Emmanuel Sanders sounds like he's playing on Monday night vs. Niners
It's not easy coming off an Achilles tear and a 'tightrope' ankle surgery at 32 years old. But that's exactly what Denver Broncos' WR Emmanuel Sanders has been working towards.
With the San Francisco 49ers in town to do battle with the Broncos on Monday Night Football, we weren't sure whether Sanders would finally get some live-bullet action in-game.
However, based on a tweet from Sanders on Monday, it sounds as if the two-time Pro Bowler plans on seeing some snaps this time.
Glory to God.. I made it thru my storm and test now tonight I take the field with my teammates again. I’m back stronger and better. Thank you @uchealth for doing such an amazing job on my surgeries. You guys are the best in the world in my opinion.
Sanders is champing at the bit. The Broncos took it slow with Sanders throughout the offseason and the beginning of training camp. But he's now been unleashed as a mostly full participant in 11-on-11 team drills.
The training wheels are off.
It's a surprisingly quick recovery for a player of Sanders' age. It should be encouraging to Broncos fans to see Sanders out there on the field with Joe Flacco and the first-team offense on Monday night.
As good as some of the Broncos' young receiving weapons are, the offense simply doesn't look right without Sanders on the field. The final four games of the 2018 season were proof enough of that.
Sanders is in a contract year, set to make $10.15M in 2019. At his age, it's hard to project what type of performance, and thus what type of market, there will be for Sanders in free agency next year.
The Broncos have drafted accordingly, in terms of preparing for the future loss of Sanders. Denver has drafted three wide receivers in the last two years and also has an up-and-coming second-year player in Tim Patrick poised to take another step in his development.
Flacco has never been a 'Star Wars' numbers type of QB. But he's always managed to feed his No. 1 wideout — vets in the past like Steve Smith, Derek Mason, Anquan Boldin and Mike Wallace.
There's no reason to think that trend won't continue with Sanders. The two veterans will get 2019 to forge that chemistry and generate production on the field as a kind of audition a little more long-term for the Broncos.
Based on what head coach Vic Fangio said over the weekend, we can expect to get a longer look at the Broncos' starters than we have thus far in August.
“They’re going to play more than they have been," Fangio said on Saturday. "How much? We’ll see.”
Broncos vs. Niners kicks off at 6 pm MDT on ESPN's Monday Night Football.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.
