In hindsight, the Broncos could’ve run through the first three weeks of their season with a Mystery Player X on their 53-man roster.

At the time that Denver kicked off its 2025 season, though, the information was simple, as head coach Sean Payton recounted after Sunday’s 23-20 loss to the Chargers. Inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw was four weeks away from returning. The Broncos, clearly, thought they could get the inside linebacker back before their Week 4 clash with the Bengals on Monday Night Football.

But Greenlaw suffered a setback this week in his quad rehab. And the Broncos were forced to wave the white flag and throw Greenlaw on injured reserve.

“Listen, he’s been busting his tail,” Payton said of Greenlaw on Sunday. “This’ll take a little pressure off. We could’ve done it earlier,

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