Broncos’ outside linebacker Robert Ayers has suffered a broken foot, according to an NFL source. Ayers is expected to be out approximately six weeks.

Denver’s Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker, who suffered foot fractures prior to the NFL draft, essentially missed the entire offseason.

There is bad news on Broncos safety Brian Dawkins, too. Dawkins suffered a strained knee ligament in the Broncos’ 31-17 loss at Baltimore on Sunday and will be out two to three weeks. Dawkins, who will turn 37 on Wednesday, had been playing at a high level through the first five games of the season.

Ayers is the team’s top pass rusher.

With Ayers out, the Broncos have only two other outside linebackers on the 53-man roster, Jason Hunter and Jarvis Moss, though starting inside linebacker Mario Haggan started all of 2009 outside.

“Certainly the injuries don’t make it easy, but we’ve been dealing with that for quite some time now,” Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said this morning. “The next guy’s got to step up and play well. We’ve got to give them a good game plan. We might have to be creative with a few things that we do, but that’s part of everyone’s season. Everyone has to go through roster decisions and make their minds up on how to make up for players that can’t play, and that’s where we are right now.”