Jake Butt’s injury progress a concern for coaches

It appears that Jake Butt’s recovery from his ACL injury is taking longer than Broncos Country anticipated. Vic Fangio did not mince words on his thoughts.

When Jake Butt was drafted by the Denver Broncos in 2017, the team knew about his torn ACL that he suffered in Michigan’s bowl game. Denver decided to shut him down his rookie year so that he can recover and rehab from the injury.

He was able to see the field for three games in 2018 before another ACL injury shut him down for the remaining 13 games of last season. Having two ACL injuries in the span of a year and a half is not easy for a player.

Vic Fangio talked to the media on Monday and discussed a bit about Jake Butt’s unfortunate recovery situation. Safe to say that Fangio did not mince words on his thoughts about it.

“You get concerned. Jake keeps having these little potholes. He starts feeling good, moves a little, does something, and then it doesn’t feel so good. All things that we’re lead to believe that are to be expected. The important thing is to keep his spirits up and see where it develops and where it goes. It’s unpredictable.”

It is very warming to see a coach say those kind of things about a player that is clearly frustrated about his progression. In the pilot episode of IN-COM-PLETE!!!, Kelly gives her perspective on what Jake Butt’s mindset could be at this point.

“Not everyone comes back from injuries, especially knee injuries (ACL and MCL). Sometimes, torn ACL’s are the end of your career I’m sure that he is sitting there frustrated and upset and wondering why Emmanuel [Sanders] is out there playing 7-on-7’s and it has been almost a year and he still can’t get out and run around.” 

It is very disheartening that Jake Butt continues to run into issues early on in his football career. Broncos Country is hoping for the best in his recovery.

The biggest question is what happens if this recovery continues into the late stages of the preseason? What happens if the recovery takes some time?

There are options that the Denver Broncos could exercise in the case we get to the end of August. One option could be to place Jake Butt on the practice squad. It would give him time to recover and give Denver another tight end waiting in the wings in case something were to happen this season.

However, the risk with that is that Denver would need to waive him first. At that point, he would be subjected to be picked up by any team before practice squad members can be selected.

Does Denver want to risk that? More than likely not. Another option is to place him on short term injured reserve. He would miss at least the first half of the season. While Denver would have to wait a little bit longer, it would assure that he stays with the team.

But that would also mean the Broncos would have to make a tough choice on another roster spot. There could be a player who performed well, but would then miss out to make room for Jake Butt. But what Denver could do is have Butt on the final 53, then place him on short term injured reserve and bring the player back.

There are a lot of options that the team could go. However, it is still July until Thursday. So, there is plenty of time. My only hope is that Jake Butt recovers and is able to play in a preseason game or two before final roster cuts.