The Denver Broncos were a bad football team last season, finishing with only five wins as compared to 12 losses.
The team's head coach, Nathaniel Hackett, was historically bad and Russell Wilson had what was easily the worst season of his career. But the team also had many key injuries that impacted the season in a very negative way.
Javonte Williams and Garett Bolles were lost early on to season-ending injuries and Tim Patrick went down with a torn ACL before the season even started. That is three key offensive players and that is difficult for any team to overcome, particularly one with a rookie head coach.
Though training camp is still fresh and preseason games are yet to start, it does seem like the team is still following this terrible trend.
Patrick went down in practice on Monday and was carted off the field. Later, it was revealed that he had torn his Achilles and now not only is his 2023 season over, but his football future is very much in doubt.
In addition, the team has been hit with an indefinite suspension for second-year defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike. In addition, former second-round pick K.J. Hamler was waived after a heart ailment was detected.
Though camp has only been open for about a week, the Broncos seem to be going in the wrong direction and now, one of this year's draft picks, is going to miss some time.
Third-round pick Riley Moss had surgery to repair a core muscle and will reportedly miss about a month. That puts his status for the season opener in jeopardy but as a rookie, missing all of that time puts much more than just the start of the season in question. How far behind will he be?
This explains why the team signed veteran cornerback Fabian Moreau earlier this week.
For the Broncos, losing players is not something this team can afford. For a team looking to end a long slump and get back into contention, players are going to have to be available.
Injuries are going to happen in football but the Broncos have had a bad rash of this and a player being careless and ending up suspended doesn't help matters. If you look at the Kansas City Chiefs, for example, they don't go through these kinds of things.
The loss of Moss is what that is going to impact the secondary and it puts him way behind in his development. Expectations for him this season can likely be lowered, perhaps drastically.
The Broncos are going to need to get much luckier in the injury department. In a loaded AFC, they will end buried in losses if injuries continue to pile up.