WEST SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Broncos starting linebacker Alex Singleton will miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn ACL in Sunday’s victory in Tampa Bay, coach Sean Payton announced Wednesday.
The news that Denver was losing its leading tackler and team captain came as a surprise because Singleton played in every snap during the 26-7 victory against the Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. He suffered the injury in the first quarter as he turned around to block for Brandon Jones following the safety’s interception of quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Film review of the play appears to show Singleton limping slightly as he left the field following the return, but he didn’t report any issues to Denver’s medical staff during the game, Payton said. The 30-year-old linebacker played all 57 defensive snaps and finished with a team-high 10 tackles in the game.
“If there’s a story or something that might help explain Alex, I think I’d point that one out,” rookie quarterback Bo Nix said. “He’s the type of guy who would tear his ACL on the sixth play of the game and go out there and finish the game. … He didn’t really say anything. That shows how tough he is, how much of a leader is. Whatever he can do for the team, he’s going to go out there and put his body on the line.”
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Singleton hadn’t missed so much as a practice since joining the Broncos as a free agent on a one-year deal in 2022. He led the Broncos in tackles that season and then re-signed with the team on a three-year, $18 million in 2023. He once again led the Broncos in tackles last season and had 31 through three games in 2024 for a Broncos defense that dominated in Sunday’s win.
The game against the Buccaneers looked like a typical, tackle-stacking outing for Singleton, but after the game, he reported soreness to the team’s medical staff, including vice president of player health and performance Beau Lowery.
Singleton was then taken for an MRI that revealed the ACL tear.
“It surprised all of us,” Payton said, noting that Singleton didn’t report any issues during the game.
Singleton was placed on IR Wednesday and will have surgery in two weeks. Running back Tyler Badie will take Singleton’s spot on the 53-man roster.
The Broncos added two veteran linebackers, Kwon Alexander and Zach Cunningham, to the team’s practice squad Wednesday. Both players practiced with the team during their workout at the Greenbrier Resort.
Alexander, 30, played last season for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played parts of two seasons (2020 and 2021) for Payton in New Orleans. Alexander has also played for the San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team that drafted him in the fourth round in 2015. Alexander made a Pro Bowl with the Buccaneers in 2017 after a season in which he had three interceptions and 97 tackles.
Cunningham, 29, is a seven-year veteran who entered the league as a second-round pick of the Houston Texans in 2017. He played 13 games last season for the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Broncos, who stayed on the East Coast to practice this week ahead of Sunday’s game with the Jets, have three inside linebackers on the current 53-man roster: Cody Barton, Kristian Welch and Justin Strnad.
“We’ve got a lot of options,” Payton said. “I’m not going to cover them all, but we’ve got a handful of guys. We’ve got probably two or three different directions we’ll go, and then we’ll just see how it goes.”
Still, losing Singleton is “a tough blow,” cornerback Pat Surtain said. The Broncos allowed longtime linebacker Josey Jewell to leave in free agency this offseason and now have lost the other part of the duo that manned that position together for the previous two seasons.
“We’re going to rally behind him on defense,” Surtain said. “We’re going to make sure we execute the same way.”
(Photo: Isaiah J. Downing / Imagn Images)
