Eight plays into the Denver Broncos‘ 26-7 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, linebacker Alex Singleton tore his ACL.
The ligament was torn during safety Brandon Jones’ interception return, but Singleton did not realize the severity of the injury. The 30-year-old linebacker went on to play all 49 remaining snaps on defense, leading the team with ten tackles, before reporting a sore knee.
“It was kind of remarkable [that he played through it],” coach Sean Payton said Wednesday. “Then he reported [that] he felt a little soreness. They looked at it, we looked at it some more, and then sure enough he’ll be scheduled for surgery probably about two weeks from now.”
It’s a clean tear, which is good news for Singleton’s recovery. Payton said the linebacker was just as surprised as everyone else when testing revealed a torn ACL, and he noted that it was unusual for a player to not feel symptoms for such an injury.
“He reported to the training room after the game,” Payton said. “[He had] some soreness. They did an exam. Then he went and had an MRI, and I think it was that evening at dinner, Sunday night, they came back with the results. He flew with us. [It’s] pretty typical for an ACL [tear] to have the procedure about two weeks give or take to let the swelling go down. Yeah, it was tough news.”
More than once, Payton referenced it as a remarkable situation.
“I’ve had players that have had ACL [tears], but I’ve never seen one in this fashion,” Payton said. “And I was able to look at the MRI. I’ve never seen one where he felt like he could have played another game that night. Now the next morning there was swelling, but that’s pretty remarkable.”
Singleton was one of just three Broncos defenders who played all 57 defensive snaps against the Bucs, joining defensive backs Pat Surtain and P.J. Locke. A team captain and signal-caller for the defense, Singleton will be hard to replace in Denver.
“That one’s tough,” quarterback Bo Nix said Wednesday. “Really tough. Alex is a great teammate. Alex is a great football player. He does a lot on the field for us. He’s one of those guys that when he’s on the field, everybody feels a lot better. It’s going to be tough. We’re going to have to definitely play big and play important roles around him.
“You can’t replace a guy like Alex, but I think you can rise up around him and help that loss out a little bit. [I’m] definitely pulling for him with his recovery. We hope he has a great offseason and gets ready to go again. [It’s a] huge loss for us, but we’re going to continue to get better around him and make sure that we have what it takes on defense. Then offensively, we always just have to raise up our game and play better.”
Nix commended Singleton for playing through the injury.
“If there’s probably a story or if I had to explain Alex in one thing, I would just point that one out,” Nix said. “He’s the type of guy that would tear his ACL on the sixth play of the game and go out there and finish the game. I don’t think anybody really even knew.
“I saw kind of it happen and kind of talked to him at half, but you would’ve never known. He didn’t say anything. It just shows how tough he is and shows how much of a leader he is. Whatever he can do for the team, he’s going to go out there and put his body on the line. It exemplifies what it means to be a captain, and that’s why he’s one of ours.”
The Broncos added depth at linebacker by signing veterans Zach Cunningham and Kwon Alexander to the practice squad on Wednesday. Levelle Bailey is also available on the practice squad. This week, Cody Barton will likely start next to one of Kristian Welch or Justin Strnad against the New York Jets.
Before being placed on injured reserve on Wednesday, Singleton had played 1,115 consecutive snaps on defense. He will now miss the remainder of the 2024 season, ending his 17-game streak of playing every snap. The veteran linebacker has one more year left on his contract after this season.
