Denver Broncos place former Iowa CB Michael Ojemudia on injured reserve

A former Hawkeyes defensive back is going to start the 2021 NFL season on IR.

Denver Broncos GM George Paton confirmed the news while speaking to the media on Wednesday.

Paton confirmed Mike Boone and Michael Ojemudia will go on IR. Said Fleming and Stephen will be back.

— Nick Kosmider (@NickKosmider) August 31, 2021

This isn’t something Broncos fans want to see, though the IR rule is a bit different this season. Ojemudia will only have to miss a minimum of 3 games while being on IR, as opposed to 8 which was the rule previously.

The NFL just made it official in a memo to clubs: Unlimited players can return from a team’s injured reserve list in 2021 and they’re eligible after missing three games, rather than eight weeks, per source. A popular change spawned by COVID challenges stays for another year.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 10, 2021

Ojemudia was hurt during the Broncos preseason win over the Seattle Seahawks on Aug. 21 and it looked like it was going to be a lot worse after he was carted off the field. That ended up not being the case as Broncos insider Mike Klis reported that it’s a hamstring issue, not a knee issue.

Per multiple sources, Broncos got good news on CB Michael Ojemudia. Hamstring injury, not knee as initially feared. Out week to week but should be fine. Ojemudia was having nice camp/preseason. #9sports

— Mike Klis (@mikeklis) August 22, 2021

Ojemudia appeared in all 16 games for Denver in the 2020 season and also started in 11 of them. He finished with 62 total tackles (55 solo) with 6 passes defended and 4 fumbles.

He looked to be on pace to start again going into this season before this injury occurred. Luckily, it doesn’t look terrible and he should be back out there a few weeks into the season.