Broncos final injury report for Week 16 includes unexpected loss of weapon

The Denver Broncos have already gotten a ton of great production out of their 2024 rookie class, but they are going to need even more in Week 16 against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Broncos play the Chargers on Thursday Night Football in Week 16, and they are going to have to win without running back Jaleel McLaughlin, who was ruled out for the game with a quad injury.

Although McLaughlin had been on the injury report all week long, there had been absolutely no rumors about the potential that he could miss this game considering he was a "limited" participant on Tuesday at practice.

Considering the fact that McLaughlin has arguably been the Broncos' most efficient running back this season, the loss is rather significant. And it also paves the way for a couple of rookies to come in and make their mark.

Denver Broncos rookie running backs have a chance to shine vs. Chargers

The Broncos still obviously have Javonte Williams, whose last month-plus has been arguably the worst of his NFL career thus far. Williams has been so ineffective that the Broncos were throwing on 3rd-and-1 against the Colts on Sunday.

They also have rookie 5th-round pick Audric Estimé, who inexplicably only has 17 total carries over the last four games after basically getting promoted into the lead role against the Chiefs back on November 10. The Broncos have made more of an effort to involve Estimé in the last five or six weeks, but they also haven't exactly given him the bulk of the carries.

While we expect Estimé to get a healthy dose of work against the Chargers, this is also a huge opportunity for rookie running back Blake Watson, a player who has been on Denver's practice squad for a handful of weeks after initially cracking the final 53-man roster. The Broncos needed room on the roster and took a risk, subjecting Watson to waivers and managing to bring him back.

We will almost undoubtedly see Watson elevated for this game against the Chargers unless the Broncos decide to roll with just two backs.

I'm sure a lot of people are wondering where Tyler Badie has been, and understandably so. Badie looked great in Denver's win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this year, but was unfortunately hurt the very next week against the Jets. The injury he suffered in that game landed him on IR, and to this point, the Broncos have not opened his practice window.

With that in mind, Badie will not be available to play against the Chargers. It'll likely be the combination of Javonte Williams, Audric Estimé, and Blake Watson getting work for Denver in the backfield.

The injury report is not good news for cornerback Riley Moss, either, although I suppose you would have to say that it's a mixed bag, at the very least. Moss was improving in his practice involvement and will likely be ready to go for the Bengals game next week, but he's not 100 percent medically cleared for the Chargers.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton has stated that they allow players to play if the medical staff clears them, and they don't just arbitrarily give them extra time to be on the safe side. If Moss isn't playing against the Chargers, it's because he's not likely 100 percent ready to do so at this point in time.

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Pat Surtain II, who suffered an ankle injury against the Colts, will be on the field against the Chargers and will likely be playing opposite Damarri Mathis and Kris Abrams-Draine once again.