Report: Broncos LB Undergoes Surgery for Multi-Week Injury

Denver Broncos inside linebacker Drew Sanders underwent "successful" surgery this week to repair the foot injury he suffered at the beginning of training camp, 9NEWS' Mike Klis reported Sunday.

Sanders was carted off the practice field on July 26 with what Broncos head coach Sean Payton described as an injury to the ligament in his foot. Payton estimated the third-year defender would miss "north of four to six weeks" as a result.

"The news for us was good news in that it’s a ligament in his foot, and it’s not a tendon," Payton told reporters on July 28. "What does that mean? It’s going to certainly be north of four to six weeks, but the tendon was what we were concerned about. I’m not going to try to spell it, but the ligament repair is a much easier one than that of a tendon. So we were all pretty happy with that. I’ll update you when we get a timeline. There have been some cases where there’s surgery, some where there’s not. I think he’s doing the right thing right now kind of exploring those options."

A 2023 third-round pick, Sanders played in all 17 games as a rookie for the Broncos -- waffling between outside and inside linebacker -- but was limited to just four appearances last season following an Achilles tendon injury, recording four solo tackles, one quarterback, and a sack across 84 total snaps (18 defensive).

Finally stationed at a full-time position, Sanders was settling in as the primary backup behind starting ILBs Dre Greenlaw and Alex Singleton. That distinction now belongs to former undrafted free agent Levelle Bailey, who's overtaken veteran Justin Strnad with a terrific camp thus far.

The Broncos have suffered a rash of maladies in the middle of their defense; Sanders with the foot, Singleton with a broken thumb, and Greenlaw with a lower-body issue. The latter two, however, are expected to return prior to next week's preseason debut against the San Francisco 49ers.

“I don’t think, well, and I say this respectfully… I read somewhere where it was like injury plague," Payton said on July 31. "[ILB] Alex [Singleton] is back here in six days. So I think obviously other guys step up and get those reps, but knock on wood, fortunately, we’ve been good here during this camp, but it gives us a chance to evaluate other players. And so you’re seeing [ILB Levelle] Bailey, you’re seeing the reps. [ILB Justin] Strnad obviously had a ton of work, but you do get a chance. And throughout these drills, we’re trying to rotate it enough so that we are getting the proper evaluation on these younger players, which is important. Our biggest fear would be that someone leaves here and ends up excelling somewhere else. And so we want to make sure we don’t let that happen.”