ENGLEWOOD, Colo. –After a week of limited participation in practice, cornerback Champ Bailey is questionable for Sunday's matchup with New England as he continues to recover from a foot injury that he aggravated in Week 7.
Bailey said Friday that he is progressing "very well."
"I got a good week of practice in, feel pretty confident about going forward," Bailey said. "I just need to make sure I'm all the way there, mentally and physically."
Interim Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator Jack Del Rio said Friday that there was a "pretty strong likelihood" that Bailey would return to action before the end of the regular season, but didn't specify if that meant Bailey would be ready by Sunday night or not.
Bailey added that his availability for the Patriots game will be a game-time decision and that he will work out on Sunday to see how his foot feels.
"You just don't want to say 'I'm going' or say 'I'm not.' It's really just about getting on that turf, working out and seeing how it feels," he said.
After injuring his foot in the preseason, Bailey sat out to first five weeks of the season and returned against Jacksonville in Week 6. In Week 7, at Indianapolis, Bailey aggravated that injury and has been sidelined since. In his two games of action, he recorded three passes defensed and intercepted a two-point conversion attempt.
The veteran cornerback expressed that he continues to be frustrated by not being able to play, but his health is the number one priority – even in the face of primetime matchups like the one last week and the one Sunday in New England.
"I'm aware of who we're playing every week, but if I'm not feeling good enough to play, I'm not playing," Bailey said. "I can't do that to my body and I can't do that to my team because I won't be 100 percent. It's just the way it is – got to deal with it."
