Derek Wolfe‘s neck injury will not require surgery, but he says that he will act on his doctor’s advice and sit out for the remainder of the year. Wolfe will be placed on injured reserve, opening up a spot on the roster for another player in the team’s final four games. 
“As much as I’d like to get back out there and keep playing, when a spinal doctor tells you that you can lose use of your right arm if you don’t rest and heal properly, you listen,’’ Wolfe told Mike Klis of 9NEWS. “I don’t want to lose the use of my right arm. I’m happy because he said I wouldn’t need surgery which would have meant all kinds of crazy things. But he said there’s no way you should play football the next two months.’’
The loss of Wolfe takes Denver’s best defensive end off of the field, but this final month doesn’t mean a whole lot for the 3-9 Broncos. By resting up, Wolfe will avoid the potential of a much more serious injury and, hopefully, allow himself to be ready for Week 1 of the 2018 season.
Wolfe, 28 in February, finishes out the year with two sacks and 31 total tackles. He has 24.5 sacks to his credit over six seasons and the Broncos are banking on that same kind of production for years to come. The four-year, $37.6MM contract signed by Wolfe in 2016 is scheduled to keep him in place through the 2019 campaign.