ENGLEWOOD – The Broncos will rule out Jared Veldheer for their game Sunday against the New York Jets and the right tackle will be week to week going forward with a bone bruise in his knee, a league source told 9News.
The Broncos have confidence Billy Turner will be able to adequately replace Veldheer, who got off to a strong start but who Pro Football Focus now ranks 53rd in pass blocking and 35th in run blocking among the league’s offensive tackles.
In two of the past three games, Turner played a little more than half in relief of Veldheer, who suffered a concussion in game 2 against the Oakland Raiders and knee injury in game 4 Monday night against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Wadman closing in on Meadowlands
The Great Broncos Punt-Off went Pfft Thursday as Marquette King missed his second consecutive practice because of a strained groin.
Colby Wadman is now one day closer to making his NFL debut as a Broncos’ punter this Sunday against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium.
King did not punt well in the Broncos last two games, both losses, and has been out this week with a strained groin. If King doesn’t practice Friday, it would almost certainly mean the Broncos would go forward with Wadman, who has never punted in an NFL preseason game, much less a regular-season game.
Wadman is on the Broncos’ practice squad so they would have to make a roster move by 2 p.m. Saturday to activate him.
“He’s obviously a young guy, but he’s got talent and he’s a smart guy,’’ said Broncos head coach Vance Joseph. “If he had to go for us, I’d be comfortable with Colby.”
Bronco Bits
Inside linebacker Todd Davis was held out of a second consecutive practice with a sore shoulder but he said he would play Sunday against the Jets. …
The Denver defense has not had a takeaway in their past three games. With the Jets’ starting a rookie quarterback in Sam Darnold, who has five interceptions in just 127 pass attempts, the Broncos will likely need a couple takeaways to earn only their second road victory in two years. ...
Broncos running back Royce Freeman is averaging 5.0 yards per carry but only 11 carries a game. Phillip Lindsay is averaging 5.9 yards a carry but only 11 carries per game. “Royce has done a super job breaking tackles after contact,'' said Broncos' offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave. "Both he and Phillip are running really well. We need to get more of them, more turns, take the training wheels off of those two young guys and let them go because they’re doing great. When I talk about that, I’m talking to myself: Take the training wheels off.”
