McKenzie, Cracraft waived; WR Henderson reinstated
The Broncos waived receiver Isaiah McKenzie on Monday. He was released Sept. 1 but resigned to the active roster when he cleared waivers. The move leaves one open roster spot.
McKenzie was inactive for Sunday’s win over Seattle. The Broncos dressed Tim Patrick as the fifth receiver and used cornerback Adam Jones on punt returns.
The open roster spot could be used on a veteran whose salary will not be guaranteed for the season like it had if the player was on the Week 1 roster.
The Broncos reinstated receiver Carlos Henderson (onegame suspension) to the practice squad and waived receiver River Cracraft from the practice squad.
D.T. not concerned shaky start. about
Even veterans aren’t immune to firstgame butterflies. That might explain what happened to Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas on his first three snaps Sunday against Seattle: He had a dropped pass, a holding penalty and another dropped pass.
“It was like my first game again,” Thomas said. “I was so excited and happy to be back on the field. The first three plays were kind of tough.”
But a savvy veteran learns to forget.
“It happened. It’s over with,” Thomas said. “If you keep it in your head, something else tends to happen for some reason.”
Quarterback Case Keenum’s confidence in Thomas never wavered.
“I have no doubt in him,” Keenum said. “I’m going to keep slinging the ball.”
It paid off. Thomas flipped the switch in the second half and finished with six receptions for 63 yards — including a fourthquarter touchdown catch to give Denver the lead for good.
“(Keenum) put the ball in the right spot, I made a play on it and that was that,” Thomas said. “I was happy about that. I needed that one.” “Special” teams. Among the bright spots established in beating Seattle was improved Broncos specialteams play. Denver held prolific punt returner Tyler Lockett to a 3.7yard average. Kicker Brandon McManus hit field goals of 53 and 51 yards. Punter Marquette King aver aged 44.5 yards per punt.
Rookie linebackers Josey Jewell and Keishawn Bierria played every snap for all specialteams units, Broncos coach Vance Josephsaid.
“I was really pleased with how our young guys responded to playing special teams,” Joseph added. “We’re better there, because we’re younger and we’re faster and we’re a healthy young group.” Footnotes. Joseph said Monday the Broncos had no injuries to report. …According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Seattle’s Will Dissly was the first tight end in NFL history with at least 100 yards receiving and a touchdown catch in his debut. Dissly had three catches for 105 yards. … Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay had a memorable debut. With 102 combined yards (71 rushing and 31 receiving) and a touchdown, he became only the third undrafted player since 1967 to total at least 100 yards and a touchdown in his NFL debut. The others are the Giants’ Bobby Johnson (137 yards receiving, two touchdowns) in 1984 and Jacksonville’s Allen Hurns (110 yards receiving, two touchdowns) in 2014.