The Broncos may have had the worst injury luck in the NFL this season, and the hits keep on coming. On Monday, head coach Vic Fangio announced Mike Purcell would miss the rest of the season with a Lisfranc injury to his foot.
Purcell had started every game this year for Denver as a run-stuffer, playing a little over 60 percent of the defensive snaps, so this is a big loss. Originally an undrafted free agent out of Wyoming back in 2013, Purcell originally carved out a role in San Francisco for a few years. He then didn’t appear in a regular season game between 2017-18 before bouncing back with the Broncos in 2019 and starting seven games.
With Pro Bowler Jurrell Casey out for the year and fellow defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones on injured reserve, the Broncos are suddenly very thin up front. They just signed and then quickly released defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan, and it’s possible he gets the call once again now that there’s an opening.
Denver sits at 2-4 on the year, and just can’t catch a break on the injury front. Fortunately for Purcell he just received some financial security, as the Broncos gave him a three-year, $14.8MM extension just a few weeks ago. He’s now signed through the 2023 season and has $6.8MM in guaranteed money coming his way. He should be back in plenty of time for next season.
Sad to read ‘player X out for the the year’ articles today. About 7 or so in a row.
Uh, Dre’Mont Jones played yesterday. Got a sack. Not bad for a guy on IR.