Denver Broncos: Final injury report vs. Seattle Seahawks
Taking a look at the Denver Broncos’ final injury report against the Seattle Seahawks. Things are looking really good for Denver.
The Denver Broncos are set to take on the Seattle Seahawks in their season-opener on Sunday afternoon in Denver, Colorado.
Even though it’s just the first game of the season, the Broncos are in a very rare and enviable position as far as the injury report is concerned.
The Broncos had two players who were listed as ‘limited’ on Wednesday (Sam Jones, Shane Ray), but for the remainder of the week, every player on the 53-man roster was a full participant in practice.
As Vance Joseph put it following practice on Friday, the Broncos’ injury report for week one is completely ‘clean’.
The Seattle Seahawks are not so fortunate.
Seattle had three players on the injury report who will not play in this game, including one of their star veteran linebackers, K.J. Wright.
In addition to Wright, the Seahawks will have to make due without projected starting right guard D.J. Fluker and one of their starting cornerbacks Dontae Johnson.
Johnson was listed as ‘questionable’ on the injury report, but he’s heading to injured reserve with a groin injury.
According to the Seahawks’ official depth chart, Neiko Thorpe and Justin Coleman are the Seahawks’ top backup cornerbacks.
The best news the Seahawks got all week was the news that Pro Bowl safety Earl Thomas was returning to the team. Even better news, he is being activated and is expected to start against the Broncos, according to a report.
The inclusion of Thomas in the Seahawks’ defensive plans helps ease some of the blows they’ve taken this offseason in terms of players leaving or getting cut/traded.
Predicting Inactives
Since the Broncos (or any team in the NFL) are only allowed to have 46 players on the active gameday roster, which ones might we see inactive in this one?
Kevin Hogan will undoubtedly be one, as teams rarely (if ever) carry three quarterbacks on the active roster on gamedays. The only reason to do this would be if the top player on the depth chart or the backup were battling an injury.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Broncos make Isaiah McKenzie inactive for this one, as it’s expected that he will be the backup punt returner to Pacman Jones.
The Broncos may only use eight of their nine defensive backs in this game, so don’t be surprised if rookie Isaac Yiadom is a gameday inactive.
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It’s also typical for NFL teams to only carry seven offensive linemen on gamedays, so in all likelihood, Sam Jones and Elijah Wilkinson will be inactive for this game.
For the seventh projected inactive, the Broncos will probably go with either rookie Keishawn Bierria or Alexander Johnson — one of their backup inside linebackers.