Steelers Opponent Suffers Major Injury

It is not even the first day of OTAs for some teams, but the Denver Broncos suffered an injury that will affect them at the start of the season. Second-year linebacker Drew Sanders is out with a torn Achilles he suffered in April before the NFL Draft. Now, Denver has played Sanders more as an edge rusher than an off-ball linebacker, but they drafted Jonah Elliss after learning that Sanders suffered a severe injury. The Pittsburgh Steelers play the Broncos in Week 2, and it is unlikely that

Sanders leaves the team with Baron Browning, Nik Bonnitto, Jonathan Cooper, and Elliss, as mentioned earlier, as the main pieces to the edge rusher rotation. It’s quite a clear rotation, but Sanders was a promising player who offered upside to take a significant leap at the position. According to Mike Klis, who first reported the news, there is optimism that the Broncos could welcome Sanders back at some point in the middle of the season, but that will likely be too late for him to be ready against the Steelers.

“While no timeline was placed on his recovery, similar injuries to other players lend hope Sanders could possibly return in the middle to late in the regular season,” Klis wrote.

That game will be charged with plenty of emotion. It is Russell Wilson’s return to Denver after two unsuccessful seasons with the team. Perhaps revenge is vital for what this matchup will be, but there will be emotions there, as Wilson will want to show Denver that he was wronged when they let him go. Sanders’ absence in that game will have a moderate impact on the edge rusher rotation, though the Broncos boast of those four players above, who all have different skills that they use.  But it’s a disappointing start to workouts for Denver, who hoped to see Sanders take a leap.