Thursday night will mark a major milestone in the life of Broncos rookie offensive lineman Sam Jones.

Jones, a Colorado native who played at ThunderRidge High School in Highlands Ranch and was selected in the sixth round of the 2018 draft, played his college football at Arizona State, about 25 miles southeast from the University of Phoenix Stadium — where Jones will make his NFL debut with the Broncos against the Cardinals.

“Yeah, that’s pretty crazy,” Jones said. “I’m excited for it.”

The news of Jones’ promotion to suiting up on the active roster Monday by coach Vance Joseph was bittersweet, though, considering what Denver lost. Starting right guard Ron Leary, a seven-year veteran, is out for the season with a right Achilles tear. The shuffling of bodies gives Jones an opportunity to showcase his skill set at 6-foot-5 and 305 pounds.

Jones started 25 games at Arizona State, primarily at left guard, and worked both inside slots in addition to center during training camp. Should either Matt Garcia or Connor McGovern be unable to play Thursday, Jones will be called upon to fill in.

“I feel comfortable anywhere on the interior,” Jones said. “Wherever they need me to plug in, that’s what I’ll do.”

Cravens cleared. Although he will not be eligible to come off injured reserve until before the Week 9 game against Houston, Broncos safety Su’a Cravens (knee) has been cleared to practice.

Cravens was initially injured early in training camp but returned to play in the preseason finale at Arizona. He was placed on injured reserve Sept. 1 and underwent surgery.

“Actually, my knee felt fine (after the Cardinals game),” Cravens said. “It just got swollen on me again. We (had an MRI) again, nothing came up and when I got surgery, when they opened up my knee, they found that I had a torn meniscus as well. That was going on the whole time. We got that solved. They did a great surgery and I’m a lot healthier than I was.”

Cravens, who was expected to play a large role in the Broncos’ dime defense (six defensive backs), said he could play in a game if he wasn’t on injured reserve.

“I’m ready to ball,” he said. “I know everybody is waiting on me to play and they’ve been waiting for a long time. They’ll see (No.) 21 out there (soon).”

Injury report. In addition to left guard Ron Leary (torn Achilles), the Broncos are monitoring right tackle Jared Veldheer (knee), cornerback Adam Jones (thigh) and linebacker Shane Ray (ankle).

Joseph said Veldheer (out two consecutive games) and Jones (out against the Rams) remains day to day.

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Elway highlights. During his regular appearance on a Broncos broadcast partner (760 AM), general manager John Elway addressed many issues.

On the Broncos’ last-ranked rush defense: “Obviously, we’ve (gotten) very soft in there. To give up the amount of yardage the last two weeks has been tough. We’re not playing very well inside. … That is a big concern. We have to figure out how to get that solved.”

On the Broncos’ four-game losing streak: “After going through what we went through last year, there’s no question it’s a bad feeling. You can’t hide from it. The only way to get away from it is to get to (game day) and play well and win.”

On the team’s struggles: “It’s a combination of everything. The bottom line is, it starts with me and it goes on down.”