Raw rookie "going to have to step up" for Broncos

To add insult to injury, or rather injury to insult, the Denver Broncos suffered a key loss on their defense to go along with was an extremely dismal outing in Oakland this past Sunday.

During the third quarter of Sunday night’s dual, starting defensive end Derek Wolfe went down with what was later learned to be a hairline fracture in his right elbow.

On Monday, head coach Gary Kubiak reported that the initial medical evaluations on Wolfe’s elbow have been “encouraging” based on information relayed to him by longtime Broncos head athletic trainer Steve ‘Greek’ Antonopulos. Due to the wait-and-see approach the team is taking with the injury, though, the coach was not able to give a timetable as to when the fifth-year defensive end will return to action.

Wolfe, however, did have a specific timetable in mind for his return to the field and served up his thoughts on that subject Wednesday.

“Minimum two weeks, at the most four. That’s in my opinion,” Wolfe said. “It’s nothing too serious. It’s not something that I can’t bounce back from real quick. I’ll be fine. It just needs to rest. It’s one of those injuries where you just have to let it rest. The more you use it; it’s going to make it worse. If I just rest it a couple weeks, I’ll be fine.”

With Wolfe missing at least this week’s matchup with the Saints in New Orleans and possibly more following the bye week, rookie Adam Gotsis will be looked to in order to help fill the void left in Wolfe’s absence.

While Gotsis hasn’t exactly shined thus far, head coach Gary Kubiak uttered his thoughts on Gotsis’ improvement throughout the season on Wednesday.

“I think he’s gotten better,” Kubiak voiced of the rookie. “He may have played his best game last week, and we need it. With where Derek [Wolfe] is at with his elbow, he’s going to have to step up and play well. It will be very important here on the back end that he plays his best football.”

Gotsis, a third-round selection out of Georgia Tech University in the 2016 NFL draft, was initially thought of as the replacement for Malik Jackson who departed for the Jacksonville Jaguars during free agency this offseason. Though it has not worked out quite that way, the first-year player has been used to spell Wolfe and other starting defensive end, Jared Crick, thus far.

Gotsis spoke on Wednesday and noted that getting reps, however they may come, is the most crucial element to his continued growth at the position.

“The more you can get in there, the more comfortable you can get in the game, the more rhythm you can build and the more plays you can be in and make,” he said. “Whatever reps I can get, it’s an opportunity to go out there and try to help this team.”

Gotsis also pointed to becoming more accustomed to the size of NFL offensive linemen as one of the hurdles he individually is overcoming as a result of the game experience he is gaining in each week’s contest.

“Just being out there with all these guys in the NFL, you see game one and you say, ‘Damn, these guys are really big,’” he explained. “Now, you’re used to seeing these guys every week, big 6-5, 6-7 offensive tackles, guys that are 350 [pounds] playing at guard. That’s probably the biggest thing. I’m just used to seeing the size now, and the game is slowing down for me a bit up front. I can actually just play and not just be crazy thinking every snap and just play freely.”

During the recent divisional loss to the Raiders, the Broncos yielded a season-worst 218 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Now with one of their most productive run stoppers out of the lineup against the high-powered offense of the New Orleans Saints, Gotsis must have his best game of his young career as his play will prove vital in the defense’s ability to get back on track.