Broncos Address Whether OT Billy Turner has Suffered a Setback

The Denver Broncos opted not to re-sign Bobby Massie in free agency this past spring, the guy who started 13 games at right tackle in 2021. Instead, the Broncos brought back Calvin Anderson, and threw a little money Billy Turner and Tom Compton's way.

Anderson has been expectedly up and down as the team's right tackle, while we've yet to see either Turner or Compton suit up. Both Turner and Compton opened training camp injured and unavailable.

Fast forward to Tuesday, and Compton was officially placed on the Broncos' reserved/physically unable to perform list, guaranteeing that he'll miss the first four regular-season games as he recovers from back surgery. Turner was activated off the PUP list on the Monday following Denver's first preseason game, and then promptly disappeared from team activities due to "personal" matters.

All eyes were on UCHealth Training Center on Monday to see if Turner would suit up and practice for the first time since returning to the Broncos. When it became unclear whether that happened, it was fair to wonder whether he'd suffered a setback with the knee injury that cost him the entire offseason training program and camp.

Head coach Nathaniel Hackett, who has a strong personal friendship with Turner from the three years the two spent together in Green Bay, addressed the setback question on Tuesday, assuaging some of the fears in Broncos Country.

“He did not suffer a setback, but he will practice today," Hackett said.

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We'll have to wait until tomorrow for feedback from the team on how Turner looked at practice and how intensely he participated. As of Monday, it was too early for Hackett to promise that Turner would be Denver's Week 1 starting right tackle on September 12 in Seattle.

“I think right now, we have to first answer that question and see if he's healthy," Hackett said Monday. "So, I don't want to say anything until then. Again, just want to see where he's at. It's all about where he's at. We want to be sure we have people that can play multiple positions.”

At this stage, the right tackle situation should be a four-alarm crisis for the Broncos, especially after seeing how the group performed in the first two preseason games. Anderson has done nothing to dissuade those who believe he's best suited to left tackle, while Cam Fleming has been lackluster.

The Broncos have failed to get the ground game going this summer, averaging 1.8 and 1.9 yards per attempt as a team through the first two games, respectively. Granted, that production has come with second and third-teamers on the O-line and at running back, but after how much was made of Hackett's vaunted wide zone rushing scheme, the Broncos' failure to launch is conspicuous.

Meanwhile, Denver has a massive investment in Russell Wilson to protect and while Garett Bolles can be expected to protect his blind side with competency, the right tackle slot remains a big fat question mark. Turner was supposed to punctuate it with a period, if not an exclamation point.

The Broncos hedged by also signing Compton, but both unrestricted free-agent tackles the team signed this past spring were injured. It makes you wonder how much GM George Paton knew about Turner and Compton's respective health status at the time. But considering that both are making around $2.25 million this year, perhaps the Broncos didn't delve too deeply into these tackles' health jackets.

For now, Hackett and company are consoling themselves with the promise that when the Broncos get to the stretch run, they'll be dang glad that Compton was signed in the offseason.

“He’s continually working through his back," Hackett said of Compton. "It’s another guy that we're so lucky that we're going to be able to have him later on in the season. He brings so much veteran presence and he's great in the meeting rooms with all those guys, so we just have to be sure we get him back the right way.”

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.

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