Broncos Camp: Elijah Wilkinson Pops Up on Injury Report

During Thursday's practice, linebacker Von Miller (elbow) and running back Melvin Gordon (ribs) got dinged up. Fast forward to Friday, and neither practiced in what was the Denver Broncos' seventh full session of training camp.

"Von’s elbow is day-to-day. I don’t think he’ll miss much time," head coach Vic Fangio said following practice. "Gordon, same, day-to-day—I don’t think he’ll miss much time.”

Following practice, we learned that first-string right tackle Elijah Wilkinson suffered an injury to the opposite ankle of the one that underwent surgery late in the offseason. Coach Fangio provided an update.

“He tweaked his other ankle, not the one that he had work on in the offseason. I think he’s OK, but again, it’s early," Fangio said.

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The Broncos will get a day off on Saturday and with these banged-up players, including top linebacker Todd Davis who'll miss at least a weak with a calf injury, it couldn't have come at a better time.

Wilkinson has had a very uneven first week of training camp. Originally penciled in as the Broncos' swing tackle poised to maybe compete with Garett Bolles for left tackle, everything changed for Wilkinson when Ja'Wuan James opted out of the 2020 season.

Once again, Wilkinson had to step into the breach and stop the gap at right tackle. Losing James for a second straight year, the Broncos scrambled to find some veteran depth to complement and push Wilkinson.

Demar Dotson, an eight-year starter formerly of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was signed on the doorstep of camp. It was a one-year deal for the 34-year-old.

Thus far, the Broncos have taken it slow with Dotson, keeping him on the third-team offense mostly while he gets the playbook and vernacular down. With Wilkinson tweaking an ankle and not playing so hot, if he's not careful, it could create a sliver of opportunity for Dotson to kick the door open.

Thus far, though, Dotson has been a good teammate, playing the role of venerated veteran.

“You know, I’ve taken in everything because he’s been playing for the last 11 years," Wilkinson said of Dotson following Friday's practice. "I’m taking in everything he has to offer for me, whether it’s talking to me about my set, where I’m putting my hands or doing this better. I’ve taken everything he’s had to offer because he’s been out there for the past 11 years. I’m only in my fourth year here, so anything helps. All advice, especially from a veteran who’s been against all kinds of pass rushers, all advice is good advice.”

Wilkinson technically opened camp on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list due to the offseason surgery he had on his ankle. He suffered the injury late last season, which caused him to miss the season finale.

I wondered why it seemed Wilkinson waited so long to go under the knife but the answer, in retrospect, was obvious.

“Things weren’t getting better and we were moving closer and closer to when we would be starting back up," Wilkinson said. "Then COVID kind of played a little bit into that because no elective surgeries were being done. Everybody was quarantining, so we weren’t able to get on a schedule anywhere to see a surgeon to assess what was going on in my ankle. That’s kind of the gist of it. It was kind of COVID hanging us up.”

The pandemic stopped any and all surgeries that were deemed 'elective'. Once the restrictions lightened up, Wilkinson got in and got the procedure done.

Again, though, the ankle he tweaked on Friday is not the one recently surgically repaired. We'll see how the day off does the big fella. Camp practices resume on Sunday.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHudde.