Broncos defensive lineman Matt Henningsen reverts to season-ending injured reserve
With the Broncos having lost Matt Henningsen with a torn Achilles tendon, that does alleviate a bit their logjam on the defensive line.
Henningsen suffered a torn Achilles tendon last Thursday in a joint practice with San Francisco at the 49ers’ practice facility. He was waived Sunday with an injury designation and cleared waivers Monday to revert to the season-ending injured reserve list. He does not count against Denver’s roster limit.
Henningsen, a sixth-round pick from Wisconsin in 2022, got into all 34 of the Broncos’ games in 2022 and 2023 before spending last season on the practice squad. He re-signed with the team in January in an effort to get back on the 53-man roster.
The Broncos will have at least six defensive linemen on the 53-man roster and perhaps seven. Locks to make it are starters Zach Allen, D.J. Jones and John Franklin-Myers, top reserve Malcolm Roach and rookie Sav’ion Jones. Battling to make it are Jordan Jackson and Eyioma Uwazurike. Jordan Miller and Kristian Williams are long shots.
“There is a lot of competition for spots. … It’s a body of work thing in evaluating it all,” Denver coach Sean Payton said last Thursday before the extent of Henningsen’s injury was known.
Payton said after Saturday’s 30-9 preseason win at San Francisco that Henningsen had been ruled out for the season and would have surgery. His surgery is scheduled for this week.
When the Broncos waived Henningsen on Sunday, they signed cornerback Gregory Junior to take his roster spot . Junior was a sixth-round pick by Jacksonville in 2022 who got into 10 games for Jaguars as a reserve in 2022 and 2023.
After that, Junior spent time on practice squads of Indianapolis and Houston in 2024. He was with Green Bay until being let go Aug. 4.
Junior is the only player from Ouachita Baptist, a Division II school in Arkadelphia, Ark., to have been drafted by the NFL. There have been seven undrafted players from the school play in an NFL regular-season game, including Hall of Fame safety Cliff Harris, who starred for Dallas from 1970-79.
Junior becomes the third player from a Division II school on Denver’s roster, joining outside linebackers Dondrea Tillman, who went to Indiana of Pennsylvania, and Andrew Farmer, from Lane College in Tennessee. The Broncos also have a former Division III player in star guard Quinn Meinerz from Wisconsin-Whitewater.