Alex Singleton’s season-ending knee injury had a trickle-down effect on several other Broncos inside linebackers Sunday against the New York Jets.
Cody Barton played every snap and relayed defensive calls from Vance Joseph, neither of which he’d done previously.
Justin Strnad started, played 57 snaps defensively — his first non-special teams action since 2021 — and logged his first career sack.
“I think it would be more Alex to Justin because Cody kind of stayed in the same position he’s been playing,” head coach Sean Payton said Monday of the role changes. “I mean Cody had the green dot, but other than that — those guys stepped up. It’s always difficult when you lose someone who’s been as productive and certainly one of the team leaders.
“I was proud of the way those young guys played.”
Another, Levelle Bailey, was elevated from the practice squad and made his NFL debut with 10 special teams snaps.
Who got more bang for their buck, though, than Kristian Welch?
The relative newcomer, signed after the preseason when he didn’t make Green Bay’s initial roster, did not play a defensive snap against Tampa Bay and then got just three against the Jets.
But boy, did he make the most of them.
Welch’s role actually didn’t even change all that much. He played 27 snaps in some mixed downs settings against Seattle and Pittsburgh, teams that are heavier personnel-wise than the Bucs and more apt to run the ball. Another part of his regular workload: Goal line defense.
And he played a central role in Denver coming up with one of its biggest stops of the afternoon against New York.
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Source:: The Denver Post – Sports
