Broncos Linebacker Sustains Broken Leg In Win Over Falcons

The Denver Broncos had a successful debut against the Atlanta Falcons on Friday night, but unfortunately they didn’t come out of the game clean on the injury front, according to a report from Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post indicating that inside linebacker Levelle Bailey sustains a fracture in his lower leg during Denver’s 27-7 win. 

The 25-year old Bailey played a total of seven snaps in the early going, per Gabriel, and his final one of the night included a collision during an Atlanta kick return. Bailey was able to stand up at first, but he eventually needed a cart to get to the locker room for further evaluation, with his injury initially announced as an ankle issue. 

The timeline for his return wasn’t immediately clear, but it will be considerable as surgery is necessary. There’s a chance Bailey could be placed on injured reserve between now and Aug. 30, and if that happens his season will be over. 

Bailey has been first man up after starters Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad, but now the Broncos will turn their attention to Karene Reid, Red Murdock and Taurean York having made strides as well, with the last two being rookies. 

Strnad commented on their progress last week as the Broncos prepared for their trip to Atlanta. 

“I think they’re just making leaps and strides every day, you know what I mean?” Strnad said last week. “Red had a great turnover (in practice) that he forced. York has been consistently getting better each and every day. 

“When you’re talking about young guys that just got here, I think it’s important to see them grow on a day-to-day basis, take the coaching points and the stuff that we go over tonight in the meetings and apply them out here the next day.”

Gabriel added that the wild card in the situation is Jordan Turner, who might have been the favorite to become the backup if he hadn’t spent the first two weeks of camp on the non-football injury list. 

The second year player returned to camp shortly before the Broncos traveled to Atlanta, and while he didn’t play in the opener, he is ramping up toward full speed. It sounds like he could play in either the second or third preseason game, possibly both, but it would be surprising not to see the Broncos bring in additional players for workouts to create more options going forward.