Emmanuel Sanders begins cutting and changing direction
Denver Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders is coming along nicely from his Achilles injury last December, running and cutting on the practice field.
The Denver Broncos put a $1.5 million vote of confidence in Emmanuel Sanders’ recovery when they picked up his team contract option this offseason, and Sanders is repaying them by recovering at a very pleasing pace.
Sanders has been very open about his recovery process and has shown the fans one video after another on social media of his progress, including some dog days in the training room as well as some mountaintop moments where he’s running and recently, Sanders was sprinting on the Broncos’ practice field.
Even more recently, he’s started changing directions and making cuts. He’s not quite doing this at full speed yet, but this is a very encouraging sign for the veteran receiver.
Good to see Broncos WR Emmanuel Sanders beyond running in a straight line. Ruptured his Achilles in early December. If you know him, he’s not a player to bet against. pic.twitter.com/CObAQa4Uz7
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) May 13, 2019
Sanders is such a huge piece of the Broncos’ offense. He’s a crafty veteran receiver, and he’s still got the ability to turn on the jets.
Unfortunately, Sanders has suffered some devastating injuries the past couple of seasons.
In 2017, he was plagued by a nagging ankle injury, though he tried to play through the pain. In 2018, Sanders obviously suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in practice.
Despite the injuries, the Broncos have big expectations for Sanders in Rich Scangarello’s offense. They could have saved a lot of money on the salary cap this offseason by trading him or releasing him, but he will be a key piece for Joe Flacco in the passing game, not just vertically, but on every down.
There’s no definitive timetable for Sanders’ official return to the practice field, but a safe bet is mid-July when the Broncos open training camp.
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Sanders will be one of the key veteran leaders for the Broncos’ offense moving forward, though it may just be for this year. We’ll see what happens for him this season, but if he can prove he hasn’t changed after this kind of serious injury as a player, he will be in line for a nice contract next offseason from the Broncos or some other team.