The Denver Broncos made several roster moves on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, including placing two starters on short-term injured reserve. What does this mean for the Broncos personnel going into Sunday’s game?
Denver Broncos place Josh Reynolds, Luke Wattenberg on injured reserve
The Denver Broncos placed starting center Luke Wattenberg and starting wide receiver Josh Reynolds on short-term injured reserve. They’ll miss at least the next four games, and the team will be forced to rely on their depth to help overcome the loss of them.
Second-year center Alex Forsyth will start in Wattenberg’s place on the offensive line, where he’ll reunite with snapping the ball to Bo Nix, who was his center in Nix’s first year at the University of Oregon. He’ll be in line to play at least the next four games as the Broncos gear face the Chargers on Sunday, the New Orleans Saints on Thursday Night Football, the Carolina Panthers, and at the Baltimore Ravens.
Seventh-round rookie wide receiver Devaughn Vele will fill in for Reynolds on offense and will make his return this weekend after being a healthy scratch the last handful of weeks after he suffered a rib injury in Denver’s Week 1 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. He’ll join Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims, Lil’Jordan Humphrey, and Troy Franklin in the receiver rotation.
With their placement on injured reserve, the team activated running back Audric Estime off of IR and promoted practice squad safety Tanner McCalister to the 53-man roster.
For Sunday’s game against the Chargers, the Broncos elevated offensive tackle Cam Fleming and offensive guard/center Calvin Throckmorton from the practice squad to the gameday roster, where they will fill in as backups to Forsyth and Peart on the offensive line.
Kickoff is slated for 2:05 p.m. MT on CBS.