Broncos Announce Gameday Inactives vs. Titans

A few surprises on the Denver Broncos' first inactives list of the season.

Aug 9, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Denver Broncos running back Jaleel McLaughlin (38) rushes the ball in the second quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. | David Gonzales-Imagn Images

The Denver Broncos are poised to kick off the 2025 season, with the Tennessee Titans in town. Per NFL rules, only 46 of each team's 53 rostered players can dress on gameday.

For the first time this year, let's examine the Broncos' Week 1 gameday inactives list.

Broncos Inactives

• Sam Ehlinger | QB *Emergency
• Jahleel McLaughlin | QB
• Nate Adkins | TE
• Que Robinson | OLB
• Dre Greenlaw | LB
• Frank Crum | OT
• Sai’vion Jones | DL

👀 our #TENvsDEN inactives.

📰 » https://t.co/ngkUIfacgu pic.twitter.com/06aIhdgeX6

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) September 7, 2025

Ehlinger will technically be dressed as the emergency third quarterback. Keep that in mind. Ehlinger was just promoted to the 53-man roster for, likely, this exact purpose.

Teams can dress a third emergency quarterback and still list him among the inactives, but that player has to be on the 53-man roster. He can't be on the practice squad.

What's curious here is that both McLaughlin and Robinson are inactive. McLaughlin was leapfrogged on the Broncos' running back depth chart by Tyler Badie, and the team is almost never going to dress four running backs.

Robinson is a four-core special teams player, so even though he's the No. 5 outside linebacker on the depth chart, I wonder how his absence will impact the third phase. That's likely to be a game-to-game proposition.

It's also conspicuous that Jones — the Broncos' third-round pick — is a healthy scratch. The Broncos are deep on the defensive line, but that depth was diminished this week when Malcolm Roach was placed on short-term injured reserve. The D-line could have used Jones in the rotation.

But the Broncos have a plan for the D-line, and still, plenty of horses to push around the Titans, and make life difficult for rookie quarterback Cam Ward making his first NFL start.

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Titans Inactives

• Jalyn Armour-Davis | CB
• Kevin Winston Jr. | S
• Samuel Womack III | CB
• Jackson Slater | OG
• Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson | OT
• Shy Tuttle | DT
• C.J. Ravenell | DT

Today’s Inactives #TENvsDEN pic.twitter.com/BwnFjERvzy

— Titans PR (@Titans_Comms) September 7, 2025

The Titans are a bit short at cornerback today. Also, Winston, a backup safety, won't be around for depth.

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