Broncos add two key players to injury report late Thursday afternoon

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos added two names to their injury report Thursday — both of them big ones.

Defensive end Zach Allen and wide receiver Pat Bryant landed on the report with calf and hamstring issues, respectively. Allen was listed as not practicing, while Bryant was listed with limited participation.

They were added to a ledger that already included defensive lineman D.J. Jones and tight end Nate Adkins, neither of whom has practiced this week. Jones suffered an “>ankle injury in the fourth quarter last Sunday, while Adkins has not practiced or played since injuring his knee on Oct. 26 against the Dallas Cowboys.

Allen was seen stretching before the start of Thursday’s practice with teammates, but despite that, the Broncos listed him as a non-participant. He leads the NFL with 31 quarterback hits so far this season, putting him on pace to exceed his league-leading tally of 40 in 2024.

Last season, Allen became the first interior defensive lineman since Aaron Donald in 2018 to amass at least 40 quarterback hits in a single season. He’s the only player at any position to reach that milestone in the last three seasons.

Since joining the Broncos, Allen has a league-leading 95 quarterback hits; his next-closest pursuer, Cleveland’s Myles Garrett, has seven fewer.

Bryant, meanwhile, has become a more prominent piece of the Broncos’ offensive attack in recent weeks. After accumulating 48 yards on five receptions in the first seven games of the season combined, Bryant has averaged 45.4 yards per game on 2.6 catches per contest in the last five outings — which would extrapolate to a 772-yard pace over 17 games.

He played a career-high 49 snaps last Sunday and has played at least 50 percent of the offensive snaps in seven of the last eight games.

COULD THE BRONCOS AVOID SEEING MAXX CROSBY?

That became a possibility Thursday when the Las Vegas Raiders held the prolific edge rusher out of practice due to a knee injury.

Crosby has played in all 12 games this season for Las Vegas, amassing 8 sacks and 17 quarterback hits. No other Raider has more than 4 sacks this season.

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