Broncos WR Tim Patrick tears Achilles in training camp, will miss second straight season
Tim Patrick will miss a second straight season.
The Denver Broncos wide receiver tore his left Achilles during practice Monday, coach Sean Payton confirmed. Patrick, who missed all of last season with an ACL injury, will now miss the entirety of the 2023 season, too.
HC Sean Payton confirmed that WR Tim Patrick tore his Achilles.
Join us in wishing @Tpstreets a speedy recovery. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/rl7pd9CFEu— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) August 1, 2023
Patrick went down during training camp practice Monday afternoon during 7-on-7 drills. He made a cut without a defender near him and he suddenly fell to the ground.
He was eventually carted off the field.
“I was watching it directly, he was running a route, it was something we had corrected earlier, on air, planted, thought it looked like he slipped,” Payton said Monday, via ESPN.
Patrick recorded 734 receiving yards and a team-high five touchdowns in 2021, his last full season in the league. The 29-year-old tore his right ACL during training camp last August and spent nearly the last year recovering.
Patrick is set to undergo surgery in the near future, and Payton said a specific timeline for his recovery isn’t known.
“I think the hard thing, and I said it yesterday, for a player that’s spent most of his offseason rehabbing, and then all of the sudden to hit a roadblock,” Payton said Tuesday. “He sounded better last night. He’s tough-minded. He’s a real good leader.”
Patrick is the latest Broncos wide receiver to go down with a major injury in recent years. Courtland Sutton missed most of the 2020 season with an ACL injury, and K.J. Hamler tore his ACL in 2021 before missing nine weeks last season with a hamstring injury.
Hamler announced Monday that he had been diagnosed with pericarditis, a mild heart condition. The Broncos are going to waive Hamler on a non-football illness designation and plan to bring him back in the near future. Hamler was dealing with chest pains before training camp, though he’s reportedly expected to miss weeks, not months, recovering.
The Broncos went 5-12 last season and missed the playoffs for the seventh straight year. The franchise then opted to hire Payton to replace Nathaniel Hackett, who lasted just 15 games in Denver. The Broncos will open their season on Sept. 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders.
