Clayton: The Broncos have reached a point of desperation at linebacker

The Broncos are in a desperate state at linebacker.

They have six linebackers, including three starters, on injured reserve. Von Miller has an ankle injury and is a question mark for the next game. The only encouraging thing was they got some promise out of seventh-round choice Jonathan Cooper on Thursday night.

General manager George Paton is trying to patch the problem. Over the weekend, he traded for Stephen Weatherly from Minnesota. On Monday, he traded for linebacker Kenny Young from the Los Angeles Rams.

With so much change, it’s not surprising that techniques have fallen off. Vic Fangio talked about that the other day. He talked about missed assignments.

“Not so much the assignments and lining up; it’s being where you are supposed to be and being there for different types of plays,” Fangio said. “If they run the stretch play, you’ve got to stay in your gap. If they run a boot play, you’ve got to be there for the boot. You’ve got to have good eyes and be disciplined when you play a team that’s good with a good boot game, got with the screen game and good with the play-action game. We didn’t get that done well enough.”

If Miller can’t play, it’s going to be even tougher. Fangio has to get his new linebackers up to speed fast. Four of the six linebackers who have been on the roster are rookies. The other two have only five years of combined experience.

In other words, Fangio and the Broncos face a very difficult challenge.