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According to ESPN’s Jeff Legwold, it appears that it is unlikely that wide receiver Jordan Taylor will be cleared to play for the Broncos by week one. This likely means his PUP stay will last into the regular season.
Wide receiver Jordan Taylor, who had offseason hip surgery, will start training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list and the Broncos think he’ll need more time to recover. It’s unlikely he’ll be ready and cleared to play at the start of the regular season.
— Jeff Legwold (@Jeff_Legwold) July 27, 2018
The Broncos are going to place Taylor on the Physically Unable To Perform List(PUP) to start camp and it appears that he will likely stay on this list into the regular season. Taylor would then have to sit out the first six weeks of the regular season before being able to hit the practice field again. The full wording of the regular season PUP rules will be listed below.
A player who finishes the preseason still on the PUP list can then be placed on the regular-season PUP list. Such players must sit out the first six weeks of the regular season. At that point, teams have a five-week window in which to allow the player to begin practicing; from the day the player begins practicing, teams have an additional 21-day window in which to decide whether to activate the player to the 53-man roster. If either of those deadlines pass, the player must remain on the PUP list for the remainder of the season
This means that a roster spot likely opens up at the wide receiver position for the Broncos. As we know, the first four spots on the depth chart are already locked in. Veteran’s Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders are your starters while rookies Courtland Sutton and DaeSean Hamilton are locks to make the roster as well. If healthy, Taylor would have been a favorite for one of the remaining roster spots, but now that job is wide open.
Now, rookie receiver Mark Chapman, Kenny Bell, rookie John Diarse, River Cracraft, Tim Patrick, rookie Jordan Leslie, and likely to be signed veteran Corey “Philly” Brown will be fighting for those remaining roster spots at the wide receiver position on the Broncos.
However, for now it appears that fan favorite Jordan Taylor and his hair will be out for all of Training Camp and into the regular season.