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Shane Ray heads to injured reserve temporarily

By Sayre Bedinger

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 1: Outside linebacker Shane Ray #56 of the Denver Broncos and outside linebacker Von Miller #58 celebrate a strip fumble in the fourth quarter of the game against the Oakland Raiders at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 1, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - JANUARY 1: Outside linebacker Shane Ray #56 of the Denver Broncos and outside linebacker Von Miller #58 celebrate a strip fumble in the fourth quarter of the game against the Oakland Raiders at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 1, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) /
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Denver Broncos outside linebacker Shane Ray is temporarily heading to injured reserve to save the team a roster spot for awhile…

When the Denver Broncos open the 2017 season, they will do so without a key piece of their defensive front. Outside linebacker Shane Ray will miss the start of the 2017 season and be placed on injured reserve, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

This is a slightly surprising move considering Ray was expected to miss just a couple weeks of regular season play before he was ready to come back, but the Broncos obviously want to make sure he’s 100 percent.

After all, with a wrist injury, it’s tough to do much of anything as a player in the trenches, especially a pass rusher like Ray.

After cuts have been made initially, this news leaves the Broncos with Von Miller, Shaquil Barrett, and Kasim Edebali at the outside linebacker position as veteran players, along with rookie DeMarcus Walker.

The speculation that Ray could miss half a season seems alarming, but Schefter’s report has been corroborated:

That’s a pretty big blow to the Denver Broncos’ defense, but they have players who can step up in Ray’s absence. Even so, Ray was supposed to be a breakout player for the Broncos this year, and not having him until late-October or early November is a huge let down.

There’s always the possibility that the Broncos could bring Ray off injured reserve sooner than that, but this is certainly not the type of roster move you want to see when the Broncos are trying to get down to 53 players.

Ray had eight sacks last season in rotation with Miller, Barrett, and DeMarcus Ware. He was having a phenomenal offseason prior to his injury, and hopefully he comes back from it stronger than ever.

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