NFL’s top sackmaster Elvis Dumervil says that injury will sideline him until next season

Dumervil confirms his season is over

DENVER — Elvis Dumervil’s season is officially sacked.

The Denver Broncos had been holding out hope the league’s top sacker would make a quicker than anticipated recovery from a torn chest muscle and return to action in December.

Dumervil, however, posted a message on his Twitter account Friday night that confirmed an NFL.com report he’ll be going on injured reserve, ending his season.

Dumervil led the league with 17 sacks last season and got hurt during the first week of training camp shortly after signing a big contract extension.

He wrote in all caps: “To all my fans, thanks for the all the support & kind words but this season for me is over due to my injury that occur during training camp.”

Another tweet said: “The Broncos have a great recovery plan for me to be back 100 percent & more! Now its time to encourage and support the Broncos to the maximum!”

The Broncos were expected to file the transaction with the league office on Saturday. They placed tailback LenDale White on IR on Friday after medical tests confirmed he had ruptured his right Achilles’ tendon in Denver’s exhibition finale Thursday night in Minnesota.

The 26-year-old Dumervil led the league in sacks in 2009 after moving from defensive end to outside linebacker when coach Josh McDaniels arrived from New England and switched to a 3-4 defensive scheme.

Dumervil parlayed his breakout season into a five-year, $58.332 million extension in late July that included $43.168 million in guarantees against injury, a record for a player at his position.

The pass rusher was injured in the first week of training camp last month while doing a 1-on-1 blocking drill with offensive lineman Tyler Polumbus. He had surgery shortly afterward with an anticipated recovery time of four to five months.

McDaniels told The Associated Press last month he was hoping to hold open a spot on the 53-man roster for Dumervil but only if it were feasible for both parties, and the medical experts thought he might recover in time to return to the field for the final month of the season.

“We’ll make the best decision for him and for our team,” McDaniels said at the time.

Either way, McDaniels said the Broncos would sprinkle in some of the old 4-3 defensive alignments during the upcoming season that kicks off Sept. 12 at Jacksonville.