ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Broncos safety John Lynch, who missed last week's loss at Indianapolis with a strained groin, participated in the entire practice Wednesday and declared himself ready to face the San Diego Chargers this weekend.
"Things went well. I came out here and practiced a complete practice and really felt good," Lynch said.
Asked if that meant he was confident he'd play Sunday, he smiled and said, "He's baaack!"
Lynch didn't like coach Mike Shanahan's decision to deactivate him against the Colts but said he realizes it was the smart move.
"It's the last thing you want to do. But that's what makes Mike a successful coach. He knew that would be a hard decision for me, so he made the decision himself," Lynch said. "And I didn't necessarily like it but in retrospect (it was) probably the right thing to do and I feel real good."
This was only the sixth game Lynch missed since 1996.
"Yeah, it's just a terrible feeling. You feel like your team needs you and you're letting them down. It's not something I've gone through a lot in my career and you just want to be out there. But you've got to be right and I probably wasn't all the way last week. But the rest has helped and I felt really good out here today," Lynch said.
Lynch is from San Diego and certainly doesn't want to miss playing against the Chargers or running back LaDainian Tomlinson.
"You want to measure yourself against the best and you look forward to that challenge," he said.
Lynch even felt like talking a little baseball Wednesday.
Now that his beloved Padres were knocked out by Colorado in the NL wild card tiebreaker Monday night, Lynch has switched his allegiance to the Rockies.
"Now, I will jump on that bandwagon because they are my second-favorite team. But I'm still waiting on (Matt) Holliday to touch home plate, though," he said of the slugger who scored the winning run on a contestable call in the 13th inning on Jamey Carroll's sacrifice fly off Trevor Hoffman.
"But they did have that home run that did hit the wheelchair," Lynch added of Garrett Atkins' drive that was ruled a double. "I'm not bitter though. When you win 14 of 15, I've got nothing but respect and love for those guys. I just hurt for guys like Trevor, that's tough."
Before turning his attention to the NFL, Lynch played in the Marlins' organization, but he doesn't cheer for Florida anymore.
"I guess I have a little loyalty there, but after the fire sale -- sales, plural -- you kind of lose an identity with that team," he said. "But you grow up in San Diego a Padre fan, that kind of always sticks with you.
"I am a Rockies fan, too, and from here on out, Go Rocks!"
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
