ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — As the Broncos begin their week of preparation for a crucial game against the Bengals in Week 15, inside linebacker Kenny Young's status will be up in the air as he works his way through the concussion protocol.
Young left Sunday's win over the Lions early after suffering the concussion. He will have to clear the protocol before being able to return to practice or a game.
Defensive end Dre'Mont Jones' status is also yet to be determined after suffering a foot injury during the game, Head Coach Vic Fangio said Monday. On Sunday night, Fangio said Head Athletic Trainer Vince Garcia told him that he expects Jones will be OK. As of late Monday morning with Fangio met the media, he had not received an update on Jones' condition.
Fangio also provided an update on the status of Bryce Callahan, who was active for Sunday's game after returning from injured reserve. Callahan, though, did not play in the game.
Fangio explained Monday that the team activated Callahan and Michael Ojemudia on Saturday before the game as a precaution in case the team had any more positive COVID-19 tests.
"With the COVID stuff floating out there, you can't bring a guy up on Sunday if you have guys test [positive] — and this was the same thing for Ojemudia — if they're on IR," Fangio said. "Anybody on practice squad can come up on a Sunday. But to get Ojemudia or Bryce up on a Sunday, we needed to add them on Saturday to the active roster. So that was part of the thinking."
While the move to withhold Callahan from game action was a cautious approach, Fangio said Callahan is ready to play but they wanted to give him another week of practice before inserting him back into the lineup.
"Bryce was ready to play, able to play," Fangio said. "We had hoped to give him another week of practice before we did play him, and that's why we didn't put him in, even at the end of the game there where we made a lot of subs."
Prior to Sunday's game, the Broncos also added three players — outside linebacker Malik Reed, safety P.J. Locke and running back Mike Boone — to their Reserve/COVID-19 list. Fangio said that each player is experiencing "some symptoms to some degree" and that they will have to post two consecutive negative tests or wait 10 days before being able to return.
With the recent additions to the Reserve/COVID-19 list, Fangio detailed some of the team's recent precautionary measures intended to limit potential spread of the disease but noted that they may have to implement additional protocols.
"The offense is meeting over in the indoor so they can be spread out," Fangio said. "The defense is over here but they're in the big rooms where they're spread out. And we don't have to do that, but we've been doing that for a good bit right now. We'll see where it goes this next day or two. We may have to do more."
