Broncos injury update: Quinn Meinerz ruled out with hamstring issue

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Hamstring injuries continue to dog the Denver Broncos.

Of the five players ruled out for Sunday’s game in Las Vegas, four have hamstring issues. That includes right guard Quinn Meinerz, who was active last Sunday, but found himself downgraded to out after missing practice Friday.

Meinerz saw limited practice work Wednesday and Thursday. He hasn’t played since injuring his hamstring in the first half at Seattle in Week 1.

The other players ruled out because of hamstring issues are WR Tyrie Cleveland, edge rusher Jonathon Cooper and CB Darius Phillips. Cleveland and Cooper suffered their hamstring injuries in practice Sept. 22. They have not practiced since. Phillips has not practiced since injuring his hamstring against Houston on Sept. 18.

Rookie TE Greg Dulcich also remains on injured reserve with his hamstring injury. Dulcich and CB Michael Ojemudia (dislocated elbow) are eligible to return to the 53-man roster next week.

“Right now, we’re hoping that they’re going to be able to practice. I think there’s a very high chance that we’ll see them out there,” Hackett said.

As for Meinerz, his recovery has been more stop-and-start in nature. This is the second consecutive week in which he saw limited work for two days of practice.

“Yeah, I think that any time you’re dealing with a hamstring, every single one is different,” Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett said. “Especially with a lineman, that’s a little bit unique compared with [other players], just the amount of running that they do.

“So, he’s working through that, and we want to be sure that we get him back the right way.”

Denver also ruled RT Billy Turner out for the game. Turner did not practice all week and has yet to play this season because of a knee issue.

DL D.J. Jones received better news. He passed through the league-mandated concussion protocol and is questionable for Sunday. He saw limited work in his return to practice Friday.

Jones is one of two Broncos listed as questionable. The other is LG Dalton Risner, but he saw his practice workload in each of the last two days. He did not practice Wednesday, moved up to limited work Thursday and saw full reps Friday. That is an indication that he should be good to go.

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With Cleveland out, the Broncos seem poised to call Kendall Hinton up from the practice squad for a third consecutive week. Hinton played in Week 2 when KJ Hamler sat out. The Broncos tapped Hinton to play last week because of Cleveland’s injury.

“Kendall’s done a great job for us,” Hackett said. “I think one of the good things for him is not just his experience, but his ability to play all three [receiver] positions. That gives us flexibility in both our two-wide receiver sets and three-wide receiver sets, so that he can move around and play all of them.”

The only complication is that the season-long limit on games a practice-squad player can play without being moved to the 53-man roster is 3. If Hinton plays Sunday, he will hit that threshold.

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