This is good news.

The Broncos have placed outside linebacker Shane Ray (wrist) on injured reserve, which means he cannot play for eight weeks. That does not necessarily mean he’ll miss eight games, though.

“With the surgery — it kinds of falls good for us and here is why we decided to go that way: He has to be on IR for eight weeks. Our bye weeks counts, and then our [Week] 8 game is on a Monday night,” general manager John Elway explained at a press conference on Saturday evening.

“With that being on a Monday night, the eighth Sunday counts as a game. We’ll get him back for the Kansas City game. He’s only going to miss six games.”

The Broncos will play the Chiefs on the road on “Monday Night Football” on Oct. 30 and Ray should be able to make his return then. Until Ray returns, Von Miller and Shaq Barrett will be the top outside linebackers on the depth chart.

It’s still unclear if Barrett (hip) will be able to play against the Chargers in Week 1, though, so Miller and Kasim Edebali may begin the year as the two starting outside linebackers. Rookie DeMarcus Walker is another option as a potential fill-in starter until Barrett returns.