ENGLEWOOD, Colo. --When cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie went down in a heap on the seventh day of training camp, Broncos Country braced for bad news.
As it turned out, it was a high ankle sprain, which Andrew Mason wrote at the time "is never good news." But the prognosis could've been worse.
And Saturday morning -- just 10 days after he suffered the injury-- Rodgers-Cromartie had already recovered enough to return to the practice field in full pads.
"It felt real good just to get out there and do a little bit of running around, just working my way back in," Rodgers-Cromartie said.
The sixth-year cornerback worked in individual drills and participated in the walkthrough early in practice.
Fellow cornerback Chris Harris said from his experience with the injury, players don't want to come back too early and re-injure the ankle. So he was happy to see Rodgers-Cromartie take a little time off.
"He looked pretty good today," Harris said.
Rodgers-Cromartie said it was "very hard" to sit out the first preseason game, watching his teammates rack up four takeaways in San Francisco while he was sidelined. But he echoed Harris' sentiments that he doesn't want to rush anything.
"It's just a thing that you've got have to have a feel for," he said of his high ankle sprain. "Some days it feels good, some days it (doesn't), but today it felt good."
As for whether he'll hit the field next Saturday when the team travels to Seattle, Rodgers-Cromartie called it "a game-time decision," but said it's a goal he's working towards.
Returning to the practice field was a step in the right direction.
"We are easing him back into it," Head Coach John Fox, "so he is coming along just fine."
