The Broncos are going to be without one of their young linebackers into the regular season.
Second-year player Drew Sanders tore his Achilles tendon about a month ago during the early part of Denver’s offseason workout program, sources confirmed Monday to The Denver Post
Sanders, a third-round draft pick in 2023, played inside linebacker after first being drafted and then during the season switched full-time to outside linebacker.
All told, Sanders played in all 17 games as a rookie, started four and finished with 24 tackles (one for loss). He ended up playing 23% of the Broncos’ defensive snaps and was a key special teams player, logging 64% of snaps on those units.
The main question regarding Sanders this offseason would have been if he’d play inside or outside going forward.
“We’re going sit down with Drew and the coaches and we’ve had those meetings,” general manager George Paton said in late February at the NFL combine. “I think he’ll probably end up on the edge, but he has the flexibility. He’s so talented. It’s hard. It’s kind of like (fourth-year linebacker) Baron Browning. … It’s a blessing and sometimes it’s a curse because he can’t get settled in at one position. Once we left Drew at outside, he finished strong and so we feel good about Drew moving forward.”
Though an Achilles injury is substantial, players aren’t missing as much time as they used to due to new surgical procedures. Broncos wide receiver Tim Patrick tore his Achilles on Aug. 1 last summer and by the end of the regular season was running hard and cutting during his workouts on the side field of Denver’s practice area. He may have returned to action had he not been placed on injured reserve before the roster cutdown, which made him ineligible for the entire season.
The timing of the injury means there is a chance Sanders returns at some point during the regular season. At minimum, though, his second professional season will be cut short by a considerable margin due to the injury.
When Patrick tore his Achilles, Dr. Kenneth Jung, an orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles told The Post that the success rate of rehab is accelerating.
“There’s newer protocols now where we’re definitely accelerating rehab,” Jung said then. “It’s somewhere between six and nine months.”
Denver drafted Utah outside linebacker Jonah Elliss in the third round last month at No. 76 overall but did not select an inside linebacker during the draft. The outside linebacker group is headed by Browning, Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper and Elliss. At inside linebacker, the Broncos have Alex Singleton, Cody Barton, Jonas Griffith (who has missed the past season-and-a-half due to foot and knee injuries) and Justin Strnad among others.
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