Aqib Talib Denies Injuries During Press Conference Wednesday
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One day after agreeing to a 6-year, $57-million deal with $26-million guaranteed, Aqib Talib was in Denver to put his name on the dotted line and meet with the Denver media.
The interesting part of the exchange was the fact that despite the amount of admiration that was shown towards him while he was here, it sounds like he wasn't thrilled with how some things were portrayed, most notably his injury history that had seemingly included hip issues, which many thought might scare off potential suiters.
According to Talib, that wasn't the case. He clarified his real ailments, blaming the Patriots for how they were reported.
"That was in Tampa, that was the right side," said Talib when asked about whether or not the hip injury he had reportedly dealt with last year would affect him with his new team. "I haven't had a hip problem since Tampa. The Patriots have their way of reporting stuff, but I haven't had a hip problem since Tampa. The injury I had was actually a quad injury, it was reported as a hip injury, but that's how they do things."
As for the injury during the AFC Championship game he suffered after taking a shot from Wes Welker, at the time it was reported as a "rib" injury after his collision with Welker. Instead it was a leg injury that Talib said was nothing more than a bone bruise and that it's "perfectly fine" now.
"The injury in the AFC championship, it was just a deep bone bruise," said Talib. "It just swelled up a lot, but no damage, really. It was just a real deep bruise. I just had to do the ice and get my motion back and things like that.
"It's perfectly fine now. I've been back working out and it's perfectly fine."
The veteran missed three games last season and for the second straight season couldn't finish New England's appearance in an AFC Championship.
In this year's Championship match-up in Denver, Bill Belichick was furious after Welker knocked Talib out and at the time Belichick felt it was deliberate and had a huge impact on the game.
Talib told reporters Wednesday that he didn't feel Welker did it on purpose, which is in stark contrast to how Belichick interpreted it. Although after paying him $57-million, clearly Talib was choosing his words carefully.
Talib and the Broncos will face off against the Patriots when Denver visits Gillette Stadium on a date that has yet to be announced.
