Shane Ray Reportedly Expected to Have Surgery to Repair Wrist Injury

Denver Broncos linebacker Shane Ray is reportedly going back under the knife.

According to The Athletic's Nicki Jhabvala, Ray is set to undergo wrist surgery later this week in Houston. As Jhabvala notes, it would be the three-year veteran's fourth operation on the wrist.     

Ray initially injured his left wrist during training camp last year and did not take the field until Week 8 after requiring multiple procedures. Ryan O'Halloran of the Denver Post reported earlier this month that the 25-year-old linebacker sat out part of organized team activities due to discomfort in the wrist, which Broncos coach Vance Joseph called an "irritation."

Via O'Halloran, Ray wrote on Instagram that he "didn't re-injure anything" and that the latest issue is just a "complication from the initial surgery that needs correcting." Regardless, he will now be sidelined once again.

The 2018 season was supposed to be a "prove it" year for Ray. After drafting edge-rusher Bradley Chubb with the fifth overall pick in this year's draft, Denver declined the fifth-year option on Ray's contract back in May.

As a result, the 23rd overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft was going to have to use the upcoming campaign to prove to the Broncos and the other 31 teams that he is healthy and can make an impact on defense.

"Everybody thought I had a simple wrist injury. Well, you don't have three surgeries in the season for a simple wrist injury," Ray told Jhabvala. "I dislocated my entire wrist. I had to get it screwed back together and repair a main tendon in my wrist. I still made the decision to come out and play, and I only had one hand. That's the heart in me. A lot of people say, 'Don't play, take injury reserve.' Maybe I could've done that, but I'm a fighter. It just didn't feel right for me. Even if I had a little bit in me to sit on the bench. That's the kind of guy I am, I am going to keep fighting. That's all I know how to do."

Starting his career in good health, Ray quickly showed people why he was a first-round pick. He had four sacks in his first season while helping Denver win the Super Bowl, and he followed that up with eight sacks and 48 combined tackles while playing all 16 games during his second year in the league.

The 6'3", 245-pound linebacker had just one sack and 16 combined tackles in eight games last year.

While no exact timetable has been announced, Jhabvala previously wrote that Ray is expected to miss the remainder of the offseason as well as possibly the start of the regular season.