Broncos Injury Update: DB Omar Bolden heading to IR

The Denver Broncos are losing another key member of their special teams with the injury to Omar Bolden, who plays defensive back in addition to his duties as a return specialist…

The Broncos have been relatively lucky this season in terms of the number of injuries that have sent players to injured reserve, but it’s never an easy piece of news to have to deliver.

The team announced that defensive back and special teams ace Omar Bolden will not return this season and will be placed on injured reserve after suffering a partially torn PCL in Sunday’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Bolden has developed into a whale of a special teams player, especially in the last two years as a return specialist. The Broncos were playing arguably their worst game of the season against the Indianapolis Colts before a punt return for a touchdown by Bolden at the end of the first half cut the deficit to 17-7.

The Broncos would eventually lose that game, but he contributed a ton to the Broncos’ special teams unit throughout the season, rotated in and helped out on defense, and returned the first of many punts on Sunday against the Steelers 42 yards to set up the Broncos for their first points of the game.

Bolden’s roster spot has not been filled at the time of this writing, but the Broncos are also ailing in a number of ways in the secondary. Their depth at safety has been tested plenty this season, but they’ve also got Chris Harris Jr. hurting, so it remains to be seen if a veteran will be called (perhaps Shaun Prater will return?) or if a youngster like Taurean Nixon will be promoted from the practice squad.