Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Broncos Sign DT Kyle Peko, Make Three Other Roster Moves Ahead of Week 15
The injury bug is no respecter of persons. It can strike any team at any time. And when you get 15 weeks into an NFL season, that's when the bug tends to be the most virulent.
Such is the case for the Denver Broncos, who have a season-high 18 players on the injury report heading into Week 15's road bout with the Kansas City Chiefs. Injuries have struck most acutely on both lines — defensive and offensive.
With the likes of Derek Wolfe one week removed from being placed on season-ending injured reserve, the last thing the Broncos needed was for the D-line to take another hit. Chalk it up to Murphy's Law perhaps but the Broncos have been most unlucky.
D-linemen Adam Gotsis (knee) and DeMarcus Walker (ankle) have been ruled out of Sunday's action, with the rookie Dre'Mont Jones listed as questionable with an ankle. To accommodate the demands of playing on Sunday, the Broncos announced on Saturday that DL Kyle Peko has been signed to the 53-man roster, along with rookie DL Deyon Sizer being promoted from the practice squad to the active roster.
The corresponding roster moves saw the Broncos place rookie WR Juwann Winfree on IR, while the team waived fellow rookie OLB Ahmad Gooden. The team will likely hope Gooden slips through waivers so he can be re-signed to the practice squad.
Thus ends the rookie campaign of Winfree, though, who has been mostly a healthy scratch all season long. If you're a backup wide receiver and you don't make it a point to specialize in the third phase, you're going to be rendered a spectator on gamedays more often than not, and such was the case for Winfree. Fred Brown showed more of a carpe diem propensity for special teams, and thus, he's been that last wideout on the depth chart the team has kept active on gamedays.
As for Peko, he returns to the Broncos after having originally signed in Denver as a college free agent out of Oregon State back in 2016. Peko spent two seasons and three training camps with the Broncos, hopping back and forth between the practice squad and active roster.
The Broncos waived him on the doorstep of the 2018 regular-season opener, and he's since spent time with the Buffalo Bills and Indianapolis Colts. He's appeared in 11 NFL games (12 tackles, 7 solo) with the Broncos and Bills.
Kyle is the younger cousin of former Broncos DL Domata Peko. As for Sizer, he's spent the entire regular season on the Broncos' practice squad, after signing with the club as a college free agent out of Colorado State-Pueblo. In three preseason appearances, he totaled four tackles (two solo).
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