Broncos injury update: Surtain, Jeudy sit out, but Hamler returns

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Five starters did not practice as the Broncos began their on-field preparations for the San Francisco 49ers in the rain at UCHealth Training Center on Wednesday.

Those five starters included:

• RG Quinn Meinerz (hamstring)
• Edge rusher Randy Gregory (shoulder/knee)
• CB Pat Surtain (shoulder)
• WR Jerry Jeudy (sternum)
• DL D.J. Jones (ankle)

Jeudy and Surtain remain “day-to-day” with sternum and shoulder injures, respectively.

So, why do the Broncos have so many injuries so far?

“Yeah, I think a lot of them are some random, unique ones,” Hackett said. “Any time you’re dealing with injuries, I don’t think there’s necessarily anything you can do to prevent anything that happens.

“Darius (Phillips) with his hamstring and Quinn — funny thing is, Quinn, we played in the preseason and he ends up having that issue. I think anything you do, you second-guess it. You always try to see if you can do something better, and we’ll evaluate it continually and see if we can do something better in the future.”

Phillips, a reserve cornerback, injured his hamstring Sunday.

As for Gregory, his absence Wednesday was part of an overall maintenance plan. He spent the offseason recovering  from offseason rotator-cuff surgery.

“He got more plays in this last game and really did a fine job,” Hackett said. “We just want to make sure we’re being smart with him coming through that stuff, but he came out of the game good, and we just want to be sure we take care of him.”

Good news came in the presence of wide receiver KJ Hamler (knee/hip) and inside linebacker Josey Jewell (calf), both of whom practiced on a limited basis.

“We’re just going to kind of evaluate everything as we go throughout practice,” Hackett said.

Also:

• Cornerback K’Waun Williams (wrist) had a full practice workload. He played Sunday and had no apparent issues.
• Right tackle Billy Turner (knee) saw full repetitions. He continues working his way back from a knee injury that sidelined him through training camp. “We want to be sure that we continually push him, so that he’s comfortable out there,” Hackett said. “I think some of the best work that he can get is going versus some of the rushers that we have here, getting used to anchoring, getting used to setting and run blocking and all of these things Because he had such a small amount of practice [in] training camp, he was out for most of it, we just want to be sure that he’s confident both physically and mentally.”

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