Broncos linebacker Aaron Patrick suffered a torn ACL on a bizarre play during Monday’s game against the Chargers that saw him collide with a media member on the sidelines, his agent told NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
The injury, which took place early in overtime in Denver’s 19–16 loss, will cause Patrick to miss the remainder of the season, per Pelissero.
The circumstances that led to Patrick’s severe injury were somewhat unordinary as he went outside of the side boundary while trying to make a tackle on Chargers punt returner DeAndre Carter. He collided with what appeared to be a media member, causing him to take an awkward step on a carpet that had been placed on the ground nearby
Patrick fell down after the play and immediately grabbed at his knee.
Patrick’s agent, Lamont Smith, expressed his concern about the sideline setup that led to the third-year player injuring his knee.
“I was very disturbed about the way the injury occurred with the carpet being on the sideline like that,” Smith said in a text to Pelissero. “His cleat got lodged in the carpet trying to avoid the media person.”
This is the second time in recent years that an NFL player has suffered a serious injury due to a collision with media personnel on the sidelines. In 2020, Raiders safety Johnathan Abram sprained his shoulder and chipped off a small piece of his collarbone when he crashed into a television cart during a game.
Patrick, an undrafted free agent out of Eastern Kentucky, is in his second year with the Broncos. He has 11 career tackles in 17 games played.
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