Denver lost another game and two more starters for the rest of the season Thursday night against Indianapolis.
Head coach Nathaniel Hackett announced Friday morning that left tackle Garett Bolles (right leg) and cornerback Ronald Darby (right ACL) will both miss the remainder of the year after suffering serious injuries.
Bolles went down late in the fourth quarter when Colts defensive end Deforest Buckner, in the process of tackling Broncos running back Mike Boone, rolled onto the back of his right leg.
Darby came up limping after helping make a tackle along the home sideline and was immediately helped to the bench.
“As a coach I can’t control it,” Hackett said of Denver’s mounting injury count. “I can only move forward, I can only go to the drawing board and grind and try to find ways to put people in good positions and the new guys are going to have to go in and we have to find a way to make those guys successful.”
It has been a bad six days for the Broncos on that front. Sunday in Las Vegas, Denver lost starting running back Javonte Williams for the year to a knee injury and outside linebacker Randy Gregory for at least four weeks to a knee injury.
“It crushes me because they’re such good guys and they’ve worked so hard,” Hackett said. “We’re 2-3 right now, it’s not where we wanted to be but it’s where we are and I feel bad for those guys that they can’t be part of us getting us out of this, but they are going to be here for us.”
At cornerback, the most likely plan is that rookie Damarri Mathis steps into Darby’s spot in the starting lineup. The fourth-round pick out of Pitt did just that Thursday night against the Colts and held up well. He also played the second half against Houston when Pat Surtain II missed time with a shoulder issue. There could be shuffling down roster in the secondary, though, as Michael Ojemudia nears a return from the short-term injured reserve list and Darrius Phillips recovers from a hamstring injury.
The picture on the offensive line is less clear. Calvin Anderson slid in at left tackle for Bolles and could continue on there for the rest of the season. The Broncos appear to finally be close to getting Billy Turner back into the picture as well. The veteran was active Thursday night but did not play. He’s now missed the first five games as he rehabs from offseason knee surgery.
“Billy definitely could have gone yesterday,” Hackett said. “We didn’t play him and we’re still trying to give him a little more time, but he was available to be able to go and I think he’ll be able to play at a high level. On that left tackle spot, we just kind of found out all the information, so we’re going to sit down as an offensive staff and decide what’s best for the team.”
Denver has also missed right guard Quinn Meinerz, who played 18 snaps against Seattle in the season opener and then dropped out with a hamstring injury. He was close to returning for the game at Las Vegas, but aggravated the injury in practice and hasn’t been active the past two gamedays.
Turner, a ninth-year lineman, can play tackle and guard, so Denver’s staff will use the coming week to figure out how to get its best group on the field.
