The Denver Broncos will officially kick off training camp this week with veterans reporting on Tuesday. With open practices set for Friday in front of all of Broncos Country, what does the team’s injury report look like and what might fans expect from players coming off of injury?
Denver Broncos injury report heading into training camp
Heading into training camp this week, the Denver Broncos came out of their offseason program relatively healthy on the injury side. With some players set to return from injuries from last year or some bumps and bruises from OTAs, what does the health outlook look like?
Tim Patrick’s continued return from last year’s Achilles injury in training camp is worth monitoring. The veteran wide receiver stood out and looked good during OTAs and minicamp, where he participated fully in team drills during mandatory minicamp. At this point, Patrick isn’t even a full year removed just yet from the injury and looks explosive with his cuts and route running. As practices begin this week, Sean Payton will still more than likely monitor his usage because the ultimate goal for him and some of the other players we’ll talk about revolves around getting them to the regular season.
Undrafted rookie free agent running back Blake Watson was placed on the team’s non-football injury list last week and his current injury or status is currently unknown. He can come off of the list at any time during camp and we’ll likely receive an update from Payton this week.
Rookie running back Audric Estime will hopefully make his return to the practice field after having a knee scope procedure during OTAs. The initial timeline given to us by Payton noted that the team expects him to be ready for the start of camp.
Greg Dulcich will hopefully be present and ready for the start of practice this week after having offseason foot surgery that sidelined him most of OTAs. He received a lot of work on the team’s side field during that time, and at one point during OTAs, Payton hinted that they believed he could be on the field before training camp, but that didn’t come to fruition. The third-year tight end has a lot at stake as he looks to get on the field to compete for a roster spot after injuries have plagued the beginning of his career for the past two seasons.
Broncos place several players on PUP list
Safety Caden Sterns continued his rehab and conditioning program during OTAs after having reconstructive surgery on his patellar tendon last season. He’s made good progress in his recovery, but will open up training camp on the physically unable to perform list. It’s worth noting that the Broncos could active him off of this list at any time during training camp, including after one practice.
After tearing his ACL in the Denver Broncos’ second-to-last game against the Los Angeles Chargers, safety Delarrin Turner-Yell has made great progress this offseason in his recovery from surgery. Denver’s bringing him along naturally, but he too lands on the PUP and will more than likely be ready at some point during the regular season.
Second-year linebacker Drew Sanders, who suffered a torn Achilles during the team’s offseason program, has no official timetable for return and is also on the PUP list. He did have successful surgery and has been rehabbing with Beau Lowery and the Broncos medical staff. There’s a chance he can return this season, but his official timeline is indefinite until further word from Payton.
