With a wide grin and renewed hope, Jake Butt offered his first update in months as Broncos’ training camp loomed. It was late June, and his recovery from a third ACL injury had seemed to be nearing its end. When camp opened the following month, he expected to be a full-go.



“I haven’t had any hiccups, no setbacks, so that’s been great,” he said that afternoon at Ed McCaffrey’s camp in Highlands Ranch. “It’s kind of just been a steady climb. It’s obviously a process, a long process, but I feel really, really close. …”



The Broncos’ fifth-round pick in 2017 has been beset by injury after injury, rehab after rehab, limiting him to only three games since arriving in Denver. The third ACL recovery, which included meniscus surgery, has been the most difficult, physically and mentally, and the end isn’t in sight for Butt.



“When he starts to feel good and plays or practices, it flares...