6 Broncos offensive players coming back from injuries
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos’ revamped offense features a half-dozen key players coming back from injuries that ended their 2018 seasons prematurely. Advantage Broncos? Right guard Ronald Leary thinks so.
Like receiver Emmanuel Sanders, Leary is coming off a torn Achilles tendon.
Tight ends Troy Fumagalli (sports hernia) and Jake Butt (ACL) are also embarking on comebacks, as are Pro Bowl running back Phillip Lindsay (wrist) and new quarterback Joe Flacco , whose hip injury cost him his starting job last year in Baltimore when the Ravens turned over things to rookie Lamar Jackson.
All six players say their injuries forced them to reflect during rehab and gave them a newfound appreciation for football.
Collectively, Leary suggested that will prove a benefit as the Broncos embark on another new scheme under new offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello.
“All the guys you named coming back from injury are big parts of this offense,” Leary said Friday. “And especially when the game’s taken away from you with a significant injury, you appreciate everything more. Not saying we didn’t appreciate it already, but when it’s just like anything in life, when something’s taken away from you, you appreciate it even more.
“I think we got a lot to bring the offense, a lot of juice. We’ve got the right mentality coming into camp. I mean, all of our teammates are happy to see us coming back.”
Leary said he realized during his recovery that he has more resilience and patience than he thought, and he’s sure he’s not alone in that discovery.
“With the type of injury I had there was so much down time in the beginning where you can’t do anything,” Leary said. “You’re just sitting around. So, I started reading more, just talking to my wife more, just learning more about myself and just realizing how much I appreciate the game, how much harder I wanted to work in rehab to get back out on that field.”
Leary was cleared near the end of OTAs, but Sanders and Lindsay missed the Broncos’ entire offseason program.
Both were back on the field this week, however, when the Broncos became the first NFL team to open training camp.
“Moving around, feeling no pain, feeling good and feeling like myself,” Sanders declared. “I know a lot of people didn’t expect that, so it’s just a testament of all the hard work I put in, all the pain that I went through to be standing here.”