Report: Broncos' RT Ja'Wuan James to miss 'several weeks' with sprained knee

The Broncos will be without their prized free-agent acquisition for a while.

When life serves you lemons, you've got to find a way to make lemonade. Such is the case for the Denver Broncos coming out of the season-opener. 

After signing free-agent Ja'Wuan James to a four-year, $51 million deal this past spring, the Broncos had hoped their right tackle woes would be a thing of the past. James looked good in training camp, earning 'best I've ever gone against' praise from the likes of Von Miller.

Knowing his injury history, the Broncos didn't expose James to many live-bullet snaps in the preseason but the team's precautions were all for naught. 10 plays into the Broncos' Week 1 bout with the Oakland Raiders, James went down with a knee injury. 

Thanks to a report from Mike Klis, we know that James suffered a sprained right knee and is going to subsequently miss some time. How much time? Several weeks. 

That means that Elijah Wilkinson will no longer be a depth piece but a starter at right tackle. That's not good for mulitple reasons. 

One, Wilkinson was the only decent backup with a modicum of NFL experience the Broncos had. Two, he didn't play well in relief of James on Monday night. 

The Broncos could look to promote Jake Rodgers off the practice squad, or even sign an outside player. There are a few interesting free agents out there and the Broncos have about $12 million in salary cap space after restructuring Joe Flacco's contract. 

It's a tough break for a Broncos team that was knocked around by the Raiders in Week 1. Here's to hoping Wilkinson can either elevate his game in the short-term, or the Broncos can find a suitable upgrade on the street. Not likely, though. 

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.