Broncos tempering expectations for Bradley Chubb’s return

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — At the beginning of training camp, John Elway tempered his expectations for the Broncos’ young offense. Near the end of camp, Vic Fangio is presenting a similar caution about Bradley Chubb. But for completely different reasons.

Up until Saturday, the star pass rusher’s recovery from ACL surgery last September had been going as smoothly as possible. However, during Saturday’s scrimmage, Chubb left practice and did not return as trainers examined his left knee—the same one he had surgery on last year.

“Bradley just didn’t feel right out there, so for precautionary [reasons], we took him out,” Fangio said after Saturday’s scrimmage.

Chubb was held out of Monday and Tuesday’s practices as the team is going to be “conservative with him this week and give him some days to rest his knee,” the head coach stated.

“I think he’s where we kind of thought he would be,” Fangio said on Monday, expressing confidence in Chubb’s rehab. “I think what he’s going through is a natural progression in recovering from his injury.

With Week 1 less than two weeks away, Fangio remains optimistic that Chubb will still be available for the season opener. However, the former No. 5 overall pick won’t be playing to his full capabilities, despite earlier hopes he would be full-go come the start of the season.

“I’m still optimistic that he’ll be out there in the first week and playing well—probably not playing to the level he was pre-injury but pretty damn close,” Fangio stated on Monday. “We’ll see, but it’s going to be a work in progress.”

On Tuesday, when asked how long it will take Chubb to get back to playing to his pre-injury potential, Fangio said, “Well, that’s to be determined, really.”

“I mean, everybody’s full recovery, that last five to 10 percent is different with everybody coming off the injury he had,” Fangio said, not afraid to paint a non-perfect picture. “I’m not going to put a limit on it and I’m not going to put a floor on it. Hopefully, it happens sooner than later, but we’ll see.”

Despite missing back-to-back practices, the Broncos are optimistic they will have Bradley Chubb back for the start of the season. But, at least at first, Chubb’s not going to be playing up to his full potential.

In the words of Vic Fangio, pre-injury Bradley Chubb was pretty damn good. During his rookie season in 2018, the 6-foot-4, 275-pound pass rusher racked up 12 sacks and at times appeared to be flirting with breaking Jevon Kearse’s all-time rookie sack record set at 14.5 sacks.

However, before suffering a partially torn ACL in Week 4 last year, Chubb, and the rest of the Broncos’ pass rush, was off to an incredibly slow start. Chubb had only one sack before being placed on the injured reserve.

With the team expecting Chubb to be “pretty damn close” to his full potential, expectations should be significantly higher for Chubb than one sack through four games. But Fangio’s caution also shouldn’t go overlooked.