Broncos player hints at return from injured reserve with new helmet tease

After a successful road trip to the East Coast in which the Denver Broncos improved to 2-2 on the season (after an 0-2 start), the Broncos are returning to the Mile High City in Week 5 to face off against the Las Vegas Raiders, and the team is coming home to plenty of good news.

Not only are the Broncos returning home on a two-game winning streak, but they are going to debut their highly-anticipated 1977 throwback uniforms against the Raiders. And one of the players who might get a chance to put on the throwbacks for his first game of the 2024 season is young cornerback Damarri Mathis. Mathis was hurt in the preseason for the Broncos and placed on temporary IR to start the season.

Based on something he posted to his Instagram page, it seems like Mathis is getting ready to make his 2024 debut in the new uniforms...

Broncos getting Damarri Mathis back from injured reserve in Week 5?

Mathis is one of a handful of Denver Broncos players eligible to return off of injured reserve or the physically unable to perform list this coming week along with linebacker Drew Sanders (PUP) and safety Delarrin Turner-Yell (PUP). But Mathis is the only one who will realistically be making his return to the field and based on the fact that he's getting fitted for one of the throwback helmets, I'd say his odds are pretty decent.

At least we know Mathis can start ramping his way back up in practice but whether or not the Broncos flat-out activate him to the 53-man roster remains a mystery at the time of this post being written.

It could make some sense given the fact that the team just signed running back Salvon Ahmed to the practice squad with Tyler Badie suffering an injury against the Jets in Week 4. Perhaps we can assume that Badie will be going on injured reserve with Mathis being activated to the 53-man roster.

We'll know more as the Broncos get back to practice on Wednesday afternoon, but Mathis's return would be a welcomed addition to the lineup. The Broncos have spent a fair amount of time in their dime package this season and Mathis showed in the preseason that he has made strides from what we saw last season, where he struggled quite a bit.

Mathis was carted off the field in the preseason with what looked like a bit of a scary injury, but it turned out to be a high ankle sprain. He's been recovering since late August, so he's been out for a little more than a month.

The Broncos will take on the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon at 2:05 MT.