Fangio doesn’t believe any more Denver players will be traded
With the NFL trade deadline looming Tuesday, coach Vic Fangio believes the Broncos won’t make any more deals.
“I haven’t heard of anything imminent or being discussed,” he said Monday afternoon.
After trading receiver Emmanuel Sanders to the San Francisco 49ers last week, cornerback Chris Harris and defensive end Derek Wolfe have continued to be mentioned in trade speculation. The players are the two highest-paid Broncos besides linebacker Von Miller, and both will be unrestricted free agents after the season.
After Sunday’s loss in Indianapolis, Harris acknowledged the toughness of tuning out trade rumors and said he wanted to finish out his season in Denver. Meanwhile, Wolfe said he wanted to “retire a Bronco”.
Tuesday’s trade deadline is 2 p.m.
updates. Fangio said right tackle Ja’Wuan James, who left the Colts game with a left knee injury, might miss Sunday’s home game against Cleveland.
“He (aggravated) the injury,” Fangio said. “I don’t know what his status will be for this week yet, but I don’t think it will be as serious as the first one was.”
James originally sprained his left knee in the first half of Week 1, and went down again in Indianapolis on Denver’s 22nd offensive snap of the game. He’s played 32 snaps this season after signing a four-year, $51 million contract in the offseason.
Fangio also said tight end Jeff Heuerman, who exited the Colts game with a knee injury on the same drive that James got injured, could miss the Browns game as well. Heuerman, who left Lucas Oil Stadium on crutches, had an MRI on Monday.
And Fangio said rookie left guard Dalton Risner, who had a walking boot on post-game in Indianapolis, has a tweaked ankle but is “fine”.
Denver’s problems on third down have been well documented, especially over the past four games. The Broncos are 8 of 50 (16%) on third-down conversions in that time frame, and rank 30th in the NFL overall this year (28.2%).
Fangio said the offense’s ineptitude on third down is not rooted in one particular shortcoming.
“We haven’t had problems on third down because of thirdand-longs; we’ve had problems on third down in all third downs,” Fangio said. “We need to convert some of those.”
While quarterback Drew Lock (thumb) will resume practice as he competes with Brett Rypien for the backup quarterback job behind new starter Brandon Allen ( Joe Flacco is out with a herniated disc), Fangio said neither running back Theo Riddick nor tight end Jake Butt will practice this week.
Riddick (shoulder) and Butt (knee) were placed on injured reserve Sept. 2, the same day as Lock. Riddick got hurt in his Denver preseason debut against Seattle on Aug. 11. Butt had clean-up surgery on his left knee earlier in the season, another setback in his recovery from a third ACL tear.