Getty Images

NFL teams have no obligation to disclose injury information during the preseason. The Broncos opted to do so on Saturday night, in connection with the fact that veteran receiver Demaryius Thomas did not play.

“He’s got a sore wrist,” coach Vance Joseph told reporters after the game. “It happened in practice I think on Thursday and he couldn’t go tonight.”

Thomas was the subject of a recent #longread at NFL.com regarding injuries he has suffered over the last two years, criticism he has absorbed from Broncos fans, a recommitment to the game, and a desire to play as long as Larry Fitzgerald has. But with Thomas due to make $8.5 million this year and with a pair of rookie receivers in whom the team seems to have plenty of faith, Thomas may end up being this year’s T.J. Ward — a guy whose name suddenly emerges as a possible candidate to be traded, possibly with an effort to squeeze him to take less in lieu of cutting him loose on the eve of the season. (The player’s sudden decision to break ranks with the team’s approach to the anthem may not help his cause.)

There’s one very important reason why the Broncos may want to tread lightly in this regard. With former Broncos receiver Eric Decker already reunited with Josh McDaniels in New England, Thomas possibly would end up quickly joining the guy who drafted Thomas in the first round of the 2010 draft, when McDaniels coached the Broncos.