Alex Singleton still coming to grips with torn ACL

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Alex Singleton still doesn’t know exactly how he tore his anterior cruciate ligament during the Denver Broncos’ Week 3 win at Tampa Bay.

He knows it happened on the sixth play of the game.

“Freak thing. I don’t really know still if contact, non-contact, whatever,” the team captain said Friday just outside of the locker room.

“The play it happened, I was like, ‘Oh, I did something,'” Singleton added a moment later. “I didn’t know what it was, and then it went away. I didn’t feel it on the sideline, never felt it the rest of the game.”

Then he felt swelling in the knee.

“After the game, I kind of went in and was like, ‘Hey, can I get a sleeve for swelling?'” Singleton recalled. “I know I did something the 6th play of the game to my knee.'”

“And they were kind of amazed. They checked it right then. I think they knew. And I didn’t find out ’til that night, but then it swelled up pretty quick.”

Broncos LB Alex Singleton, on his ACL tear — which happened on the 6th play of the 9/22 game: “The play it happened, I was like, ‘Oh, I did something,’ I didn’t know what it was, and then it went away. I didn’t feel it on the sideline, never felt it the rest of the game.” pic.twitter.com/Hp7CYXXOdI

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 5, 2024

Twelve days later …

“Yeah, it still blows my mind,” he said. “I was telling everyone today, I was like, ‘If this was Super bowl weekend, I would be playing. So it’s kind of, it’s [lousy] and it is what it is, and you just have to get ready for next year after you have the procedure.”

Somehow, Alex Singleton played 50 snaps on a knee with a torn ACL. Nearly two weeks later, with a surgery date of Oct. 15 fast approaching, one question remains: How was he able to do it?

He admitted that he wasn’t amazed by the feat.

“No, I think that’s more just my preparation and taking care of my body, the way I eat,” he said. “I do true movement, pilates-ish workouts and just the way I’ve trained.

“I wasn’t surprised that my quad and everything were kind of able to fit or cover up what was going on. And so, I’m thankful for that.”

WHAT COMES NEXT FOR ALEX SINGLETON

Singleton won’t play until next year. But he remains a defensive captain. As he awaits surgery, he remains a staple at practice and in the locker room. That will continue once he begins his rehabilitation later this month.

Cody Barton now wears the green dot and relays the defensive play calls. Justin Strnad started last Sunday, making his first defensive start in nearly three years.

Singleton, who has another year left on his contract, will be there for support. He won’t be practicing, but he won’t be far away, either.

“It’s huge just to be able to help,” Singleton said.

“Just to keep that cohesiveness, knowing that I’m their biggest supporter,” he added a moment later. “I think you never want to get hurt or have something happen, but for those guys, it’s huge. They get to play, they get to step up, they get to play bigger roles and to support that and be there for them and give them the knowledge that I have of the game to be able to use — I think is massive.”

But first he’ll have to get past his surgery. Two days after his ACL procedure, the Broncos will face the New Orleans Saints. That will be the first game for which Singleton isn’t around.

It’s then when the gravity of the situation will hit the veteran linebacker with the same force he dispenses on foes.

“It hasn’t fully hit me yet because I’ve been around, I haven’t missed anything,” he said. “I got to hobble around West Virginia and be with the guys, will be on the sideline the next two weeks, be at every practice, meeting.

“Then I think when I get surgery Oct. 15 and when they’re in New Orleans playing, I think that’ll be the first time. I’m like, ‘Damn, it’s over for this year.'”

And the real work will begin.