Broncos OL Nick Gargiulo Carted Off With Severe Leg Injury vs. Cardinals

Deep into the third quarter of the Denver Broncos' preseason tilt vs. the Arizona Cardinals, interior offensive lineman Nick Gargiulo went down in obvious agony. The second-year offensive lineman was carted off the field in obvious pain.

It appears to be a severe lower-leg injury for Gargiulo. We'll find out what the prognosis is, but it doesn't look good at all.

It's always a tragedy when a player goes down in the preseason with a season-ending injury, and while we don't yet know if that's the case for Gargiulo, it's even more bitterly disappointing when he's got some momentum established. Gargiulo has been the Broncos' best backup interior offensive lineman since training camp opened at the end of July, and has genuinely built up a head of steam.

The former Yale man turned South Carolina product was drafted by the Broncos in the seventh round last year. Gargiulo competed hard in training camp as a rookie, and while he was initially waived at the Broncos' final roster cuts, he was re-signed to the practice squad immediately where he remained for the season.

In January, Gargiulo signed a futures contract with the Broncos, since he didn't officially make the 53-man roster as a rookie, he wasn't playing on his draft-pick contract. What modicum of security a four-year contract offers a player drafted in the seventh round is a vastly superior standing than the life of a practice-squad guy/futures player.

However, it was looking like the 6-foot-5, 310-pound Gargiulo was cruising for a roster spot. Injuries are part of the game, but it always hurts to see such misfortune befall a promising young player.

Behind Gargiulo, the Broncos have center Alex Forsyth, an undrafted rookie pair in Xavier Truss and Clay Webb, and a pair of journeyman veterans in Will Sherman and Calvin Throckmorton. We'll find out soon what the specific severity of Gargiulo's injury is.

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In the meantime, the Broncos now have more questions to answer on the interior offensive line.

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