As expected, two Broncos headed to PUP list

It will be a little while before the Broncos can add a pair of recent draft picks to their defensive depth.

Safety Delarrin Turner-Yell and linebacker Drew Sanders will start the regular season on the physically-unable-to-perform list, which means they will not count toward the 53-player roster when it is set at the 2 p.m. MDT roster deadline Tuesday.

Turner-Yell, who suffered a torn ACL last Dec. 31 against the Los Angeles Chargers, and Sanders, who tore his Achilles during an offseason workout, did not practice throughout the summer, making them eligible for the regular-season PUP list.

In 2022, the NFL revised the PUP-list rules, reducing the minimum number of games that a player must remain there from six to four.

Turner-Yell started two games for the Broncos last year, but most of his work came on special teams. He played 71 percent of the team’s snaps in that phase last year, ranking third on the team in that category. The only two games Turner-Yell started were against the Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears while the Broncos dealt with injuries to Justin Simmons and P.J. Locke.

Sanders played in all 17 games last year, starting four. The Broncos moved him from inside linebacker to edge rusher during the season, although he finished without a sack or a QB hit in limited work. Like Turner-Yell, Sanders factors on special teams; he placed fourth on the club in special-teams snaps last season.

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