Broncos' WR Courtland Sutton Suffers Sprained AC Joint in Shoulder, per Report

After the "punch to the gut" that was the Von Miller injury two days ago, Broncos Country has been walking on eggshells, hoping to avoid the attention of the injury bug. After Thursday's practice in preparation for Monday night's showdown with the Tennessee Titans, the Denver Broncos were bitten by that most virulent of bugs again.

This time, Pro Bowl wideout Courtland Sutton was injured during practice. KUSA's Mike Klis broke the news and later provided some context to how it happened.

"Sutton was making outstretched one-handed catch vs. air with left hand when he came down awkwardly on his right hand. He came up holding his right shoulder. Goodness," Klis tweeted Thursday afternoon.

Later in the afternoon, the Broncos listed Sutton as 'limited' with a shoulder injury for Thursday's practice. Then we learned from Klis that it's actually a sprained AC joint.

Broncos No. 1 WR Courtland Sutton is day to day with a sprained AC joint in his shoulder per source. Questionable for opener vs. Tennessee but could have been worse. #9sports
— Mike Klis (@mikeklis) September 10, 2020

"Broncos No. 1 WR Courtland Sutton is day to day with a sprained AC joint in his shoulder per source. Questionable for opener vs. Tennessee but could have been worse," Klis tweeted.

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Running a route against air means that nobody was guarding him. Sutton was simply running a route during the individual period of practice.

The question fans might have next is, 'Why is Sutton ostensibly diving for footballs in against-air drills?'

I wish I had an answer for you. Doesn't seem like the smartest thing for a wideout to do, but then again, it's possible in outstretching to haul in the pass, he lost his footing and went down.

There's an accident waiting to happen at all times.

The fact that he's listed as questionable for the opener is better than the alternative, so at least the Broncos avoided catastrophe with Sutton but it's obviously an extremely inopportune time for him to sprain a shoulder joint. The Broncos' offense, with Miller going down, is going to have to hit the ground running and having a compromised Sutton to open the season won't help.

Sutton is unable to go vs. Tennessee, the optimism for Drew Lock entering Year 2 will be slightly curtailed and it will put a lot more pressure on first-rounder Jerry Jeudy. KJ Hamler's availability for Week 1 is also up in the air as he's nursing a hamstring injury that cost him most of training camp.

If Sutton couldn't go, it'd be the Jeudy, Tim Patrick, DaeSean Hamilton, and Noah Fant show for the Broncos' passing game. Still formidable but not as rock-solid without Sutton.

We'll keep you updated on the very latest we hear about Sutton.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.