ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – Set to face the NFL’s No. 1 speeding workforce within the Buffalo Payments on Saturday, the Denver Broncos’ protection received a lift Tuesday.
Linebacker Dre Greenlaw, who was one of many Broncos’ greatest free company acquisitions this previous offseason, returned to the observe area and is on observe to play within the divisional spherical sport at Empower Discipline at Mile Excessive.
Greenlaw, who missed eight video games this season due to accidents and one due to a suspension, had missed the final two video games of the common season with a hamstring damage.
Greenlaw left the Broncos’ Dec. 21 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars when he pulled up making an attempt to chase down Travis Etienne Jr. with simply over two minutes left within the sport. He had missed six different video games earlier this season with a thigh damage.
“It is good to have a wholesome Dre Greenlaw again within the sport,” Broncos coach Sean Payton mentioned after Tuesday’s observe, the Broncos’ first on-field work of the week.
Given the Payments led the league in speeding this season with 159.6 yards per sport, it’s a welcome return even for a Broncos protection that has been one of many league’s finest this season. Particularly because it was additionally the Payments who unceremoniously shoved the Broncos out of the playoffs this previous January with 210 yards speeding within the 31-7 wild-card win with 79 of these speeding yards coming within the first quarter alone.
James Cook dinner III, who led the league in speeding this season with 1,621 speeding yards with a 5.25 yards per carry common that was second finest within the NFL, completed Buffalo’s playoff win this previous January with 120 yards on his 23 carries.
“Clearly they whupped our butt final 12 months,” Broncos exterior linebacker Nik Bonitto mentioned.
“There have been numerous issues we felt coming away from a sport like that [such as], ‘we’re not there but [and] we have to enhance,”’ Payton mentioned. “It is the runner, it is the scheme. … We’ll need to be prepared.”
The Broncos signed Greenlaw to a three-year, $31.5 million contract final March with the hope he would add some physicality to a protection that had some problem limiting opponents’ explosive runs within the 2024 season. However he missed the offseason program with thigh accidents in addition to the Broncos’ first six video games of the season.
He was additionally suspended for a sport — the Broncos’ Oct. 26 win over the Dallas Cowboys — due to a postgame confrontation with referee Brad Allen after the Broncos’ win over the New York Giants. On the time, the NFL mentioned Greenlaw “chased after referee Brad Allen and verbally threatened him as he tried to go away the sphere.”
The Broncos completed No. 2 in run protection total this season — 91.1 speeding yards allowed per sport — and had the very best price of run stops at, or behind, the road of scrimmage this season at 30.3%.
