Surgery to sideline Gardener

[Gunzlingr]

Six weeks and five days before the Broncos open their regular season in Cincinnati, heralded defensive tackle Daryl Gardener was diagnosed with torn ligaments in his right wrist that will leave him in a cast for six weeks and out for up to eight.

The Broncos already are thinking of Gardener as questionable for the Bengals. Gardener declared himself probable.

"Right now," Gardener said Tuesday night from New York, "I'm anticipating that I will be ready for that game."

Until then, Gardener will have plenty to overcome. On Thursday, Charles P. Melone - chief of division of hand surgery for Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City and the doctor who operated on boxer Lennox Lewis and former Nuggets center Dikembe Mutombo - is scheduled to do his work on Gardener.

more (http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~86~1527521,00.html)

[Gunzlingr]

News that prized defensive tackle Daryl Gardener will miss up to eight weeks because of torn ligaments in his right wrist had his Denver Broncos teammates reeling and his coaches scrambling.

"Damn," said Dorsett Davis, the front-runner to start at the other tackle position. "I'm speechless. We were counting on him. He's a big presence."

Gardener, arrested early Friday morning after a brawl outside an International House of Pancakes in Aurora, will have surgery Thursday morning in New York to repair the tears suffered in the fight.

Gardener declined comment on the actual fracas but vowed to be ready by the Sept. 7 season-opener in Cincinnati.

more (http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/broncos/article/0,1299,DRMN_17_2129148,00.html)