Broncos’ head coach Vance Joseph announced Monday afternoon that rookie quarterback Chad Kelly and rookie tight end Jake Butt will be placed on injured reserve, ending their seasons before either had a chance to see the playing field.
“They’re both going to go down,” Joseph explained, when asked about both players’ timeline.
Kelly, aka ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ in the 2017 NFL draft, was a always a long-shot to be added to the active roster, in part due to number of quarterbacks already there — and Joseph made mention of that. “He came back to practice last week; obviously, numbers-wise, it doesn’t make sense for our football team.”
The Broncos were hoping to see a return to the field from Butt this year — who was on the practice field and active in drills this past week — however Joseph said on Monday that the rookie tight end simply wasn’t ready after tearing his ACL in January.
“We were hoping that Jake could come back and help us at this point,” spoke Joseph. “He’s not ready yet, so we’re going to put both of those guys down.”
