The Denver Broncos made a flurry of roster moves on the eve of Sunday's road matchup against the Arizona Cardinals .
The Broncos announced that running back Jonah Coleman and outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper have been activated to the 53-man roster, as expected.
Coleman is returning from a four-game absence on injured reserve while Cooper is eligible to play following a season-long stay on the NFL's commisioner's exempt list.
In corresponding transactions, the Broncos placed outside linebacker Jonah Elliss and running back Tyler Badie on short-term IR. Both players must sit out at least four games before suiting up again.
Denver also promoted safety Taylor Rapp and defensive back Sean Fresch Jr. from the practice squad, their second such elevations in as many weeks.
"It wasn't our first time," defensive coordinator Vance Joseph noted on Thursday. "Those guys played well last year. I think it was half of the Dallas game, the Chiefs, and maybe Houston last year. So I wasn't surprised by how they played. We had a good plan for those kids. They played to it. Obviously, our depth on defense is really in the DB room and outside backer room. So we've been very fortunate losing Coop early to have Q and Jonah step up, and losing Pat and Riley to have KD and Barron step up. It's where our depth was. So it was almost luck to kind of have that group intact."
Aug 21, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper (0) huddles with teammates before the preseason game against the Green Bay Packers at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
As Joseph himself noted, Cooper will immediately slide back into his old starting role with Elliss -- who suffered an ankle injury in last week's win over Seattle -- now on the shelf. Behind Cooper and fellow starter Nik Bonitto remain Que Robinson and Dondrea Tillman.
"Well, obviously he's a great pass rusher, but I think the energy he plays with, the toughness he plays with, the edge setting he plays with, it's obviously second to none," Joseph said of Cooper. "With Nik opposite of him, more of a speed rusher, he's more of a power rusher. So you'll see Nik kind of get more opportunities also as the quarterback escapes out of the pocket, and now Nik can make plays. Coop's a big part of what we've done in the past, and it's good to have him back."
Rapp and Fresch Jr. will help offset the loss of starting safety Talanoa Hufanga, who was designated on the injury report as out with ankle issue, and the potential gameday rule-out of All-Pro cornerback Patrick Surtain II, considered questionable for Week 7 with his own ankle malady.
Colemean, meanwhile, will slot in at worst as the No. 3 RB behind J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey. At best, a now-healthy Coleman will begin eating into Dobbins' workload and assume more first- and second-down responsibilities.
"First of all, he's very smart. He's handled the playbook very quickly from day one, rookie minicamp on," offensive coordinator Davis Webb said of Coleman on Thursday. "Every time he's gotten an opportunity, whether that be in a regular-season game, obviously the Jacksonville Jaguars game sticks out, the Atlanta Falcons game in the preseason sticks out. So we're excited to get him back into the fold. I think the last couple weeks, our whole running back room is kind of slowly going up, turning in the right direction."
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/broncos/onsi as How the Broncos Reshuffled 53-Man Roster Ahead of Week 7 .
