As many other Broncos have done this season, Chris Harris Jr. played through injury on Sunday, and it became more and more apparent as the game went on. The question going forward, though, is just how bad is it?
Reports coming out of the game were that he had an injured shoulder, but it wasn’t until he got an MRI early Monday morning that the Broncos new the extent of the injury.
Source: #Broncos CB Chris Harris was told he has a bruised shoulder following his MRI. Harris intends to play thr/ it n t/ 1st playoff game.
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) January 4, 2016
That’s obviously good news for the Harris and the Broncos, but as Gary Kubiak said during his Monday press conference, the Pro Bowl corner is definitely in some pain.
“His shoulder. He played through it,” Kubiak said. “Actually I just walked by him in the locker room. [He is] pretty sore, so we’ll see.”
Once again, it goes to so how critical Sunday’s game was. Not only did it secure them the AFC West title, but it secured a first-round bye, which is a godsend for all of Denver’s injured players, of which Harris is now one. If the Broncos had fallen to the Chargers, they would have dropped all the way down to the fifth seed, forcing them into a Wild Card matchup with the Houston Texans next weekend; there’s a legitimate chance that Harris, Brandon Marshall, Darian Stewart, DeMarcus Ware and more would have been absent.
With an extra week of rehab, now there’s a good chance the Broncos will enter their divisional-round matchup healthier than they’ve been in months.
