MIAMI — Rookie inside linebacker Drew Sanders’ time is now.
The third-round pick started on Denver’s defense against Miami as part of a unique, 2-5 alignment. He played with both Josey Jewell and Alex Singleton to start the game.
Then Jewell injured his groin in the first half and Sanders played the rest of the way next to Singleton.
The 6-foot-5, 233-pounder will have regular work if Jewell misses time with the injury. Even if he doesn’t, though, expect Sanders’ role to continue to increase.
The severity of Jewell’s injury was not immediately clear, but he wasn’t on the sideline when the Broncos began the second half.
Inactives. After safety Justin Simmons (hip) and outside linebacker Frank Clark (hip), who were ruled out on Friday due to injuries, the Broncos’ inactive list skewed young once again. The others: Safety JL Skinner, offensive lineman Alex Forsyth, defensive lineman Elijah Garcia and newly acquired outside linebacker Ronnie Perkins.
Turner-Yell starts. With Simmons out, second-year man Delarrin Turner-Yell started at safety next to Kareem Jackson.
Turner-Yell played 29 snaps last week vs. Washington before a cramping issue ended his day. He had a game-high 11 tackles against Miami, but Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa also found him and went after him several times early in the game. A miscommunication on which Turner-Yell came up and joined Pat Surtain II in coverage on practice squad receiver Robbie Chosen left Tyreek Hill wide open on a deep crosser for a 54-yard touchdown on Miami’s third offensive snap of the day.
Jackson was not about to let the fact that an inexperienced player got thrust into action against one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses get used as an excuse for the historic blowout loss.
“We hold ourselves to a standard no matter who’s out there,” Jackson said. “We all get the reps in practice, regardless of if you’re a young guy or not. We hold ourselves to the same standard from the top guy to the bottom guy.”
Costly penalties. Denver was heavily penalized over the first two weeks of the season, including several critical calls on the defense.
Sunday, it was the offense’s turn to log a couple of bad ones.
Second-year wide receiver Brandon Johnson was penalized twice on plays that took touchdowns off the board. The first was an iffy offensive pass interference call on a fade ball to Courtland Sutton. On the second, the officiating crew said he didn’t set for a full second before a snap that resulted in a touchdown to wide receiver Jerry Jeudy.
Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.
