'It's a punch in the gut for everybody': Von Miller to be placed on IR, could miss entire 2020 season after suffering ankle injury

[Miles]

Still, the loss of a player and leader of Miller's caliber is not easy to cope with inside the locker room.


"Without a doubt, it's a punch in the gut for everybody just knowing how good of a teammate he is and how good of a leader he is for this team," quarterback Drew Lock said. "Personally, for him, I talked to him a lot in the offseason. He was gunning, he was ready to go. He was extremely excited. It was a new focus from Von. I think when you hit double digits [in NFL seasons], it becomes real life for you, and he was excited. It hurts our team and our spirts just how much we cared for the guy. Life goes on. He's going to work to get back on the field as fast as possible and we have to work to win games."


Without Miller in the lineup, Fangio said the entire Broncos roster will need to rise to the occasion — both from a leadership perspective and an on-field-play perspective.


"The whole team has to pick up the void," Fangio said. "It's not the player that ends up playing for him, it's not the defense, it's not the offense, it's not the special teams, it's everybody. When you lose a player of that caliber, everybody has to pick up the slack in all facets — on the field, off the field and in the locker room. We have a good enough team to do that. If you're a good enough team, you can overcome these injuries. There are countless examples of that over the years — very recently and a very long time ago. Any time you want to look at, there's been these types of injuries that teams have overcome and still had successful seasons. We want to be added to that list."


Outside linebackers Jeremiah Attaochu and Malik Reed will "share" Miller's reps, Fangio said.


"It'll be those two guys primarily getting the share of snaps," Fangio said. "Who ends up starting, who ends up playing in what packages will be fluid, but it'll be those two guys. I wouldn't say it'll be one guy."


The Broncos, though, won't rush Bradley Chubb back from an ACL injury in Miller's absence. Whether Chubb is on a pitch count against the Titans is independent of Miller's injury.


"Absolutely not," Fangio said when asked if Miller's injury changes Chubb's status. "I told him that today already."


As the Broncos near their Week 1 game, Fangio said he spoke with the team to acknowledge the loss and disappointment — and to emphasize that the Broncos' season is not over before it has begun.


"You have to acknowledge the loss and you have to acknowledge your sadness on a personal level, but we can go out and still play winning football," Fangio said. "We talked about that today and we'll move forward [while] never forgetting Von and hoping that he returns at some point this year. The good thing about his injury is once it's healed, it's healed. It's not one of those where he'll have lingering effects."