In almost any other circumstance, Chris Simms' first NFL start since 2006 would be a triumphant story of the power of the human will.

Three years after nearly being killed playing football, Simms is poised to start for the Broncos on Sunday. Josh McDaniels left open Friday the possibility of a miracle cure for Kyle Orton's bum ankle by then, but Simms is practicing with the first team this week, and his teammates are preparing for him to start.


Having lost a 3 1/2-game division lead in four weeks, and coming off three consecutive losses, the Broncos have a chance to stop the bleeding in a home game against the Chargers, their only competition for the AFC West title. Having beaten them earlier in San Diego, a win Sunday would give the Broncos a one-game division lead and a tiebreaker that would effectively make it a two-game lead.

A loss, on the other hand, would put the Broncos on an unhappy, familiar trajectory — the hot start followed by the late collapse. The way the Chargers are playing, if they pass the Broncos now, they might never look back.


So Simms will have to do more than be mildly competent in his first start since nearly bleeding to death, which might otherwise be a triumph all by itself. He has to keep up with San Diego's Philip Rivers, one of the best quarterbacks in the game, or take the loss that dumps the Broncos out of first place.

"If you saw me a month and a half after my surgery, I was still hunched over," Simms told me last summer. "So much scar tissue and things were pulled in so tight, I couldn't even stand up straight."

What threatened Simms' life on Sept. 24, 2006, was a ruptured spleen and internal bleeding that went undetected for too long. But what threatened his career afterward were the effects of the surgery itself — cutting open his stomach and then pulling the flaps tight to sew him back up.

As he healed, he found he could no longer throw. Nothing worked as it had. It took him more than two years, and stops at a variety of doctors and physical therapists, to break down the scar tissue and restore his arm strength. The light didn't go on until the Broncos' second offseason minicamp. I asked him in August if he was the same player after all that.

"Physically, I'm the same," he said. "I've got a really strong arm. I'm pretty athletic; I'm not going to say I'm Michael Vick or anything like that, but I can move around in the pocket and make plays like that. And I'm not saying I'm the smartest guy in the world, but I'm pretty intelligent and got a pretty good hold of the offense."

Simms' numbers in relief of Orton last week were terrible, but getting thrown into NFL game speed cold after three years away would make a lot of people look rusty. This week, he's gotten the starter's practice time for the first time this season. "He's had a good week of practice," McDaniels said before Friday's workout.

Being left-handed carries its own complications for Simms. Right tackle Tyler Polumbus becomes the blind-side protection. The Broncos are happy with Polumbus' work filling in for the injured Ryan Harris, but he's not exactly the security blanket Ryan Clady provides on Orton's back side.

In fact, offensive line coach Rick Dennison, in his 15th year on the coaching staff, can't remember ever preparing a game plan for a left-handed quarterback.

"If there is one, it'd be embarrassing if the guy came out and said, 'You can't remember me,' " Dennison said Friday. "Right now, I can't."


Everyone associated with the team says it's no big deal, of course, but don't be surprised if Daniel Graham or some other tight end is attached to Polumbus at the hip for most of the day. The Chargers' outside linebackers, Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips, have nine sacks between them over the past four games.

"It switches now," Graham said. "You always had the left tackle to protect the right- handed quarterback. But now with a left- handed quarterback in there, it's important for the right tackle to really hold up his part."

The unfortunate historical fact is that since 1984, the Broncos are 14-20 when they start a backup quarterback, a .412 winning percentage. Over the same period, they are 229-135 behind their starter, a .629 percentage.

Still, deploying a hobbled Orton as a stationary target against a team with 17 sacks in four games carries the potential for disaster. So, for better or worse, Simms will likely get his first NFL start in three years in a game the Broncos must have to stop a free fall.

Welcome back, Chris.

Dave Krieger: 303-954-5297 or or