A potential Week 15 injury nightmare for these Broncos appears to be more just a bad dream.
Denver is not planning to place linebacker Dre Greenlaw on injured reserve, multiple sources told The Denver Post on Tuesday. Greenlaw suffered a non-contact hamstring injury late in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 34-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and has been listed as an estimated DNP on Denver’s injury reports Monday and Tuesday.
With 2:07 left in a game that was already decided, Greenlaw chased Jaguars running back Travis Etienne at the back-end of an 11-yard run and came up hopping over to the sidelines on his right leg, clearly unable to put much weight on his left. The Broncos quickly ruled Greenlaw out with a hamstring injury, a somber development for Denver’s late-season push for an AFC West divisional title and No. 1 seed.
The Broncos, though, clearly don’t view Greenlaw’s injury as season-ending. If they did opt to place him on injured reserve, the soonest Greenlaw could return — if Denver locks up the one-seed in the AFC — would be for a potential conference championship game. It’s likely, then, that Greenlaw is back at some point for the Broncos’ playoff run.
Denver’s linebacker room has been a game-by-game carousel this season, with Greenlaw and starting linebacker Alex Singleton just starting to develop some synergy before Greenlaw’s latest ailment. The offseason signee was hampered for much of the start of 2025 with a lingering quad injury, and then served a one-game suspension in Week 8.
Singleton then missed a game three weeks later after undergoing surgery to remove a testicular tumor. And LB3 Justin Strnad didn’t play Sunday against the Jaguars with a foot injury, with rookie Karene Reid already on injured reserve since November.
The Broncos should have reinforcements in any extended Greenlaw absence, as Strnad was a full participant in Tuesday’s walkthrough and looks set to start next to Singleton in Greenlaw’s place against the Chiefs on Christmas Day. Denver, too, could elevate Reid this week off IR after opening his 21-day window to return last week.
Center shakeup
Broncos starting center Luke Wattenberg wasn’t present for Tuesday’s walkthrough with a shoulder injury, indicating Wattenberg’s highly doubtful to play Thursday against the Chiefs on Christmas Day. It’d be Wattenberg’s first missed game of the year, after starting 15 straight and earning a midseason extension in his second year as Denver’s man in the middle.
Backup Alex Forsyth would almost certainly be the next man up in Wattenberg’s absence. Forsyth filled in capably for four games in 2024 when Wattenberg was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury, and has plenty of cohesion with quarterback Bo Nix dating back to a shared 2022 season playing for Oregon.
Still rotating
The Broncos eased left guard Ben Powers back into action slowly against Jacksonville, playing Powers just 23 snaps in his return off injured reserve in a two-possession rotation with Alex Palczewski. Payton said Tuesday that the Powers-Palczewski rotation will continue Thursday night against Kansas City.
“Not bad,” Payton said, asked how he thought Powers looked in his return. “Good. It’s good to have him back out there. I thought we got him the right amount of playing time.”
Banged up
The Broncos will be asking Santa for better health for Christmas.
In addition to Greenlaw and Wattenberg, receiver Pat Bryant is unlikely to play against the Chiefs Thursday after suffering a concussion late in Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars. Bryant was taken to the hospital after a late-game hit, but has avoided “serious” injury, as a source told The Post last Sunday. He wasn’t present at Tuesday’s walkthrough, though.
Tight end Nate Adkins also wasn’t present Tuesday, after hurting his knee against Jacksonville. That’ll present a quandary for head coach Payton if Adkins can’t go on Christmas: practice-squad blocker Marcedes Lewis is out of elevations, and Denver has only two other tight ends — Evan Engram and Adam Trautman — on its active roster.
“We’ll see,” Payton said Tuesday, asked how he’d handle Adkins’ absence. “We’re not going through our lineups today. I appreciate the question.”
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