ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- With an injury surge in the offensive line, the Denver Broncos have been able to take a look in recent days at players who had previously been a little deeper down the depth chart to open training camp.
Guards Ty Sambrailo (right elbow), Max Garcia (ankle) and Sam Brenner (concussion) have missed practice time this week, so the Broncos have been forced to mix and match up front in the starting offense. When Sambrailo and Brenner were held out and Garcia was limited in Thursday's practice, the Broncos moved others up.
Rookie Connor McGovern and Darrion Weems got most of the work at the two starting guard spots. McGovern, the team's fifth-round pick in this year's draft, has filled in since Sambrailo was injured in Sunday's practice. Weems is a fourth-year player who has caught the collective eye of the Broncos' coaches.
"Weems is starting to look like a pretty good football player for this team," Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said. "So we're trying to give him every opportunity."
Garcia is poised to return to practice full time before the week is out, but Sambrailo is another matter. Kubiak said Sambrailo, who has worked as the starting left guard, can't quite straighten his right arm yet and described him as "day to day."
Also, the Broncos pulled cornerback Chris Harris Jr. out of Thursday's practice because of tightness in a hamstring. Harris was limping slightly early on and was pulled out of the lineup as a precaution.
"He was tight, he wanted to go and I pulled him out," Kubiak said.
Linebacker Von Miller, whose practice time has been regulated since he missed the offseason program during his contract negotiations, practiced for about an hour and 25 minutes. Miller went to the weight room for the remainder of the practice.
Kubiak said he now might keep Miller on that same schedule until after the Broncos' preseason opener Aug. 11 in Chicago.
"[I] may stick through that through Chicago ... he looks really good," Kubiak said.
