DENVER — The timing could not have been worse — for the Broncos and for Chris Harris Jr.
For Harris, the Broncos best cornerback, an MRI result Monday showed he suffered a torn ACL in Sunday’s playoff win over the Chargers. It was a cruel blow to a player who should be preparing for his first AFC title game on Sunday, when Denver hosts the Patriots at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
For the Broncos, the news was sobering and a bit alarming considering the quarterback they’ll face Sunday — Tom Brady — and the way San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers torched the Denver secondary in the fourth quarter after Harris was injured. Rivers went right after his former Chargers teammate Quentin Jammer — who replaced Harris — and engineered a comeback that put a scare into the Broncos.
The Broncos led 17-0 when Harris was injured. With Rivers targeting Jammer, San Diego scored all 17 of its points in the fourth quarter.
Broncos coach John Fox was intentionally vague Monday about who will start in Harris’ place and play opposite cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie against New England.
His options are Jammer, veteran Champ Bailey — still coming back from a left foot injury that kept him out 11 games this season — rookie Kayvon Webster — playing with a cast on his surgically repaired right thumb — or Tony Carter.
“We’re going to know long before you guys [media] will know,’’ Fox said when asked about his plan. “It’s a long list, a long cast. If I knew right now, I wouldn’t say anyways. But we have been with these guys for some time, so we’ve been through the whole cast, really throughout the whole season. It is really how they perform in practice and what we see on the practice field in preparation for New England.’’
Fox called Harris “no doubt one of our better performers on defense throughout this season.” Harris is one of the most valuable and versatile players on the Broncos, having played 1,042 snaps in the regular season, more than any other Denver defensive player.
“We’ve lost some pretty good performers throughout the season,’’ Fox said. “This team has been resilient. We’ll take a next-man-up approach and we’ll keep you posted on that as we go forward.”
When Harris went down, Denver used Bailey in the slot and Jammer on the outside. After the game, Jammer was stand-up about his struggles, saying, “I played like [bleep]. It wasn’t anything physical. It was mental. I was sitting on routes I shouldn’t have been sitting on. I have to be better.’’
While defending Jammer because he didn’t have a lot of reps in practice last week, Denver safety Mike Adams said the effect Harris’ injury had “was obvious.’’
“When Chris went down, things started to unravel a little bit on the back end,’’ Adams said. “But ‘Jam,’ I’m not worried about him. He gave up a big play, but he could bounce back. He’s been in the league a long time. We’ve all had bad games before and we’ve all slipped up and done something to give up something before. He always bounces back.’’
Adams indicated he’d like to see Bailey start, but added, “I’ll leave that to the coaches.’’
“I would love to see Champ back out there every play, if you’re asking me that,” Adams said, “but that is yet to be determined.’’
“They’ve been through a lot, whether it’s [LB] Von [Miller], ‘Vick’ [DT Kevin Vickerson] Chris Harris, Champ at the beginning of the season,’’ Broncos receiver Eric Decker said of his team’s defense. “Someone has to step up and play for Chris Harris. He’s played his tail off all season. He’s a guy that we’re going to miss, but we have to move on and we have to find someone to fill that hole.”