The Denver Broncos will be getting some reinforcements back tonight on Thursday Night Football against the New Orleans Saints with the return of Baron Browning, Mike McGlinchey, and Damarri Mathis. How does this impact the Broncos personnel on Thursday?
Denver Broncos activate three players vs. New Orleans Saints
The Denver Broncos have officially activated outside linebacker Baron Browning, right tackle Mike McGlinchey, and cornerback Damarri Mathis for tonight’s game against the New Orleans Saints, just days after the team opened up his 21-day window to return from injured reserve. Browning initially landed there after suffering a foot injury in the Broncos’ Week 2 loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He’ll re-enter the lineup in the defense’s pass rush rotation, although it’s not certain yet if he’ll start tonight opposite of Jonathon Cooper or rotate in with rookie Jonah Elliss in the secondary rush package. In his absence, Nik Bonitto took over as the start opposite of Cooper and has had a sack in four straight games, making him the first pass rusher to do so since Von Miller.
The numbers game becomes a bit interesting for tonight because undrafted rookie free agent outside linebacker Dondrea Tillman is also part of the active roster. With Browning’s return, I imagine Tillman could become a healthy scratch for tonight’s game.
That leaves Denver’s pass rush depth against Spencer Rattler and a banged New Orleans Saints team as Jonathon Cooper, Nik Bonitto, Baron Browning, and Jonah Elliss. Cooper leads the Broncos defense with 4.5 sacks, while Bonitto has three.
Veteran right tackle Mike McGlinchey will also be back tonight since landing on injured reserve with an MCL sprain in Week 2. He’ll jump back into the starting lineup, while veteran Matt Peart serves as the likely swing backup to him and left tackle Garett Bolles.
Damarri Mathis will make his regular season debut tonight after suffering an injury in Denver’s preseason win against the Arizona Cardinals that landed him on IR. He’ll likely incorporate himself right away on special teams and could see time on defense due to injuries in the secondary.
Denver has already ruled out cornerback Patrick Surtain II (concussion) and right tackle Alex Palczewski (ankle) for tonight’s game. The Saints will be without their top two wide receivers, Rashid Shaheed (knee) and Chris Olave (concussion), tonight in primetime action.
Kickoff is slated for 6:15 p.m. MT on Amazon Prime. Stay tuned on Mile High Sports for post-game coverage and more.