Broncos rookie Bolles suffers lower-leg injury in win over Cowboys

Denver Broncos head coach Vance Joseph didn’t elaborate much on the status of rookie left tackle Garett Bolles after his club’s 42-17 win over the Dalllas Cowboys, but reports indicate the lower-leg injury he suffered may be serious.

In his postgame press conference, Joseph said Bolles was being evaluated at the time and he’d know more information tomorrow.

However, ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter reports that the Broncos are concerned that Bolles broke his ankle, and he’ll undergo an MRI on Monday.

Broncos are concerned that rookie first-round pick Garett Bolles broke his ankle, per source. Hoping it’s a high ankle sprain. MRI in am.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 18, 2017

Bolles, the Broncos first-round draft pick this offseason, needed a cart to leave the field midway through the third quarter on Sunday, fighting back tears and in visible pain.

After the game, Bolles would also need crutches to leaving the locker room after the game.

Garett Bolles on crutches with a boot on his left leg. pic.twitter.com/QvWmjmH09G

— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) September 18, 2017

Through a little more than a game and a half, Bolles ranked 36th in the NFL among all tackles according to Pro Football Focus, the best among grade among all the tackles in his draft class, including fellow first-rounder Ryan Ramczyk.

Veteran guard Allen Barbre, not backup tackle Donald Stephenson, played in relief Bolles, a move Joseph said has been the plan all along.

“That’s been the plan for the last two weeks, dressing Barbre and playing him some at left guard with Max (Garcia), and if we had an injury with the tackle position, left or right, he would slide in,” Joseph said. “He’s played most of his career at tackle. So, he was our best option for this game tonight.”

Joseph, however, said he was pleased with how his offensive line played against a strong Cowboys pass rush despite being shorthanded.

“Our run blocking was excellent, and our pass protection … you win some and you lose some,” Joseph said. “Overall, it was solid for us tonight.”

Denver put up 178 rushing yards against Dallas, including 118 yards on 25 attempts for C.J. Anderson.

After the game, Anderson pointed to everyone “buying into the scheme” as the reason for the offense’s early success in 2017.

“I think the o-line played tremendously; (we) ran the ball effectively,” Anderson said. “We gave up one or two sacks. We gave up the sack-fumble. Other than that, how we look at it is if we can just protect Trevor (Siemian), whether that was this scheme now or Kubiak’s scheme last year, if we can protect Trevor, we’ll give ourselves a shot.”

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.