The Denver Broncos will be facing off for the first time this season against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 10 and hoping to break yet another winning streak for their division rivals. While the Broncos won their last matchup with the Chiefs, the Chiefs have not lost for 13 straight games dating back to late last season (including the playoffs).
If the Broncos are going to pull off the upset (they are 7.5-point underdogs), they are going to need all hands on deck. The good news on the team's final injury report on Friday afternoon is that the Denver defense is getting some reinforcements back in the form of safety PJ Locke.
Unfortunately for a couple of others, a 2024 debut will have to wait.
The Broncos have not had PJ Locke out there for a couple of games in a row as young Devon Key -- a former Chiefs UDFA pickup -- has been starting in his place. The results haven't been good, so the Broncos will be eager to get Locke back in their secondary, which will once again be at full strength as the team has also had to deal with Patrick Surtain II missing nearly two full games due to a concussion.
Another safety, however, won't be making his 2024 debut just yet. The Broncos have seen Delarrin Turner-Yell practicing in full the last couple of weeks as he works his way back from an ACL injury, but they still have some time before they have to make a determination on when to activate him off of injured reserve.
The "secret weapon" we're referring to in this article is 2023 third-round pick Drew Sanders, someone who made a tremendous impact last year on special teams and has been working his way back from an Achilles suffered back in April.
The fact that Sanders is already even close to being back in the mix is wild considering the nature of the injury he's dealing with, but the Broncos only just opened his 21-day window to practice. They have the full three weeks to decide if they are going to bring him back, and I believe we will see that at some point. But he probably needs more than one week of practice to ramp back up.
Sanders is currently on the PUP and not injured reserve, so if/when the Broncos bring him back to the field, he actually won't count toward the number of players they are allowed to activate off of injured reserve this season.
Sanders making his debut will be exciting coming on the heels of the team trading away Baron Browning. Although there was hope that Sanders could be a viable long-term solution at off-ball linebacker, the Broncos have always believed in his abilities as a "pressure player" and we'll see what he can do off the edge -- eventually.
