The Broncos have enjoyed a mostly healthy training camp so far.
Still, Tuesday’s practice provided a welcome sight.
There were inside linebackers Dre Greenlaw and Alex Singleton together, in pads, getting full-team work in together.
Neither is dealing with an overly serious injury issue or anything that at the moment threatens to limit their availability when the regular season arrives.
Singleton broke his thumb on July 28 and had surgery early in training camp, costing him about a week of practice time. He didn’t play in the joint practice or game against San Francisco, but did get some work in Thursday’s joint practice against Arizona. Like most starters, he did not play in the game Saturday night.
Greenlaw, head coach Sean Payton said last week, has scar tissue lingering from an offseason quadriceps injury. He came up limping in a practice on July 31 and the Broncos decided to, in Payton’s words, be “careful” with Greenlaw’s workload. He didn’t get team work in either of Denver’s joint practices, nor has he played in either preseason game.
The more pertinent issue at this point is that the timing and nature of the injuries, combined with the offseason for each player, means they haven’t spent all that much practice time together in the middle of Denver’s defense.
Singleton spent the offseason rehabilitating from the torn ACL he sustained in Week 3 last season. Greenlaw, meanwhile, injured his quad in April and was present but not actually practicing through Denver’s offseason program.
“Overall, it’s just the scheme defensively and communication,” Payton said. “It’s probably a better question for the two of them than it is for me. Playing at home, it’s loud, so a lot of the communication gets challenged defensively, so you’re signaling.
“For both of them, being on the same page (is important), and I think when you take into consideration one of them is coming in new to this defense, there’s some variables there that need to be worked out.”
Now they’re back out there together for three padded days of practice this week, Saturday’s preseason finale at New Orleans and, all told, just less than three weeks until Denver’s season-opener against Tennessee on Sept. 7.
“All these snaps, they all factor in when they’re out on the field together,” Payton said. “We’ve got this week, we’ve got Saturday, then obviously a few days next week leading into the game.
“Then there’s going to be that growth early in the season.”
It’s also been a long time since either saw extended game action. Greenlaw played 36 total snaps over two games last year around Achilles and calf injuries, and Singleton missed Denver’s final 15 regular-season and postseason games.
Injury updates. Payton confirmed OL Nick Gargiulo tore his ACL in Saturday night’s game “and it’s a pretty significant injury,” the coach said. Gargiulo is out for the season.
Payton noted TE Nate Adkins (ankle) as an under-the-radar loss for the early part of the year.
“Nate’s one of those guys that didn’t get a lot of attention, but man he has a lot of respect in our building and around the league for the way he did a number of things,” Payton said. “It’ll be good to get him back when we do, but in the meantime we’ve got to fill that void somehow.”
Payton said the Broncos would be tracking the available “F” tight ends over the next couple of weeks.
“We think it’s important,” Payton said. “I think we’ll have it in place by the opener. I’m hopeful it’s here, but we’re paying attention each week and certainly at the 53-(man roster cutdown).”
DTs try out. The Broncos had three defensive tackles in for tryouts Tuesday in Michael Dwumfour, Devonnshaw Maxwell, Gavin Meyer and Thor Griffith, per the league’s transaction wire.
Dwumfour’s played in 13 games over the past three seasons. Meyer is an undrafted rookie who began his career at Wyoming and played the 2024 season at USC. Griffith is an undrafted rookie who originally signed with Seattle, while Maxwell went undrafted in 2023.
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