The Broncos head into Week 5 carrying plenty of their own injury concerns, but the Chargers’ situation looks far more severe.
Denver’s Thursday practice report still isn’t clean, yet it showed fewer than half as many injured players as Los Angeles. With one practice day left before Sunday’s game at SoFi Stadium, the gap between the two AFC West rivals is hard to miss.
For Denver, there was encouraging movement from Marvin Mims Jr. and Adam Trautman, both of whom went from limited to full participation on Thursday. Tillman missed last week’s game with a hamstring injury, and the Broncos’ defense suffered for it.
Jaleel Badie remains limited by a foot injury, though he has been a full participant on both practice days so far. In the running back room, the Broncos also got a cleaner bill of health, with RJ Harvey and J.K. Dobbins no longer appearing on the injury report.
Not everyone is trending the right way. Patrick Surtain, Ja’Quan McMillian and Dondrea Tillman are in a tougher spot this week.
Friday will determine McMillian’s status, but he is trending toward not playing. With Surtain and Tillman, the expectation has been since Monday that both are likely out for Week 5 at minimum, and possibly longer, because of their ankle injuries.
That leaves Jahdae Barron, Kris Abrams-Draine, and Courtland Sutton with bigger roles on Sunday in the absence of three important Broncos.
The Chargers, though, are the team really in rough shape. At 0-4, they are dealing with a long injury list, and the two biggest concerns for this matchup sit at offensive tackle. Neither Rashawn Slater nor Joe Alt is expected to play.
That creates an obvious opening for Nik Bonitto and Jonah Elliss, who should have a prime chance to make life miserable for Justin Herbert. Herbert has already been sacked 12 times, and after the Broncos were shut out in that category last week against the San Francisco 49ers, they’ll be looking to get pressure home in a hurry.
Los Angeles also has other notable names whose Week 5 status is shaky, including James, Jackson, and McConkey, among others. The Chargers are in desperate mode, and that makes them dangerous in its own way. Denver has the better injury picture, but it will still need to be sharp enough to take advantage of every missing piece.
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Bo Nix Sends Clear Message As Broncos Criticism Keeps Growing
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Broncos Trade Chip Just Got More Interesting After Lions' Defensive Mess
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Moss is only 26 and was a third-round pick, the kind of young defender a team would prefer to keep unless the return is meaningful. For Detroit, the appeal is obvious given the early-season struggles on that side of the ball, but any attempt to pry him loose would likely take a sizable draft haul and that is where the real question begins. [Read more 🡒]