Injuries to Davis a big pain to team

SEATTLE - Terrell Davis has walked out of a stadium healthy - a technical football term meaning "fairly certain he'd play the following week" - exactly four times the past two seasons. Including today, that's four times in 28 games.

The Broncos feel his pain, even if they can't figure out what's causing it.

Where they feel it most is in their neck.

The mysterious ailment floating up and down the Denver running back's left leg has spoiled what was supposed to be a triumphant return from a brutal knee injury. The best tests and most expensive doctors don't have a clue what's wrong. Davis only knows that it hurts and he can't play.

And that's leaving the Broncos in a bind. Make that plural - the Broncos are in more binds than a mummy.

Given the way the past two seasons have gone, it's impossible to believe that Davis will ever be the "old" Davis, a guy who considers 1,000 rushing yards a nice halfway point, a guy who wants the ball 400 times a season. He'll wear more question marks than the Riddler heading into next season.

Here's the rub. His salary is due to explode from $1.3 million this season to $5.8 million in 2001. He's set to make twice as much as any other Bronco.

Do you cut Terrell Davis?

Good one. Imagine that public-relations nightmare. Besides, he'll count more toward the salary cap next season if he's gone. The salary cap is all about fuzzy math, but it has to do with pro-rated signing bonuses. If Davis is around, he counts about $7 million toward the cap. If he's gone, it's a one-time hit of $7.2 million.

It's moot. Davis stays, unless the mystery injury benches him for good. But his ailment muddies an already cloudy running back position.

The Broncos love Olandis Gary. They think he can be the franchise back if Davis can't fully recover. But Gary will be coming off a blown knee of his own. His rehabilitation has been ahead of schedule, but that's no guarantee. Just look at Davis.

Even coach Mike Shanahan thinks that Davis' problems with his left leg and ankle might have been caused by Davis favoring the side opposite his reconstructed right knee.

Rookie Mike Anderson has had a nice season, but the Broncos don't believe he's the caliber of Davis or Gary. He's a raw (but improving) blocker and raw pass catcher, and relies more on grit than burst. Bronco higher-ups believe the loss of Davis and Gary have cost them at least two wins.

The 1,000-yard season that Anderson is closing in on would make him intriguing trade bait, the way Gary was last spring. But can you afford to trade him not knowing if Davis and Gary can run?

Then again, fullback Howard Griffith is an unrestricted free agent. Do you groom the tough-as-nails Anderson to become the team's future fullback, keeping him around as an insurance policy for Davis and Gary?

"It's just an ankle sprain," Davis kept telling reporters earlier this season, not believing that such a minor injury was keeping him off the field.

Now it's threatening his career. And its effects are lingering, in more ways than one.

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