Broncos tight end Greg Dulcich is going on injured reserve after all.
The second-year player out of UCLA injured his hamstring late in the first half against Las Vegas last weekend. As a result of the placement, Dulcich will miss at least four games. He is eligible to return Week 6 at Kansas City — a Thursday night game — at the earliest.
Part of the concern with Dulcich is that he’s had recurring injuries to his right hamstring. They cost him a total of seven games — the first five of the year and the final two — over his rookie year and most of the offseason program after he was drafted.
Dulcich did not practice during the week but Denver waited to see how he responded in the opening days after the injury before deciding to take him out of consideration for at least four weeks.
Teams can designate up to eight players to return from injured reserve over the course of the season. The Broncos already have four that could be contenders: Dulcich, safety P.J. Locke, nickel K’Waun Williams and offensive lineman Alex Palczewski.
The Broncos also announced they elevated practice squad running back Dwayne Washington, a capable special teams player, to the active roster for Sunday’s game against Washington.
Jackson fined. The NFL fined Broncos veteran safety Kareem Jackson $14,819 for a hit on Las Vegas wide receiver Jakobi Meyers during Week 1.
Jackson hit Meyers over the middle of the field on a critical third-down play on Las Vegas’ closing drive of the game. Meyers remains in concussion protocol and is not playing this weekend for the Raiders.
After the game, the veteran Broncos safety said, “obviously we don’t play this game to hurt people,” and wished Meyers a speedy recovery.
Broncos safety Justin Simmons, however, was not fined for a hit that drew an unnecessary roughness penalty.
Simmons said early in the week he didn’t think he should be fined for a first-quarter hit on Jimmy Garoppolo after replay showed he mostly hit the Raiders quarterback in the back and made more contact with his teammate, Frank Clark.
“I guess great acting on Jimmy’s end,” Simmons said Wednesday. Later, he added, “I don’t make the rules, but I don’t think it was fine-worthy. If it was, I’m sure we’ll do a good job with the appeal to that.”
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