ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos’ wait for Dre Greenlaw to make his regular-season debut appears to be nearing its end.
The veteran inside linebacker practiced Wednesday as the team began its on-field preparations for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants. It marked his first on-field work since two days prior to the Week 2 game at Indianapolis, when he saw limited work.
Prior to that limited participation Sept. 12, Greenlaw’s last on-field participation came on Labor Day. Two days later, he did not practice due to the lingering quadriceps injury, which ended up sidelining him for the first two games of the regular season before Sean Payton finally opted to place him on injured reserve on Sept. 20.
“This will take a little pressure off,” Payton said then. “We could have done it earlier … We felt like the last thing we wanted to do is have him come out too early and re-injure it.
“… In hindsight, we could have done it sooner. But at that time, the information was ‘Hey, this is four weeks away and it’s a bit longer.'”
In Greenlaw’s absence, the Broncos have used Justin Strnad at inside linebacker alongside team captain Alex Singleton. Third-year veteran Drew Sanders has been unavailable due to a foot injury suffered on the second day of training camp.
So far, Greenlaw’s time with the Broncos has been defined by quadriceps issues. He first suffered a quad strain during a workout in April, costing him offseason work.
He returned for training camp, but then pulled up while covering running back J.K. Dobbins during a one-on-one drill on July 31, sending him to the sideline for two weeks. He returned later in training camp and appeared to be on track for a return, practicing regularly until Labor Day.
But after Sept. 1, he would practice just once until Wednesday.
BRONCOS BEYOND GREENLAW: COOPER ON SIDE FIELD
Edge rusher Jonathon Cooper was with teammates for stretching when practice began, but moved to the side field shortly after on-field work commenced. He was listed as limited.
Earlier Wednesday, Cooper received AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors after notching two sacks in last Sunday’s 13-11 win over the New York Jets.
Cooper has 4.5 sacks and seven quarterback hits so far this season, placing him second and third on the team in those respective categories. His four tackles for losses are also second on the Broncos roster, trailing only fellow edge rusher Nik Bonitto.
Edge rusher Jonah Elliss, who did not play last Sunday, also did not practice.
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