Everything we know about Jaylen Waddle’s injury on Day 5 of Denver Broncos training camp

**Henry Chisholm** (0:02)
This is the DNVR Broncos Podcast from the Xfinity Studio. No arcade today or for the foreseeable future.
I think we might have a random Wednesday appearance next week.

**Zac Stevens** (0:14)
Something like that.

**Henry Chisholm** (0:15)
So we've got Dre here to talk some ball. You haven't gotten to talk much ball. Yeah.

**Andre Simone** (0:21)
Yeah, it's been a minute. It's been a minute. Draft pod coming back this Friday morning, so we're excited for that.
And yeah, you got me excited with all these notes you have on camp.

**Henry Chisholm** (0:31)
Oh, there are a lot of notes.

**Andre Simone** (0:33)
Seems like things are happening. Real football is being played. Right. Well, practice football.

**Henry Chisholm** (0:37)
Before we get to my notes, we have to go get our friend Zac's notes. Zac Stevens is on the Xfinity Mobile calling line from Broncos Park, powered by Common Spirit. We'll use their full government name.

**Zac Stevens** (0:49)
I mean, we like Common Spirit too.

**Henry Chisholm** (0:51)
Zac, how's it going?

**Zac Stevens** (0:53)
Fellas, I'm doing great. Jaylen Waddle not doing as good for a third straight day with pads on. We have to come with injury news. Obviously, Monday, it was Luke Wattenberg. Tuesday, it was Nik Bonitto. And today, star receiver Jaylen Waddle. And this one was bizarre because with Luke and Nick, we knew right when they walked off the field, it was injury related. Not going to lie, when Jaylen Waddle walked off the field, everyone thought it was a bathroom break. And then everyone thought it was a long bathroom break. And then it got to be way too long of a bathroom break with him not returning. And that's when it turned from funny bathroom break to, no, something is wrong with Jaylen Waddle because the way he walked off the field was extremely nonchalant and casual. Could not tell that anything was wrong with him. He was carrying his helmet, no trainers with him. And so that's why it legitimately was like, I think he's okay. After practice, we find out he is not okay. But according to Sean, it's not as bad as it could be. Sean Payton, very short when talking about injuries. We know that, but he did give us two things. First, he said he's going to be fine. And then second said he was dealing with muscle tightness was exactly the words that Sean Payton used. So something happened on a drill. He came up and then just decided that's it. Got tightness, gonna go into the training room, take care of this. So we'll see if he's back out there on the field tomorrow. I would expect with a wide receiver, with his speed and how much he relies on those muscles, that he will be shelved for a couple of days. Now what we really care about with Jaylen Waddle, is he going to be good come week one? And like we've said with these other injuries that Sean Payton has classified as they'll be fine, it's really just about week one. And so I think that's what Sean Payton's referring to. I would be shocked to see Jaylen Waddle out there tomorrow.
Just like we have not seen Nik Bonitto practicing, we have not seen Luke Wattenberg practicing. I think Jaylen's probably going to be out a couple of days. We'll see if it's weeks.
But I think he will be fine come week one. And that's really all we care about. So another injury scared, not great news, but not the worst news.

**Henry Chisholm** (3:02)
Yeah, could have been worse, is what it sounds like. You know, he's probably fine, is as good of an update as you can hope for an hour after it happens.

**Andre Simone** (3:11)
The chemistry is building?

**Zac Stevens** (3:12)
Exactly.
Yeah, the chemistry was building. I mean, with Bo and Jaylen, it's been really impressive out of the gate. That is why you would like to see him back out there continuing to build that chemistry. But in the first week, I mean, that chemistry has looked about as good as it possibly can. And then another wide receiver had a very interesting thing pop up, guys. Portland Sutton had a vet rest day yesterday. Sean Payton's talked about since January, how he's going to incorporate more vet rest days. Because he doesn't really do that. He hasn't done that in the past. He's going to incorporate these guys. And court's always been in that conversation of guys that are going to have more vet rest days. So he had one yesterday. No big deal. He's out there wearing a baseball cap. You never see guys get vet rest days back to back days. You might have just seen that with Portland Sutton, or there's something else going on with Portland. Because today he was wearing a ball cap, not practicing for a second straight day. I asked Jeff Legwald, who wears free SPN and has been to 40 training camps, if he's ever seen a player get back to back rest days. And he said, no. So it's not just my 11 years of experience. It's also 40 years of Legwald's experience that he's never seen that happen. After practice, Sean was asked about it again, Portland status, and all he said was he'll be back tomorrow. So whether he's getting the extremely unprecedented back to back rest days, or he was dealing with a little something, Sean says he'll be back out there tomorrow. When we see it, we will believe it, and then all will be calm around him. But guys, for the majority of practice, the Broncos were without their two wide receivers, two starting wide receivers with Portland Sutton and Jaylen Waddle. That allowed some other guys, guys you might not expect to feast. Lil Jordan Humphrey and Michael Bandy had incredible days today. Pat Bryan, Troy Franklin, and Marvin Mims also came up with some plays. But it was guys that you did not expect filling those roles today, not necessarily for the first team offense, though.