Broncos second-year outside linebacker Jonah Elliss will miss his second straight game Sunday when Denver hosts the New York Giants.
Elliss, 22, hasn’t practiced at all either of the past two weeks after apparently injuring his shoulder against Philadelphia earlier this month.
The 2024 third-round pick out of Utah traveled with the Broncos to London but didn’t practice at all during that week. He stretched with the team this week but was listed as not doing any practice work each of the past three days.
In his absence, rookie Que Robinson will likely be back in Denver’s outside linebacker rotation. The fourth-round rookie made his debut last week and played 19 defensive snaps.
Inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw, meanwhile, was officially listed as questionable for Sunday’s game. The Broncos will make a decision Saturday about whether they’re activating the spring free-agent addition from injured reserve or waiting another week.
Greenlaw moved from limited practice participation Wednesday and Thursday to full participation on Friday.
“It was positive,” head coach Sean Payton said. “He was able to go and move around. So yeah.”
The Broncos, then, will decide whether Greenlaw needed a ramp-up week after dealing with a quad injury and subsequent setbacks since April or if he’s ready to jump right into what defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said would be a limited role as soon as this weekend.
D.T. Ring of Fame unveiling. The Broncos will unveil the Ring of Fame pillar for late wide receiver Demaryius Thomas at 11:30 a.m. Sunday in a ceremony open to the public.
The Ring of Fame plaza is located outside the south end of Empower Field. The ceremony will feature players from Denver’s Super Bowl 50 team along with Thomas’ parents, Katina Smith and Bobby Thomas.
Payton on Friday said the team is expecting more alumni for Sunday’s game than for any known single game in team history previously.
Spotty coverage. The Broncos special teams units have struggled to cover kicks so far this season.
Denver’s allowed kick returns of 72 yards to the Jets and 71 to Tennessee in Week 1. Not only that, but safety Devon Key made perhaps a touchdown-saving tackle on Isaiah Davis last week in London.
“Earlier in the game they had double-teamed me and so I played off of that and was able to split the double team and got a piece of the returner,” said Key, who did not know in the moment that Davis might have gone the distance without his tackle. “When I saw it on film, I thought, ‘man, good thing I got a piece of him because who knows what would have happened.’
“But our guys are running around and they’re going to back me up if something did happen and it broke.”
The Broncos this week signed three-time New Orleans All-Pro J.T. Gray off Baltimore’s practice squad to help shore up their coverage issues. Special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, who coached Gray with the Saints, called him “the best coverage player that I’ve coached” in 30-plus years.
“I think we can all learn from him, him being an All-Pro and knowing that he came from Rizzi’s scheme,” Key said. “I’ve been picking his brain a little bit and seeing what he’s seen in the past that we can carry on this year.”
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