Report: Drew Sanders opts for surgery on foot

Inside linebacker Drew Sanders will undergo surgery to repair the foot injury he suffered in practice on July 26.

Aug 3, 2025, 2:31 PM Updated: 2:36 pm

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Broncos linebacker Drew Sanders elected to undergo surgery to repair the foot injury he suffered in Denver Broncos training camp practice on July 26, according to a report from KUSA-Ch. 9’s Mike Klis.

Sanders suffered the injury to his during a drill in the Broncos’ second full training-camp practice. He was carted off the field after being unable to put weight on his right foot.

Subsequent examinations revealed ligament damage, which, while significant, was not as bad as the tendon damage originally feared when reports of the injury originally broke one week ago.

Broncos coach Sean Payton said last Monday that the recovery time was expected to be “north of four to six weeks.” Were it to be on the latter end of that time scale, that would take the timetable for Sanders’ rehabilitation from the injury into the regular season.

The team is currently dealing with shorter-term injuries to fellow linebackers Dre Greenlaw and Alex Singleton, although the latter returned to individual work at Saturday’s practice.

BRONCOS CAN PLACE SANDERS ON INJURED RESERVE AND HAVE HIM AVAILABLE WITHOUT COUNTING HIM TOWARDS INITIAL 53-PLAYER ROSTER

This is because the NFL changed its bylaws regarding injured reserve this year.

In previous years, any player placed injured reserve with the designation to return had to be on the 53-player roster for a day after the roster deadline before being moved to IR. Now, teams can place up to two players on the recallable IR list at the roster deadline without them counting towards the 53-player limit.

Thus, the Broncos would be able to place Sanders on injured reserve at the start of the regular season, maintain his availability for the campaign to come, and preserve a roster spot that appears to be precious as they face some difficult decisions in the coming weeks.