Denver Gets Cooper Back. The Linebacker Room Is Still Two Deep.

Jonathon Cooper is off the commissioner's exempt list and eligible for Week 7. That's a real thing, and the Broncos needed it.

The problem is what the room looks like even with him in it. Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad are the two linebackers who have logged meaningful snaps this season — Singleton carrying the larger share, Strnad filling in behind him. Nik Bonitto is listed third and hasn't played. That's the rotation Denver is working with heading into the back half of the schedule, and Cooper's return doesn't change the count so much as it stabilizes the edges around it.

The preseason already took Levelle Bailey, whose broken leg ended his season in August. That loss never got replaced in any real way. So the Broncos are essentially where they've been for weeks: thin by any reasonable standard, relying on the same two players to stay healthy, with not much behind them if either goes down.

Cooper back is better than Cooper absent. It's just not enough to call this position fixed.