The Denver Broncos kicked off training camp with a couple of roster moves that weren’t exactly on everyone’s bingo card. The team placed inside linebacker Jordan Turner on the Active/Non-Football Injury list Sunday, which is the kind of designation that usually means the injury happened away from team activities. They also put guard Nick Gargiulo on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform list.
Both guys still count toward the 90-man roster, and they can return to practice whenever they’re medically cleared and pass a physical. But the timing here is notable.
Turner is the one that raised eyebrows. Denver didn’t say what he’s dealing with or how long he might be out. The 6-foot-1, 231-pound linebacker signed with the Broncos as an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State back in 2025. He spent his rookie season bouncing between the practice squad and the active roster, eventually playing in seven regular-season games and two playoff games. On defense, he logged 23 snaps and piled up seven tackles with a quarterback hit. But his real work came on special teams, where he played 117 snaps and was on the field for 64 percent of the unit’s plays in the games he appeared.
What Turner’s absence means for Denver’s linebacker room
The expectation was that Turner would compete for a backup role behind starters Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad. Now that he’s out to start camp, that opens the door for a few other guys to make a move. Karene Reid, Lavelle Bailey, seventh-round rookie Red Murdock, and undrafted rookie Taurean York all get more reps by default. Training camp is always about opportunity, and Turner’s absence just handed those four a bigger slice of the pie.
Gargiulo still waiting for his first real NFL action
Gargiulo’s situation is a little different. The seventh-round pick from the 2024 draft has basically been snakebit ever since he got here. He tore up his knee during the preseason last year and missed the entire 2025 season. He did get elevated for four games as a rookie but never saw the field in a regular-season or postseason game. So the guy has been a pro for two years and hasn’t taken a single snap that counts. That has to be frustrating.
The Broncos can activate both players at any point during camp once they’re cleared. Denver’s first public training camp practice is scheduled for Wednesday, July 31. It’s still early, but the way roster battles shake out in the first few days tends to set the tone for the rest of camp.
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