Broncos Injury Report: Wes Welker Back, Lerentee McCray Out

Sep 7, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos outside linebacker Lerentee McCray (55) during the national anthem before the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Broncos are getting prepped for the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon, and with Wednesday comes the first injury report of the week headlined by wide receiver Wes Welker and linebacker Lerentee McCray.

Actually, Welker isn’t on the injury report at all which is noteworthy because he was in the NFL’s concussion protocol as of the last time he was on the Broncos’ active roster. Welker has since been medically cleared, and while the Broncos haven’t come out and said that he’s playing Sunday, that seems to be where things are heading.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case for linebacker Lerentee McCray, who suffered a knee injury on a chop block by Ryan Harris against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, and according to a report form Mike Klis of the Denver Post, McCray will miss two weeks.

McCray’s absence is pretty critical because he’s Von Miller’s primary backup. Miller suffered a groin injury against the Chiefs, and had to sit out, and then McCray got hurt, so the Broncos had to rotate Nate Irving over to the SAM linebacker spot with Steven Johnson taking over in the middle.

I guess it’s a good thing the Broncos decided to keep eight linebackers.

Also on the injury report with a big DNP next to his name is Danny Trevathan, the Broncos’ starting linebacker who’s been replaced in the lineup by Brandon Marshall. Trevathan likely won’t play until after the bye week, but I had some personal optimism that he might be coming back for the Seattle game. No reason to rush him, so the Broncos aren’t. Marshall has played well in his absence.

Here’s a look at the Broncos injury report this week for Seattle in full:

LB Danny Trevathan — DNP
LB Lerentee McCray — DNP
S David Bruton — LIM
OG Ben Garland — LIM
K Brandon McManus — LIM
S Quinton Carter — FULL
OT Ryan Clady — FULL
CB Chris Harris Jr. — FULL
LB Von Miller — FULL