More than a few breaths were held when Denver Broncos running back Samaje Perine exited Wednesday's mandatory minicamp practice with an apparent thumb injury. Those breaths have turned to exhales.
On Thursday, Broncos head coach Sean Payton said Perine merely suffered a bruised thumb and "that's probably as in-depth as I'll ever go on injuries." Payton expressed no concern over Perine's status moving forward.
Not that he was concerned to begin with ...
“I think they were just going to look at his thumb," Payton said after the injury occurred. "I haven’t gotten into the training room yet. They were just being smart. I’m sure he will be fine.”
Indeed fine, Perine took part in Denver's final minicamp session — the last bit of on-field work before the team's pre-training camp respite.
Signed to a two-year, $7.5 million free-agent deal in March, Perine could open the regular season as the Broncos' starting RB with Javonte Williams returning from knee surgery. Payton insists he's "optimistic" Williams will be ready for Week 1.
But if not, the former Bengal is the bell cow-in-waiting.
“We signed him because we knew he was durable and reliable," Payton told reporters on May 13. "He played on first and second down and he played quite a bit of third down, if you really look at the snaps for Cincinnati. We felt like we got another solid runner—you guys been around him—who's built in a strong way. There are a lot of things he does well. When we signed him, there was still uncertainty. I was taught a long time ago to stack them up at that position. It’s a tough position in our league.”
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