Broncos Resign Offensive Lineman Marcus Cox To Practic Squad As Depth Piece

The life of a practice squad player is precarious, especially if that player is a rookie. Denver Broncos offensive lineman Marques Cox found out how that works first-hand as the Broncos resigned him to their practice squad, with the news tweeted out by Parker Gabriel.

Cox made the team this spring as an undrafted free agent, and he’s already been cut twice. But this addition was prompted in part by the practice-squad promotion of cornerback Reese Taylor, who was added to provide depth as the Broncos await the return of cornerback Patrick Surtain II as he recovers from a pectoral injury.

Cox, too, will likely be a depth piece. The Broncos have been shuffling bodies up front all season long, with the process starting when they lost starting left guard Ben Powers to a biceps injury. Powers’ replacement then went down, and the game of musical lineman continues with the addition of Cox.

The injuries haven’t stopped the Broncos from winning, however. They’re riding an eight-game winning streak, and they’ll travel to visit the Washington Commanders in a game in which they’ll likely be favored, even if Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels does recover from his elbow injury to make an unexpected start.

The lineman have their work cut out for them now that running back J.K. Dobbins is out for the year with a foot injury, and the injury issues showed against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Broncos got the win, but they did it with virtually no running game as they eked out a 22-19 victory.

Hopefully that won’t be the case this week against the Commanders. Their run defense has been porous all year, so there’s an opportunity for Denver to get back on track in this one.

Getting Surtain back would restore a lot of stability across the board, but there are other moves to be made aside from adding Cox. The Broncos could use a bigger back to handle some of the workload with Dobbins out, and it’s somewhat surprising that they haven’t poached one from another team’s practice squad.

Cox, meanwhile, probably won’t see the field this year, but he’s probably just happy to have a job for the rest of the year. The Broncos will probably keep him around, and it’s a testimony to his resilience as he endures the ups and down of an undrafted rookie free agent that’s using him as injury insurance.