Injuries hurt a team’s chances of winning.
With the Denver Broncos in Las Vegas against their division rival Raiders, the game barely got underway before a player was injured.
P.J. Locke, the Broncos third-year, backup safety was injured on the opening kickoff of the day. Locke was looked at by Broncos medical staff in the middle of the field as teammates knelt around him. He was eventually carted off and ruled “out” with a concussion.
Denver was already thin in the defensive backfield as Justin Simmons has been out since Week 1. Now Locke is out for the game and will be in concussion protocol, meaning he will likely miss the Broncos next game, on Thursday night against Indianapolis, too.
Late in the second quarter, Melvin Gordon fumbled and the ball was returned; a fumble-6 for the Raiders. Gordon — who now has four fumbles in four games this year — went into the medical tent and came out without his helmet. Gordon did return to the game in the middle of the third quarter after third-string back Mike Boone was given a drive.
Then, early in the second half, the Broncos sustained maybe the most important injury of the game.
Star running back Javonte Williams injured his left knee on an otherwise innocuous play. He was carried off the field with his arms over the shoulders of Broncos trainers and was ruled as “questionable” or 50/50 to return. He was later downgraded to “out.”
Javonte Williams –
Based on this angle, I’d think Right knee injury. Looks like he twisted on it. pic.twitter.com/CFyD7r6fQC
— Jeff Mueller, PT, DPT (@jmthrivept) October 2, 2022
The Broncos trail 25-23 with 3 minutes to go at the time of this update.
Add Randy Gregory to the list. Gregory injured his knee on a pass rushing play. He walked off the field under his own power but the cart came out to take him from the medical tent.