Broncos notes: Guard Kuper has ankle sprain

Chris Kuper has a track record of toughness. He broke his hand twice last year, once in training camp and again in the season. He played through the injury both times.

So even though Kuper, the Denver Broncos’ starting right guard, has a high ankle sprain, he shouldn’t be ruled out of Denver’s season opener Sept. 13 at Cincinnati. High ankle sprains usually take a few weeks to heal.

The Broncos are lucky the injury wasn’t worse. Kuper’s leg got caught underneath him at the end of a play and twisted awkwardly. He didn’t put much weight on his leg as he was helped off. Kuper, who was the only guard in the NFL to start every game and not give up a sack last season, was replaced by rookie Seth Olsen at right guard.
Great ratings

The drama of quarterback Jay Cutler coming back to Denver drew television viewers. NBC got its best ratings for a preseason game in five years during Sunday’s Broncos-Bears game.

The game drew a 7.3 overnight rating and 12 share. The last preseason game to draw numbers that large for the network was a Titans-Cowboys game in 2004. NBC’s broadcast more than doubled the ratings of any other show in its time slot, beating second-place CBS 7.3 to 3.4. Denver was the top market in the nation, getting a 25.9 rating and 45 share.