And only once he jogs out on the field, he said, will he truly find his place in the defense and begin to prepare for the 2018 season.

"I've actually got to get on the field and contribute to understand what's going on out there," McDonald said. "Especially [because] it's not just you out there on the field. [In] basketball, it's LeBron James and four other guys. It's not like that in football at all. Football takes all 11 guys to complete your goal and get to where you want to be."

"So this spring was kind of hard for me not to be able to contribute in [a normal] sense. It's the first spring I ever was sidelined due to any kind of injury or illness. It was kind of humbling in a sense. It was shocking, because I know the type of guy I want to be here in Denver. I know the type of guy I want the coaches and my teammates to see me as."