Greg Dulcich returns to Broncos practice, but two key guys still out

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Greg Dulcich’s career has been star-crossed and dominated by hamstring injuries to this point. And in his absence, the Broncos have struggled to find a threat down the middle of the field.

But if he returns, he could be something of a secret weapon for the team down the stretch. And he appeared to take a significant step in that process by returning to practice on Wednesday as the Broncos ramped up preparations for Saturday’s game against the Detroit Lions.

“It was awesome,” fellow tight end Adam Trautman said. “Greg’s been obviously working his tail off trying to get back, and he’s gonna come back when he thinks he’s ready to play and everything. When he comes back, he will be a huge asset to our team. So, we’re looking forward to getting him back.”

The team officially opened the window for his return from injured reserve, so he now has 21 days to be activated to play again this season.

Head coach Sean Payton said “we’ll see” if Dulcich can go against the Lions.

“He looks the same, so he looks great,” Trautman said.

The presence of Dulcich on the practice field affirmed Payton’s prediction from last month, when he said that he expected the 2022 third-round pick to return before the end of the season.

Without Dulcich — who has played parts of just two games so far this season — the Broncos’ passing game has struggled to use the full scope of the field.

“It’s … disappointing for us, just because of the great player that he is and the threat in the passing game — the vertical stretch that he has on the defense, things he can do in the short-mid-range game,” quarterback Russell Wilson said in October after Dulcich landed on injured reserve.

THE INJURY LEDGER OF GREG DULCICH

So far in his career, Dulcich has missed 18 games to hamstring injuries, while playing in just 12. He won’t be able to tip the scales toward having played in more games than he’s missed before the end of the regular season, even if he returns to the active roster before Saturday’s game against the Detroit Lions.

Dulcich has dealt with hamstring injuries on five occasions during his career to date. The first one struck during OTAs in 2022. He then landed on injured reserve for 5 games to open that season. After playing 10-straight games, he suffered another hamstring issue and ended that season with a 2-game IR stint.

He began his second season in action, but didn’t even last one half of the regular-season opener against Las Vegas before suffering another hamstring injury. A four-game injured-reserve stint followed before he returned against Kansas City and again hurt his hamstring.

This led to a cautious approach. Dulcich has missed seven games and eight weeks since that injury at Arrowhead Stadium.

BUT TWO KEY BRONCOS DID NOT PRACTICE

While Dulcich returned, safety P.J. Locke and edge rusher Nik Bonitto did not practice. Both suffered injuries against the Chargers last Sunday: Locke to his neck and Bonitto to his knee. Locke could barely speak above a whisper in the locker room Sunday in the wake of the injury.

Bonitto is the Broncos’ leading sacker with 7 so far this season. But Locke’s injury could be far more concerning in the short term, as Kareem Jackson’s suspension has another week left to run. If Locke can’t play, Delarrin Turner-Yell would likely start, and the defense has struggled this year with Turner-Yell on the field.