to a “lower extremity.”
Chris Simms(notes) replaced starting quarterback Kyle Orton(notes) midway through the third quarter and completed five of seven passes into the fourth period. Then impressive Seahawks rookie pass rusher Nick Reed(notes) got tangled up with a blocker and landed on Simms’ left foot. Simms limped into the locker room with trainers. Rookie Tom Brandstater(notes) replaced him.
Marshall spent two days last week working almost exclusively with the scout team after saying he was nowhere near mastering the new offense.
He is upset with the Broncos over their refusal to redo his contract after consecutive 100-catch seasons or to trade him. He’s also angry with their handling of his acquittal on battery charges last week.
Players were told by a staffer not to say they were happy for Marshall.
Marshall missed the preseason opener at San Francisco last week while attending his court case in Atlanta.
He boycotted the team’s offseason workouts, at first to recover from March 31 hip surgery, and then in protest of his contract and what he felt was the team’s misdiagnosis of his hip injury.
He pulled up lame with a hamstring injury three days into training camp and missed two weeks before returning to practice last Sunday.
His agent, Kennard McGuire, met with McDaniels this week at the team’s headquarters, presumably to talk about renegotiating his contract. Neither McGuire or McDaniels would say whether a trade request was reissued this week on behalf of Marshall, however.
Coming off back-to-back 100-catch seasons, Marshall, who started in the Pro Bowl six months ago, has vastly outperformed his contract, which calls for him to make $2.2 million this year.
Now, he said he has “trust issues” with the Broncos over their handling of his acquittal.

142 Comments
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brina b - Worry about your own dysfunctional team. The Raiders make the Broncos look like THE model NFL franchise. Who's the mole now? Which coach or player is going to punch another this week? Worst record over the past 6 years in the NFL and it will only continue to be pathetic.
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And Buck...you are right a team can release a player anytime and not pay them. But that is also why players get so much upfront money i.e. singing bonus. Ever hear of it?
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COME ON OVER!!!!
Go Giants!
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Actually Robert, when that happens, the teams try to renegotiate to give the players less money, or the teams just cut the player outright...meaning the team doesn't honor the contract that THEY signed. If you're so enlightened, explain to us how one is worse than the other.
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I dont get it . Why is it every year these Football Players sign a 4,5,6,7, year contract and the very next Year they want to restructor . I am a Union worker and I cannot redo my Contract to please myself every time I see Fit . These Players need to quit being whinny overpaid I'm not going to play unless you redo my Contract Players . Deal with it when the time comes up . But until then they should Honor all Contracts SIGNED !!!!
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It's supply vs. Demand.
Demand isn't as large for the work you're supplying as it is for and NFL wide receiver.
NFL has a better union. No pun intended.
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Raiders have st 24-72 since losing to Grudens Tampa Bay Bucks...worse 6 year losing span by any team in NFL history. So that means Raiders are hands down the worse team in the NFL this Decade. Face it you fell off...and as long ass your team is in the AFC WEST we have a chance to make the playoffs year after year. Shaky ass run D, Again. So please stop talking @#$% til your team climbs out the black hole. Raiders the team of first round busts.
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do you honestly believe you hold enough on this forum for anyone to read that bible you wrote?
Your a bigger turd than Brandon Marshall.
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Now look what ya done.
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