ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Denver Broncos second-year defensive end Kenny Anunike is scheduled to undergo an arthroscopic procedure Thursday to try to determine the source of pain and swelling in a knee that has caused him to miss the past two days of training camp.
The setback follows promising early signs from Anunike, who had a team-leading eight tackles in Denver’s preseason opener last Friday at Seattle. Anunike also had a sack and a pair of quarterback hurries in the Broncos’ 22-20 win over the Seahawks.
“It swelled up on him,” Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said following Wednesday morning’s practice. “They took a look at it and they made a decision to scope it and see where they’re at.”
The former free agent from Duke spent his rookie year last season on injured reserve because of an elbow injury.
Also missing practice Wednesday were wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders (groin), cornerback Tony Carter (hamstring), linebacker Lerentee McCray (groin) and nose tackle Marvin Austin Jr. (groin).
In keeping with his practice of spelling veterans to help them maintain fresh legs heading into the regular season, Kubiak gave the day off to cornerback Aqib Talib, safety T.J. Ward and pass-rushing linebackers Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware.
Defensive end Antonio Smith was excused from Wednesday's training camp practice after learning of a death in his family, Kubiak said.
"Really, he tried to come out to practice but I sent him back in," Kubiak said.
