The Denver Broncos have ruled out two players for Thursday Night Football against the Los Angeles Chargers. As Denver looks to clinch their first post-season berth in nine years, they’ll have to aim to do so without one of their top cornerbacks and running backs.
Denver Broncos rule out Riley Moss, Jaleel McLaughlin vs. Chargers
Cornerback Riley Moss will not play for the third straight game as the Broncos travel to take on the Los Angeles Chargers as he continues to progress his way through an MCL sprain. It was always anticipated that Moss would not play in this game, but a promising sign for his return could be that he upgraded from DNP to limited participation this week.
The widespread belief is that he’ll return against the Cincinnati Bengals and Joe Burrow, which comes at the right time considering their weapons at wide receiver, but he’ll have to make it through practice following the Chargers game to give us a better idea.
Rookie cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine will continue to work in at cornerback when the Broncos go into their nickel package, and Damarri Mathis will more than likely work in when they come out in their base defense. Both corners are expected to play quite a bit against the Chargers, regardless of the rotation.
Running back Jaleel McLaughlin was ruled out for Thursday Night Football due to a quad injury he suffered in the Broncos 31-13 win against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 15. He left the game and did not return. He did not participate in Wednesday’s final walkthrough practice.
The good news for the Broncos is that cornerback Patrick Surtain II (ankle), defensive lineman D.J. Jones (finger), and defensive end John Franklin-Myers (foot) were estimated to be full participants on Wednesday, and they no longer have a game status, which means that they will play on Thursday Night.
Kickoff is set for 6:15 p.m. MT on Amazon Prime or ABC locally in Denver.
