The Denver Broncos were temporarily back on the practice field on Wednesday afternoon as the team prepares to take Thursday off for the Thanksgiving holiday. And by taking the day off, I have no idea what that means for an NFL team. I’m sure there will be time with family, but there will probably be some time spent in the film room as well with the Broncos in the midst of a playoff run.
As the Broncos hit the practice field on Wednesday, they did so with a number of key injury questions really for the first time this season. Starting defensive lineman Zach Allen — one of the team’s best players this season — missed Sunday’s win against the Raiders with a heel injury. And he was spotted on the field in Las Vegas before the game wearing a boot on his foot.
Luckily, it looks like Sean Payton wasn’t blowing smoke when he said on Monday that Allen would be good. Number 99 was spotted on the practice field on what has typically been his non-injury-related rest day every week this season…
If you look to the far right of that still captured from Cody Roark’s practice video footage, you can see Zach Allen’s #99 jersey coming into frame. That’s obviously a great sign for him to be out there, especially given the fact that Wednesday is usually a rest day for him. Because the Broncos weren’t mandated to put out an injury report for Wednesday, we don’t exactly know what Allen’s estimated designation would have been. But there was some fear after seeing him in the boot that he might land on temporary IR, and that no longer seems to be an option.
We’ll find out more as the week goes along, but perhaps there’s reason to be optimistic that Allen will play on Monday night against the Browns.
Broncos made surprise move with practice squad LB Zach Cunningham
Just a handful of weeks ago, the Denver Broncos ran out of free practice squad promotions for veteran linebacker Kwon Alexander, who made his debut against the New Orleans Saints on Thursday Night Football a handful of weeks ago for the team. After playing three straight games, Sean Payton made it sound like it was only a formality that Alexander would be joining the 53-man roster.
Fellow veteran linebacker Zach Cunningham apparently said not so fast…
Cunningham has been promoted from the practice squad in each of the last two weeks for the Broncos and actually notched three tackles against the Atlanta Falcons. He is the one the Broncos are promoting to the 53-man roster instead of Alexander.
Going forward, maybe we can expect to see a little bit more of Cunningham. The Broncos clearly feel like he can help and historically speaking, he’s been solid against the run.
Broncos LB Drew Sanders is “fully cleared”; role still TBD
The Broncos cleared the way for 2023 third-round pick Drew Sanders to return to the 53-man roster this year after suffering an Achilles injury all the way back in late April. Sanders has been working his way back slowly but surely and the Broncos have been ramping him up in recent weeks.
Now, head coach Sean Payton says he’s “fully cleared” to play:
“We’ll see how the week goes. It’s always a big question. What’s the role? What’s the vision [in] the first game back, but it’s good to have him. It’s been good to have him out there. He’s been fully cleared, [and] he’s doing well. We’ll see.”
– Broncos HC Sean Payton (via team PR)
The Broncos technically had to decide about Sanders being activated (or not) by Wednesday, but my guess is still that they are planning on utilizing him sooner rather than later. Sanders can provide some juice both in the pass rush department as well as on special teams. He might not play 20 defensive snaps in his first game back, but I’ll bet he makes a cameo.
