ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The gruesome details of the lower leg injury suffered Wednesday by offensive lineman Quinn Bailey have been revealed.
Sean Payton said following the Broncos’ eighth training camp practice Thursday that Bailey had a dislocated (right) ankle and a fractured fibula. He’ll undergo surgery next week to repair the ankle, while his fibula will likely be allowed to heal on its own.
The setback landed the versatile backup blocker on season-ending injured reserve. Bailey suffered the injury while blocking during a 9-on-7 run drill.
“Yesterday we took him to the hospital – they set it,’’ Payton said. “And then when I spoke with him, he was at home, he sounded a little groggy but upbeat. And very quickly he’ll be in the building here rehabbing and I think that will be good when he’s around his teammates.”
Bailey played in all 17 games for the Broncos last year as a reserve guard and tackle and the plan was for him to have the same role this year.
The Broncos replaced Bailey on the roster by signing former Colorado State guard Oliver Jervis.
Receiver competition
This is the way 9NEWS has the receiver position for the Broncos’ 53-man roster: Courtland Sutton, Josh Reynolds, Marvin Mims Jr., and fourth-round rookie Troy Franklin are assured of four spots.
That leaves eight quality players vying for the final two spots: Tim Patrick, Lil ’Jordan Humphrey, Brandon Johnson, David Sills, Phillip Dorsett, Jalen Virgil, Michael Bandy and seventh-round rookie Devaughn Vele.
What this means is a number of quality receivers aren’t going to make it come final cutdown day.
“I like the depth at receiver,’’ Payton said this week. “I’ve said that from Day 1. Like the young guys we drafted. I like the guys that we have returning. That’s going to be pretty tough competition if you guys — and you guys all do the math and look at the numbers — there’s a lot of guys out there competing for jobs, and I like the size of the position group as well.”
P.J.’s new role
P.J. Locke has been a Bronco since 2019 and in his first five seasons he deferred to Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson at the safety position, both on the field and in meetings.
Now Simmons and Jackson are gone and Locke is the starter along with the newly acquired Brandon Jones.
For Locke, the move is as simple as from the back of the room to the front.
“Those guys, Kareem and Justin, they set the standard in the room,’’ Locke said. “It was the reason we were pretty much always good on defense—since I’ve been here. My job right now is to say, ‘Hey, I’m not them first of all, but they gave me a blueprint.’
“It’s my job to go in and figure out any type of way—my own way—to uphold that standard. That’s a challenge, but at the same time I know what comes with that.”
50-50 means 100
During camp Wednesday, Reynolds made two highly contested catches — 50-50 balls, they call it — along the sidelines. On Thursday, he was brought to the press podium to talk about it.
His mindset on those so-called, 50-50 balls?
“It’s mine,’’ he said. “Any time that ball is in the air, I always want it to be mine. It gives that confidence to the quarterback to continue to want to throw it.’’
Bronco Bits
Franklin came up gimpy during an early practice route-and-catch drill. He limped over to sit down on a water bucket, had a member of the training staff tape the outside of his right ankle, and returned to the drill. Just like the old days.
Franklin later scored on an end-around. Here’s to the ankle taper! …
Rookie running back Blake Watson passed his physical and practiced Thursday for the first time. Watson had been on NFI (Non-Football Injury) with a leg muscle injury suffered during the six-week break. …
Veteran defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers missed his third consecutive practice for excused personal reasons. …
Luke Wattenberg was the No. 1 center Thursday, as he was the first five camp practices. Alex Forsyth and Sam Mustipher each had a turn at No. 1 center the previous two days.
