Broncos Get Massive Boost in Return of High-Dollar OLB

The Denver Broncos were saddened to see defensive lineman Dre'Mont Jones — the team's current sack leader — hit injured reserve over the weekend, ending his season. The silver lining is that Jones' spot on the 53-man roster will be filled by rush linebacker Randy Gregory, whom the team activated off IR on Saturday.

Gregory has been on IR since injuring his knee in Week 4's loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. It was the same game that Denver lost starting running back Javonte Williams to a multi-ligament knee injury.

Nine games later, Gregory returns to the lineup. A former Dallas Cowboys second-round pick, the Broncos signed Gregory to a five-year, $70 million deal this past offseason with $28M fully guaranteed.

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Gregory made a palpable impact in his four games as a starter on Denver's defense. He notched nine tackles (six solo), two tackles for a loss, two sacks, and seven QB hits before getting bitten by the injury bug.

Gregory's veteran savvy and leadership have been missed, especially in the wake of the Bradley Chubb trade. Safety Justin Simmons dished on what the 30-year-old Gregory brings to the table for Denver.

“Just his all-around presence. I got to play with him in the Seattle game and then I had to miss, unfortunately," Simmons said last week. "Just his presence alone—I like to call those types of guys, ‘game wreckers.’ Run game or pass game, he just goes in there and messes everything up. On paper, you have this run gap, but when an ‘RG’ and those guys are in there, and they blow the gaps up. You’re just playing football at that point. That’s a lot of what he does and he’s obviously super talented at getting to the quarterback and helping us out in the back end with coverages and things like that. He’s a game wrecker.”

Gregory returns to the lineup on Sunday with the Arizona Cardinals in town.

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