The first injury report of the week gave the Broncos a clean bill of health and left the Chiefs with a few more questions to answer before Monday night.
Denver heads into its season opener at Arrowhead Stadium in solid shape. Every player on the Broncos’ active roster is healthy, including Marvin Mims, who showed up on the report with a bruised foot but practiced in full on Wednesday and Thursday. That means there should be no restrictions on his role against Kansas City.
Mims had already worked his way back from a soft-tissue injury that sidelined him for a few weeks during training camp. He returned in time for the Broncos’ preseason finale, only to pick up the bruised foot a few snaps into that game. Even so, the full practice designation points to him being ready for Week 1.
For Denver, that’s a welcome change from the kind of injury crunch that can tilt a game before it even starts. The Broncos were without quarterback Bo Nix, running back J.K.
Dobbins, wide receivers Pat Bryant and Troy Franklin at times, and safety Brandon Jones in the AFC championship game in January, and that absence clearly mattered in Denver. This time, those players are all at 100%.
Sean Payton said Wednesday the team’s summer injury stretch was unusual, but he sounded encouraged by where things stand now.
“I was probably being… I don’t know, it was just a spur there that was troubling," Payton said of the summertime injuries on Wednesday. "Knock on wood, health-wise, we’ve been good, fortunate. That’ll be important, not only in this game, but as you head into the season, handling the workload."
Kansas City’s report is a little less straightforward. Eight Chiefs players who are dealing with injuries still practiced in full Thursday, Mahomes among them, and he is set to start Monday night. But two players did not practice, and both are listed as starters on the depth chart.
Those two are Conner, who is listed as one of the starting safeties next to newcomer Alohi Gilman, and Simmons, Kansas City’s left tackle. Conner’s status is still up in the air, but the early signs suggest Simmons may not be available.
If Simmons is out, the Chiefs would turn to undrafted rookie Khalil Benson to protect Mahomes’ blind side.
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Broncos Fans Have One Big Reason To Watch Mahomes Closely
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Broncos Still Weighing A Linebacker Concern Before Chiefs Opener
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Inside, the Broncos are comfortable with their starting linebackers, but the search for more options has not stopped there. Depth at the position and contributions in the kicking game remain part of the conversation as Denver puts the finishing touches on its roster before a divisional test that will demand clean depth across the board. [Read more 🡒]