Every NFL team hopes to make it through the offseason without a serious injury. It’s even more frustrating when one occurs before the summer.
Unfortunately, Denver Broncos linebacker Drew Sanders suffered a torn Achilles during a workout in late April, according to 9News.com’s Mike Kils.
While Sanders’ injury is the obvious bad news, Klis reported that the second-year pro had “successful” surgery to repair the tear and is hopeful to return to the field in the “middle to late in the regular season.”
Sanders was a third-round pick of the Broncos last year after playing his college ball at Arkansas and Alabama. As a rookie, he started out at inside linebacker before transitioning to the outside.
Overall, Sanders appeared in all 17 games and made four starts, finishing the year with 24 tackles and one fumble recovery.
Sanders’ injury likely played a role in Denver selecting Utah outside linebacker Jonah Elliss in the third round of this year’s draft.
Elliss joins Baron Browning, Jonathon Cooper and Nik Bonitto as outside linebackers on the Broncos’ roster.
“The outside ‘backer group, we have three that are really talented — [Nik] Bonitto, [Baron] Browning and [Jonathon] Cooper,” Broncos GM George Paton said last month, prior to the NFL Draft. “We have a young Drew Sanders, if he stays outside. So we like the group, but you’re always looking at those type of positions. They’re hard to find. If someone falls in your lap, you’re going to take them.”