Broncos OT Alex Palczewski Designated to Return from IR
The Denver Broncos announced Wednesday that rookie offensive tackle Alex Palczewski has been designated to return from injured reserve.
Palczewski, who's battled hand and knee injuries, was spotted on the practice field and officially listed as a limited participant. The team now has 21 days to activate him to the 53-man roster or leave him on IR, ending his season.
Undrafted out of Illinois, Palczewski appeared in all three of Denver's preseason games, starting one, and was among four rookies who cracked the club's final roster. He was placed on IR in late August.
As a collegian, the 6-foot-6, 314-pound lineman made 65 starts across six seasons for the Fighting Illini, earning third-team All-American honors in 2022.
“[He’s] tough and smart. He’s played a lot of football," Broncos head coach Sean Payton said of Palczewski on Aug. 23. "It’s not always pretty, but there is this quality of ‘he gets the job done.’ I said this at the beginning of camp: after the draft, I thought we did a good job in that two-hour period of signing free agents. Sometimes offensive linemen are hard to get. We were able to sign a pretty good class of undrafted offensive linemen that has helped us and will help us, not only this year, but in the future. I’m encouraged.”
Once up to full speed, Palczewski should settle into a backup role behind starting OTs Garett Bolles and Mike McGlinchey. Going forward, he'll be a key developmental project for Payton and offensive line coach Zach Strief.
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