Broncos Receive Final Injury Prognosis On 3rd Round Pick

The Denver Broncos got some troubling news on Saturday when former third round pick and Linebacker, Drew Sanders, was carted off from practice.

After having his rookie season interrupted before it even started when he tore his Achilles in April 2024, the team got some provisionally good news that it was not another Achilles tear.

However, per NFL insider, Ian Rapoport, Sanders did suffer a foot injury that will keep him out for an “extended period of time”.

#Broncos LB Drew Sanders, an up-and-coming defender, suffered a tendon injury in his foot in practice that will keep him out an extended period of time, sources say post-MRI.

Sanders is not expected back before the season begins and further testing will determine what’s next. pic.twitter.com/oEobvTmdmk

 

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 27, 2025

Sean Payton Reveals Encouraging Prognosis For Drew Sanders

Many were thus wondering if that meant that the bulk of the season might be lost, with “extended” being a vague but often very much uninspiring phrase. Nonetheless, head coach, Sean Payton announced on Monday that whilst he would probably out for more than a month, the injury luckily occurred in his ligament, rather than his tendon.

“One update just on Drew, because there’s been a lot written,” Payton said on Monday’s press conference, “The news for us was good news in that it’s a ligament in his foot, and it’s not a tendon.”

“What does that mean? It’s going to be certainly north of four to six weeks, but the tendon was what we were concerned about. So, 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.”

“North of four to six weeks” unfortunately does not give Broncos fans a realistic ceiling or plausible return date for the second-year player, but it certainly implies that there is a good chance that the linebacker could well be back within the first couple of weeks of the regular season, sometime in September.

What Does Sanders’ Injury Mean For The Broncos Defense?

Even prior to his injury, Sanders was not expected to be a starter on the defense, with Dre Greenlaw and Alex Singleton – both of whom are on multi-year deals – expected to roll with the first team.

However, the former Arkansas product is a long, strong linebacker who flirted with the prospect of becoming an edge rusher at points in 2024 – similar to how fellow ex third round pick, and now-Arizona Cardinal, Baron Browning did back in 2022 with the organization – albeit under a different coaching staff.

Greenlaw has already received plaudits for his play from Payton, who compared the former San Francisco 49er to boxing legend Mike Tyson.

The Sanders situation is certainly one to monitor, particularly if more long-term injury concerns start to pop in and around the Broncos defense – which many believe could well be a top-3 unit heading into the 2025 season.