The Denver Broncos cornerback depth for this upcoming season has taken a potential hit after third-year cornerback Damarri Mathis left the game early in the first quarter on Sunday in the team’s preseason finale against the Arizona Cardinals. He’s now expected to miss the first four games of the season after being placed on short-term IR.
Denver Broncos cornerback Damarri Mathis heads to short-term IR with ankle injury
Denver Broncos cornerback Damarri Mathis left Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals in the first quarter with an ankle injury. The injury happened on Denver’s second defensive play of the game.
Mathis was down on the turf with trainers at his side, and the cart quickly came out as he was assisted onto it, unable to weight bare. He was ruled out.
The third-year cornerback has had a very strong offseason, training camp, and preseason while he was competing with Riley Moss for the starting cornerback job opposite of Patrick Surtain II. Earlier this week, Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph mentioned how important it will be for Denver to have a variety of corners this upcoming season.
“Most of the battles that we have, it’s battles where you need both guys to play well for you,” Joseph said. “It’s battles where you need both guys to play in a package, like corner. We need multiple corners, so it’s encouraging to watch all of the guys get better. Obviously during a game week, we have schemes, and we have package for all the guys to play. Most of those battles are ongoing past the weekend, and then we’ll decide who starts first, but that won’t matter at corner.”
Veteran Levi Wallace started opposite Mathis this afternoon. Rookie cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine came in for Mathis after the injury.
According to 9News’ Mike Klis, Mathis’ X-rays came back negative, and the MRI he had on Monday morning came back clean, with a diagnosis of him having a high ankle sprain. The team placed him on short-term IR on Tuesday ahead of roster cuts, meaning he’ll miss the first four games of the 2024 NFL season.