Denver Broncos: Su’a Cravens heads to IR, Isaiah McKenzie returns
The Denver Broncos placed safety Su’a Cravens on injured reserve, adding Isaiah McKenzie to the active 53-man roster. What happens next?
After Su’a Cravens missed most of training camp with a nagging knee injury, the Denver Broncos finally got a chance to see him play in the team’s final preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals.
Cravens looked fresh and played extremely well in that game, but apparently, the issues with his knee were not over and done with.
According to Mike Klis, Cravens is being placed on injured reserve.
This is a shocking development, even more so than Paxton Lynch getting waived earlier on Sunday.
There are always changes to the 53-man roster after it’s already been set, but this one makes sense with Cravens reportedly needing a procedure done on his knee.
The Broncos strategically carried him on the initial 53-man roster because now, he’s a candidate to return this season. Even though he’s a candidate to return, however, he will still miss eight weeks of the regular season, per NFL rules.
There’s no guarantee he will miss the minimum of eight games at this point, either. Very little information is known other than the fact that Cravens will miss at least eight games this season.
The Broncos have a week 10 bye this season, so Cravens could return just before that against the Houston Texans or just after against the Chargers, likely at the earliest.
To replace Cravens on the active roster, the Broncos brought back wide receiver/punt returner Isaiah McKenzie, a fifth-round pick from the 2017 NFL Draft.
McKenzie was one of the team’s toughest cuts after showing well in the preseason on punt returns. He may not be the team’s only punt returner this year, but if he can carry his success from the preseason into the regular season, he might prove to be the team’s best returner.
dark. Next. Broncos initial 53-man roster thoughts
With McKenzie back on the active roster, the Broncos now have seven of their eight 2017 NFL Draft selections on the roster in some capacity, with Carlos Henderson and Brendan Langley on the practice squad.