Broncos LB Jonas Griffith expected to miss 2023 season

A former 49ers UDFA whom the Broncos traded for in 2020, Griffith started eight games for the team last year. As the Broncos attempt to shake their injury-prone reputation, this week has brought a reminder of the team’s recent past.

For Griffith, this brings more of the same as well. The Indiana State alum suffered a dislocated elbow during Denver’s preseason slate last year. While he recovered in time to start the regular season, a foot injury sustained during a November practice knocked Griffith out for the rest of the year. Thursday’s setback will effectively lead to a 1 1/2-season hiatus for Griffith, and the pattern of maladies form a hurdle of sorts for a player who has been a regular since debuting for the Broncos in 2021.

Griffith played 255 defensive snaps in 2021, and although the foot injury limited him to nine games last season, the 26-year-old off-ball linebacker topped that with 336 last season. Griffith made 46 tackles in both 2021 and 2022, serving as a special teams regular as well. The Broncos tendered him as an ERFA in March. They will have the option of placing the low-end RFA tender on the Division I-FCS product next year, but this ACL injury may affect his future in Denver.

The Broncos have re-signed both their top ILBs — Josey Jewell, Alex Singleton — in consecutive offseasons. Singleton agreed to terms on a three-year, $18M deal in March. The team used a third-round pick on Arkansas’ Drew Sanders, a hybrid player who has lined up as an off-ball ‘backer and on the edge.