Dre

Greenlaw

Greenlaw served his one-game suspension for verbally threatening a referee after the Broncos’ Week 7 comeback win against the Giants. Greenlaw was sidelined for Week 8 as a result of his actions, but should be back and in the starting lineup next week when the Broncos visit the Texans.

Greenlaw was seen sprinting up to the official after the team’s game-winning field goal in their historic comeback victory against the Giants. A flag was immediately thrown on the field and the league levied a one-game suspension Monday after reviewing the incident. Greenlaw is likely to appeal but he is currently slated to miss the team’s Week 8 game against the Cowboys.

Greenlaw will make his season debut after suffering a quad injury in the summer. He’ll suit up for the Broncos in a matchup against a rejuvenated Giants offense led by Jaxson Dart. The Broncos declared LB Jonah Elliss, S J.T. Gray, DT Jordan Jackson, DE Sai’vion Jones, and CB Ja’Quan McMillian inactive against the Giants.

Ehlinger was released from the team before being re-signed to the practice squad back in August, and later promoted to the active roster. He is expected to be re-signed to the practice squad again shortly, though he is free to pursue employment elsewhere. The Broncos recently activated LB Dre Greenlaw (quad) from injured reserve. Ehlinger’s release was likely done to create space for him.

Greenlaw suffered a torn quad in the offseason. He avoided IR or the PUP list to start the year but landed on injured reserve after Week 2. Though his recovery is clearly taking longer than expected, the fact that he was on injured reserve for the minimum of four weeks means he should be ready to go sooner rather than later. The Broncos now have three weeks to officially activate him from injured reserve.

Greenlaw’s absence is a significant blow to a Broncos defense that has underperformed expectations through two weeks. He will now miss the next four games, at minimum, with a torn quad sustained this offseason. He aggravated the injury later in the offseason before missing the team’s first two games, and subsequently being placed on injured reserve. His Broncos debut could be pushed to the tail end of the 2025 season.

Like many 31-year-olds, Engram’s back is aching. Unfortunately for him, Engram plays professional football and is also coming off a calf injury. He was completely unable to practice this week, as was LB Dre Greenlaw (quad). At some point, Engram may regain his health and allow us to fully measure how much talent he has left in the tank, but for now, Engram can be dropped if an injured tight end like Dallas Goedert or Isaiah Likely is available.

McLaughlin has lost his spot on the game day roster to passing game specialist RB Tyler Badie. Broncos head coach Sean Payton and OC Joe Lombardi sang Badie’s praises this week, highlighting his ability to keep Bo Nix upright in pass protection. Badie also earned five targets against the Titans in Week 1. His usage reduces fantasy-scoring projections for Nos. 1 and 2 RBs, J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey. The Broncos also declared LB Dre Greenlaw (quad), DL Sai’vion Jones, OLB Que Robinson, TE Nate Adkins, OT Frank Crum and QB Sam Ehlinger inactive for Week 2 against the Colts.

He did finally get in a limited practice session on Friday, but it wasn’t enough to sway the coaching staff. Greenlaw should have a better chance of suiting up in Week 3 given the practice session. It’s probably too soon to call him “close” to returning, but the odds are slowly going up.

Greenlaw is dealing with a quad issue that has lingered from the summer. The 28-year-old is no stranger to leg injuries, having suffered an Achilles rupture in the Super Bowl back in February 2024. He has yet to practice this season, indicating he is not close to returning for Week 2. Also sidelined on Wednesday was DE John Franklin-Myers (knee). Franklin-Myers did play in Week 1 but now begins Week 2 by missing the first practice of the week.