ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Denver Broncos linebacker Todd Davis, who started 16 games last season and has started all but three games over the past three seasons, is expected to miss three to four weeks with a partial tear in his calf muscle.
Davis suffered the injury in the final team period of Thursday's practice -- the first on-field work of Broncos training camp. Davis was carted to the locker room and limped in with the team's medical staff.
The sixth-year linebacker was taken for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam after practice.
Davis is the only every-down player at inside linebacker for the Broncos, given he usually stays on the field when the team goes to the nickel package -- five defensive backs. The Broncos use the nickel the majority of the time.
Davis led the team in tackles last season, with 114, and played 78.2 percent of the defensive snaps (842 plays). At linebacker only Von Miller and Bradley Chubb played more at 844 snaps for 78.4 percent of the defensive snaps.
"Todd, I feel like he is one of the most vocal leaders on this team, not just the defense,'' Chubb said Thursday. "He is one of those guys that sometimes last year in the game I'm like, 'Hey Todd, what I got right here?' And he just always knows what he's doing, always reliable, always making the right calls and he's a huge part of the defense.''
