The Broncos\u2019 latest first-round pick has now missed both of Denver\u2019s last two practices \u2014 with a preseason game sprinkled in.<\/p>\n
Cornerback Jahdae Barron was absent from all team and individual work at Dove Valley on Tuesday, a few days after he missed Friday\u2019s practice with what Sean Payton called a \u201csoft-tissue\u201d injury. Barron, though, traveled to New Orleans and played eight snaps in the Broncos\u2019 28-19 win over the Saints on Saturday.<\/p>\n
As he competes for the starting nickel job with Ja\u2019Quan McMillian, Barron was one of five cornerbacks to make the Broncos\u2019 initial roster Tuesday, along with Pat Surtain II, Riley Moss and Kris Abrams-Draine.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think patience is a virtue, especially in this league,\u201d Surtain said Tuesday when asked about Barron playing behind McMillian. \u201cEspecially in this league \u2014 it\u2019s always next man up, so whenever your name is called, you gotta show out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he knows that,\u201d Surtain continued, a few words later. \u201cHe\u2019s a pro at what he does. So, he\u2019s going to be out there making plays for us, and it\u2019s all about him continuing to grow and get better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Empty on fullbacks: Payton said starting fullback Michael Burton will be placed on season-ending injured reserve after hamstring surgery, an injury that\u2019s nagged Burton throughout camp. Denver\u2019s alternative fullback option, Nate Adkins (ankle), meanwhile, will still be out for at least a week or two to start the year, and the Broncos cut recent signee Adam Prentice on Tuesday. That means nobody\u2019s currently healthy in an important \u201cF\u201d role in Payton\u2019s offense.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you\u2019ll begin to see it develop,\u201d Payton said cryptically when asked about the Broncos\u2019 plan at fullback.<\/p>\n
The easiest possible solution is the Broncos take Prentice to their practice squad and elevate him for the first three games of the year, similar to what they did with Burton last year. There\u2019s a couple of intriguing names floating on the waiver wire, too, such as former Kansas City hybrid back Carson Steele.<\/p>\n
Denver wants to keep their QB3:\u00a0Sam Ehlinger was Denver\u2019s 54th man, for all intents and purposes, the quarterback winding up as the Broncos\u2019 final cut Tuesday. Payton made clear, though, that the Broncos hope to re-sign Ehlinger.<\/p>\n
\u201cSam\u2019s a guy,\u201d Payton said, \u201cthat we want back.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old Ehlinger is a vested veteran, meaning he won\u2019t be subject to waivers and can thereby sign with any team he chooses.\u00a0Every NFL team will carry three quarterbacks \u2014 whether on the active roster or total with the practice squad \u2014 when the season begins, Payton said. And if Ehlinger opts to sign somewhere else, the Broncos will likely have to turn to the wire or the veteran market themselves for a practice-squad QB3.<\/p>\n
Broncos don\u2019t pick between Jordan Jackson, Eyioma Uwazurike: It\u2019s wholly unconventional for an NFL team to bring more than six guys on their defensive line into the season. Denver took six last year, and five during Payton\u2019s first year in 2023. But the Broncos have been running Jackson and Uwazurike side by side on their second-team and goal-line units throughout camp, and in a sneaky-good position battle, wound up simply taking both. That left the Broncos with seven defensive linemen Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven with the practice squad,\u201d Payton said Tuesday, \u201cwe still have to value the player over the quota.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Jackson and Uwazurike should be in line to play significant rotational snaps, assuming Denver doesn\u2019t make a trade amid continuing roster shuffle.<\/p>\n
Originally Published: August 26, 2025 at 5:53 PM MDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Broncos\u2019 latest first-round pick has now missed both of Denver\u2019s last two practices \u2014 with a preseason…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[2866,1268,232,231,258,2426,3888,7,8233,1006,1273,3894,929,926,6,3267,1514,1813,9,1276],"class_list":{"0":"post-321184","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-broncos","8":"tag-adam-prentice","9":"tag-audric-estime","10":"tag-broncos","11":"tag-denver","12":"tag-denver-broncos","13":"tag-denverbroncos","14":"tag-eyioma-uwazurike","15":"tag-football","16":"tag-jaquan-mcmillian","17":"tag-jahdae-barron","18":"tag-jaleel-mclaughlin","19":"tag-kris-abrams-draine","20":"tag-latest-headlines","21":"tag-more-broncos-news","22":"tag-nfl","23":"tag-pat-surtain-ii","24":"tag-riley-moss","25":"tag-sean-payton","26":"tag-sports","27":"tag-tyler-badie"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115099746077251549","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}