We are only entering the second week of the 2023 regular season and the Broncos have already suffered an inordinate amount of injuries. That trend continued on Thursday as it was announced that the team will be without pass-rusher Frank Clark for "a couple weeks" after sustaining a hip injury in practice this week.
This is bad news for a team that got absolutely no pressure against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 1. Clark was signed during the offseason to help the team deal with the injury to Baron Browning.
The Broncos, who had no sacks against the Raiders, will now have to turn to second-year player Nik Bonitto to step up in Clark's absence. Undrafted free agent Thomas Incoom, who was inactive in Week 1, could see some playing time in this one too.
The Broncos were already without Browning, Tim Patrick, K'Waun Williams and Jalen Virgil entering Week 1. Safety Caden Sterns was hurt against the Raiders and will miss the rest of the season and Greg Dulcich will miss some time as well.
The Broncos are a team that simply can't overcome all of these injuries. There is not enough depth on the roster and at the rate these injuries are occuring, the Broncos are going to have serious problems as this season goes on.
In order for the Broncos to defeat the Washington Commanders this Sunday and avoid an 0-2 start, getting a pass rush on Sam Howell is going to be a key. The team will have to do that without Clark.
Clark spent the past four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs after spending four years with the Seattle Seahawks. He has 58.5 career sacks but his tenure in Denver has not started out great. He had a thumb injury that forced him to miss a lot of practice and the team's first preseason game. Now, it appears this hip injury will sideline him for the time being.