Kyle Orton Likely Out For Sunday Due To Torn Ligaments In Ankle

Football Outsider’s “Injury Expert” Will Carroll tweets:

The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton was not at practice on Thursday due to his injured left ankle. They also report this bit of troubling news: Orton has torn ligaments in the ankle.

Orton has not worked on the ankle since hurting it last Sunday, but he says he has made progress on it and considers himself “day-to-day”. Orton elaborated that this ankle injury is different from the one that sidelined him for a game last year, because that injury was on his right ankle, which is his plant foot.

Considering how poorly backup Chris Simms played in relief of Orton against the Redskins, this is certainly great news for the Broncos, who will also be without standout offensive tackle Kyle Harris.

After starting the year 6-0, the Broncos have dropped three straight to fall into a tie with the Chargers for the division lead. The Broncos currently hold the tiebreaker by virtue of their win over the Chargers earlier in the season, making this weekend’s game so key: with a win the Broncos can open what amounts to a two-game lead in the division; a loss leaves them one back.

It’s been announced that Orton’s return to the Broncos-Redskins contest is “doubtful.” This is especially bad news for Denver, seeing as backup Chris Simms is looking shaky in his absence.

With the Broncos only leading the lowly Redskins by a score of 17-14, it will be interesting to see how Simms handles the reins at quarterback. We’ll post more news on Orton as it becomes available.