The Denver Broncos will be without recently-acquired safety Su'a Cravens for a while. According to a report from NFL Network's James Palmer, Cravens is expected to have another surgery on his injured knee and will be placed on injured reserve.
Broncos S Su’a Cravens heading to IR and is expected to have another knee procedure. Heard a few weeks ago another procedure on his knee might be needed.
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) September 2, 2018
Cravens was acquired by the Broncos from Washington back in March in exchange for a swap of fourth- and fifth-round picks. He missed the team's first three preseason games with the injured knee but returned for the finale, only to now be knocked out for at least the first eight weeks of the regular season. He'll be eligible to return after Week 8 if he's healthy.
Last year, Cravens considered leaving football entirely.
He had been slated to enter the season as a starting safety for Washington -- which had selected him in the second round of the 2016 draft -- but instead informed the team that he intended to retire, just a week before the start of the season. Washington convinced Cravens to put off his retirement to retire and placed him on the exempt list in order to give him more time to consider his decision. They later placed him on a reserve list, ending his season. Cravens was reinstated by the league in February, and was then traded a month later.
The Broncos still have Darian Stewart and 2016 draft picks Justin Simmons and Will Parks at safety, but the loss of Cravens is another blow to a secondary that also will be without Aqib Talib, who was traded to the Rams earlier this offseason. The team acquired some depth, however, signing Tramaine Brock and drafting Isaac Yiadom, and then signing longtime Bengals corner Adam Jones last week.