Broncos lose another pass catcher to hamstring injury
Oct 28, 2023, 3:45 PM
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Add Brandon Johnson to the Broncos’ list of wounded players.
The second-year wide receiver officially leaned on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. Johnson suffered the injury during Thursday’s practice and did not participate Friday.
Johnson becomes the fourth Broncos pass-catcher currently on injured reserve — and the second to land there in the last eight days. Tight end Greg Dulcich went to injured reserve on Oct. 21 due to his second hamstring injury in six weeks.
During training camp and the preseason, the Broncos also lost wide receivers Tim Patrick and Jalen Virgil to season-ending injuries.
Johnson will not be eligible to play again until the Dec. 3 game at Houston. Players moved to injured reserve must remain there for a period of four games.
WITH BRANDON JOHNSON INJURD, TRE’QUAN SMITH MOVES UP
The Broncos chose to elevate Tre’Quan Smith to the game-day roster for Sunday’s game against Kansas City in the wake of Johnson’s injury. This will be a practice-squad elevation.
Smith joined the Broncos on Oct. 3, signing a contract to join their practice squad after New Orleans released him from a stint on injured reserve. Smith landed on IR due to a sports-hernia injury suffered during training camp.
“I had the surgery in the beginning of August,” Smith said earlier this month. “I had two months to recover and heal. And as the weeks went on, by Weeks 3 and 4 I was running routes already. I was ready to go [when still on] IR. So, I’m ready to go now.”
Still, Smith’s work remained confined to practice for three weeks after that.
Smith spent five full seasons with the Saints — four of which came with Sean Payton as head coach. The fact that Payton wanted a reunion with Smith helped ease the sixth-year receiver’s transition to a new team.
“Oh, man, it feel amazing,” Smith said earlier this month. “Knowing that he left the time he left, I thought he left early. Just rekindling the opportunity to be back with him. We both know each other personally. He recruited me. He was there when I first got there, and then just being back with him, it’s a lot of the same terminology from when I first met him, so, I’m kind of used to everything by now.”
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