The Broncos are a little bit banged up at the wide receiver position. Star receiver Jaylen Waddle suffered some sort of strain, according to head coach Sean Payton, and is expected to be back in about “4 to 5 days”. Not the end of the world, but likely sidelines him into next week and for the Broncos preseason opener on Friday Night. Then, at the end of Friday’s practice, Marvin Mims Jr. suffered some sort of lower body injury. He pulled up from a route and immediately went off to the field with a trainer before going back to the locker room. No word on the extent of the injury, but he’s likely sidelined for a little bit at least.
So, with the wide receiver room looking a little thin, the team added some depth. They announced that they have signed undrafted rookie wide receiver Kyre Duplessis. The Denver Post’s Luca Evans is reporting that the team is also signing Kyrese Rowan, who spent time with the team last season.
Both players were brought in for tryouts during Friday’s practice, and Duplessis looked the best and was signed by the Broncos. However, after Mims went down with the injury, the team called Kyrese Rowan, who had already flown back home, to come back to Denver because they wanted to sign him too. He is expected to have his physical this morning and then officially sign with the team soon after.
Advertisement
Rowan was invited to the Broncos’ rookie minicamp last season after he went undrafted and then unsigned during the UDFA signing period. He impressed the Broncos coaches enough that they decided to sign him to their 90-man roster. However, he was among their final cuts, and they decided not to sign him to their practice squad at that time. His story does not end there because in October, Rowan was signed to the Broncos’ practice squad, where he stayed until December, when he was released to make room for Elijah Moore. A week later, Rowan was back on the Broncos’ practice squad. He did not receive a futures deal from the team and remained unsigned throughout the offseason. Now, with the Broncos needing some depth at the wide receiver position, Rowan is back with the team.
As for Duplessis, he is an undrafted rookie out of Coastal Carolina and Delaware who has spent time with the Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks this offseason. The 5-11, 193-pound receiver brings 4.6 speed and some return experience to the Broncos while also adding some backend depth to their wide receiver room.
Realistically, both players are camp bodies needed to get through the remaining training camp practices and their three preseason games. It looks unlikely that Jaylen Waddle and Marvin Mims will play in the opener, and beyond that is up in the air right now. It also seems unlikely that veteran Courtland Sutton will play much at all this preseason as well. So, the Broncos need to add some depth to their receiver room for the second half of these preseason games.
Both players will have an opportunity to impress the Broncos coaches and push for a spot on their practice squad, but even that seems like a long shot currently.
Read the full article here