Broncos camp report: Dre Greenlaw exits with injury, but Sean Payton says he’s ‘fine’

Attendance Did not practice Physically Unable to Perform list WR A T Perry foot ankle Out ILB Alex Singleton thumb ILB Drew Sanders foot OLB Que Robinson unknown Johnny Walker Jr unknown Left practice ILB Dre Greenlaw quad In an alarming sight for an already-banged-up inside linebacker room Greenlaw pulled up with a grimace after covering J K Dobbins on an LB-RB one-on-one pass-coverage drill He attempted to walk it off but eventually headed back to the locker room A source with knowledge of the situation stated The Denver Post it was a flare-up of Greenlaw s quad after he d missed all of Denver s offseason engagements with a quad strain Payton however announced it was a different area when inquired after practice I think he s fine Payton announced Robinson meanwhile missed his second straight day of camp after limping toward the end of Tuesday s practice Walker an undrafted rookie from Mizzou was placed on injured reserve The Broncos signed former Nebraska OLB Garrett Nelson to fill his spot on the -man roster Newcomer impact If there s one thing Payton knows and loves it s big receivers And -foot- undrafted rookie Joaquin Davis amid a stable of undrafted wideouts all making cases for Denver s practice squad has stamped himself as a name to watch The routes aren t altogether fine-tuned yet He never had more than yards in any season at North Carolina Central But Davis measurables rival anyone in Denver s room -second -yard dash and -inch vertical at his pro day and he s made several plays throughout camp On Wednesday he sprang free on a drag and motored downfield so promptly it sent veteran Courtland Sutton into a gleeful frenzy On Thursday he made a tough grab in the back corner of the end zone in red-zone work He s a total long shot to make Denver s initial -man roster But as far as stash-and-hope investments go Davis is in the mix Top Plays A lil Bo-Pat Thursday s practice was far from a salt day as Payton likes to call them Staff anticipated players would be tired after a turned-up Wednesday bark session and various gang red-zone periods moved at about intensity Still Nix s legs provided one of the insufficient true game-speed highlights of the day as the quarterback rolled to his right on one rep and flung a ball roughly yards down the right sideline to a leaping Pat Bryant The rookie receiver has fleetly developed chemistry with Nix and drawn heavy targets throughout camp Thumbs up About this Wednesday Speaking of salt take any training-camp discussion of locker-room values with a limited hearty grains But Wednesday down in Dove Valley felt like a level of intensity these Broncos hadn t reached all offseason emotions and bellows and yaps hinging on nearly every rep during crew work This wasn t totally external Take it from tight end Adam Trautman a longtime Payton loyalist dating back to New Orleans He declared Wednesday s practice the best he d been a part of in his three years in Denver That was like Oh yes we re ready for this all the expectations and everything Trautman reported Thumbs down Thin in the middle Payton scoffed at any notion the Broncos ILB room was injury-plagued on Wednesday telling reporters that Singleton would be back at practice in six days after current his thumb this week Perhaps injury-plagued isn t the right term Let s go with thin Greenlaw has been ramping up for largest part of camp after missing the offseason and Sanders hasn t been seen back at practice in any maximum since he was carted off Saturday Levelle Bailey has seized the opportunity in their absence and Justin Strnad is a trustworthy backup But if Greenlaw s flare-up lingers the only rotational options left are undrafted rookies Jordan Turner JB Brown and Karene Reid The Broncos brought in a minimal linebackers on a tryout Wednesday but didn t elect to sign any More reps for the kids then Odds and Ends Malcolm Roach s good-natured boisterousness has prompted one of the best camp mock-feuds in the NFL Marvin Mims Jr vs Roach Mims a -pound man called Roach fat at the podium Wednesday Roach responded with a middle finger on Twitter Mims responded he needed PR training It has Denver s locker room equal parts perplexed and amused Related Articles Levelle Bailey s strong Broncos camp is turning heads He looks like an NFL linebacker Denver may soon have multiple stadium districts along the South Platte River Can the city encouragement them all Renck Eyioma Uwazurike wants to repay Broncos for giving him second chance Broncos camp document Malcolm Roach talks trash and J K Dobbins flings it right back ESPN cuts ties with Shannon Sharpe following settlement of sexual assault lawsuit AP source says I wouldn t have picked Mims and Roach Payton smiled Like I would ve picked so several other combos But when I read that one that was surprising The Broncos running back competition is nowhere near sorted out and Payton wants it that way Second-year back Audric Estime continued to stack days Thursday across a latest run of impact reps and the Broncos head coach explained reserve back Blake Watson had two or three exceptional runs on Wednesday When we finish playing New Orleans Payton announced referring to the squad s final preseason challenge we ll have a better idea of how that s going Eyioma Uwazurike continues to have a standout camp The fourth-round pick was suspended in for gambling and played just four games in but he has been everywhere in his reps stopping a run in an earlier practice with one arm and batting down a pass at the line of scrimmage Thursday Denver has specific uncomfortable roster decisions to make given its depth on the defensive line and Uwazurike is making a compelling affair for a spot on the -man roster Want more Broncos news Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis