ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) - Tim Tebow's battered ribs are casting doubt and raising concerns in Denver.
Is the rookie quarterback going to make his home debut with the Broncos on Saturday night after missing two practices this week?
More importantly, will the former Florida star have to alter his physical style of play now that he's in the bigger, badder NFL?
Coach Josh McDaniels isn't saying whether Tebow is in or out when the Detroit Lions visit Invesco Field, but he is adamant that Tebow doesn't have to abandon his reckless abandon.
Tebow was known for running the football at Florida, where he won two national titles and a Heisman Trophy, and he never really had to slide or go out of bounds much in college, where at 6-foot-3 and 245 pounds, he was bigger and stronger than many of his pursuers.
However, he's still adjusting to the faster pro game and he absorbed some vicious hits in his debut Sunday night at Cincinnati, where he was welcomed to the league by safety Jeromy Miles on a blitz he never saw coming even though it wasn't on his blind side.
Tebow evidently suffered bruised ribs on the game's final play when Bengals linebacker Abdul Hodge blasted him on his left side as he scrambled into the end zone for a 7-yard TD and bowled over Kyries Hebert, leaving the safety woozy.
After the game, which Cincinnati won 33-24, Tebow sported a large, nasty red scrape across the lower left side of his back.