Chubb Expresses Confidence In Malik Reed, Justin Hollins As Broncos' Next Men Up

Bradley Chubb is done for the season with a torn ACL but on his way out the door, he passed the torch to his rookie teammates.

The Denver Broncos suffered a category 5 disaster in the wake of their Week 4 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Star outside linebacker Bradley Chubb suffered an ACL tear in the fourth quarter of the Jags game and is done for the season. 

“It happened with like 14 minutes left in the fourth quarter," Chubb said on Tuesday. "I just went to the sideline. It felt like a little discomfort. They checked my ACL on the sideline. It was perfectly fine. They said it was stable and all that. I did a couple of running drills and did a couple things where I was pushing on guys to make sure it was planting in the ground well. We both felt comfortable enough to go back out there and play.”

Chubb finished the game for his team, playing hard 'til the final whistle blew. The Broncos lost a heart-breaker 26-24. Chubb finished with seven tackles (four solo) and a sack. 

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Chubb's injury is just another streak in a long run of bad luck for the Broncos thus far, especially when it comes to the injury bug. There was a spooky element to Chubb's injury and that is, it came exactly seven years after he tore the ACL in the same knee (to the day). Despite it being his second torn ACL, he's not worried about his future. 

“In high school. It was actually crazy," Chubb said. "Seven years to that exact date I tore my ACL, on the same day, September 29, 2012, and then September 29, 2019. It’s crazy how that works. That was my first injury. Like I said, it made me who I am today."

In the wake of Chubb's injury, the next men up are a rookie tandem — Malik Reed and Justin Hollins — with the newly-signed veteran Jeremiah Attaochu as the failsafe. It'll ostensibly take Attaochu some time to get up to speed in Vic Fangio's defensive scheme, which puts the onus on Reed and Hollins to bridge the gap opposite of Von Miller. 

Injuries are a part of the game and in the NFL, it's often the opportunity lesser-known players need to emerge onto the scene. Chubb is confident his two young teammates will be able to do just that. 

“Yeah, you saw Malik went out there and had a sack when I went down and Justin playing two positions at one time," Chubb said. "I don’t know any rookie doing that right now playing two positions; playing great at both positions as well. I know they are going to be ready for it. They have a great leader in Von that is going to get them ready for it. [OLBs] Coach [Brandon] Staley’s going to get them ready for it and it’s going go to be a fun journey.”

Reed is an ascending player. As Chubb said, he notched his first career sack last week, building on an impressive preseason body of work that saw him make the 53-man roster as an undrafted rookie. Hollins, though, has been beleaguered as he's been tasked with learning to play both the edge and off-ball linebacker positions in Fangio's scheme. 

Hollins' game vs. the Jaguars was atrocious but it was mostly at off-ball linebacker. With Chubb going down and Joseph Jones returning to the lineup, the expectation is that the Broncos will limit Hollins' focus and learning curve to the edge position for the balance of the season. 

Only time will tell how the Broncos will be able to cope with Chubb's injury. But at 0-4, the season is pretty much lost anyway. Now, it's about development and seeing what the team has in its young players.

Malik Reed, Justin Hollins — it's time to shine. And make Broncos Country forget that John Elway let the NFL's current leader in sacks walk in free agency this past spring. 

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.