Broncos Promote OT Jake Rodgers to Active Roster, Place RB LeVante Bellamy on IR
The Denver Broncos are once again on the road on the East Coast, this time traveling to take on the New England Patriots. Sitting at 1-3, if the Broncos can get a tough road win over the Patriots, it would serve as quite the shot in the arm.
A Week 5 win could be the turning point of the 2020 campaign — if three months from now we're looking back on a relatively successful Broncos season in retrospect. For now, Denver's playoff odds are slim but all this team can do is focus on one game at a time.
On Saturday, the Broncos announced a couple of roster moves that are on the more permanent side. The Broncos placed rookie running back LeVante Bellamy on injured reserve and with that open roster spot, promoted offensive tackle Jake Rodgers from the practice squad to the 53-man squad.
This is not to be confused with a gameday 'elevation'. A.) it's not gameday and B.), the Broncos didn't 'elevate' Rodgers, which would signify a temporary activation to the roster, but instead, 'promoted' him.
That move doesn't guarantee Rodgers a place on the 53-man roster moving forward but it does this week. And with Elijah Wilkinson on injured reserve, there's no reason to doubt that Rodgers, 6-foot-6, 320-pound veteran tackle, won't stick around.
Rodgers is a third-year player and long-time Mike Munchak acolyte. Rodgers followed Munchak from Pittsburgh to Denver last year, where the tackle would see action in 14 games, starting in Week 16 at right tackle.
The Broncos 'elevated' Rodgers to the gameday roster in Week 4 after he spent the first three weeks of the season on the practice squad. Originally an Atlanta Falcons' seventh-round draft pick back in 2015, he's also spent time on the practice squads of the New York Giants (2015-16), Carolina Panthers (2016-17), Pittsburgh Steelers (2017-18), Los Angeles Chargers (2017), Houston Texans (2017-18), and Baltimore Ravens (2018).
That's a lot of traveling and rambling but as Mike Purcell's three-year extension earlier this week proved, you never know when the stars might align for a guy in the NFL and everything can just click. Since crossing paths with Munchak in Pittsburgh back in 2017, Rodgers seems to have found a true proponent in the coaching ranks and maybe it'll result in some staying power in the Mile High City.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
