Before the first week of training camp was even in the books, two Denver Broncos players had sustained season-ending injuries. For Broncos fans hoping that the snakebitten injury cloud would be immediately dispersed by head coach Sean Payton’s new health regime, Week 1 of training camp was a cold reminder that football is still a violent, costly sport.

On Tuesday, linebacker Jonas Griffith exited practice with a knee injury. On Thursday, 9NEWS‘ Mike Klis reported that it was a torn ACL for Griffith. He’s out for the year.

Inside linebacker Jonas Griffith will require season-ending surgery to repair a torn ACL, a source told 9NEWS. The injury was suffered during training camp practice Tuesday.

It’s a brutal blow for the third-year pro, who opened last season as the Broncos’ starting inside linebacker next to Josey Jewell. Arriving via trade from San Francisco in 2021, an injury saw Griffith placed on injured reserve after nine games in 2022, which gave rise to Alex Singleton, whose 163 tackles playing next to Jewell earned him a three-year extension from the Broncos and the first real payday of the journeyman’s NFL career.