{"id":552107,"date":"2026-01-22T00:48:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T00:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/552107\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T00:48:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T00:48:17","slug":"broncos-rb-j-k-dobbins-returns-to-practice-ahead-of-afc-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/552107\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos RB J.K. Dobbins returns to practice ahead of AFC Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

If Broncos running back J.K. Dobbins has hurdles to clear to be activated from injured reserve for Sunday\u2019s AFC Championship game, he appears to be off to a good start.<\/p>\n

Dobbins was involved in the portion of practice open to reporters on Wednesday, including individual work and ball security drills. The team afterward listed him as a limited participant.<\/p>\n

Head coach Sean Payton declined to say anything about Dobbins, including whether he had a realistic chance to play Sunday.<\/p>\n

Quarterback Sam Ehlinger came away impressed after Dobbins\u2019 first day of practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe looked great. Y\u2019all saw what I saw. He looked really good,\u201d Ehlinger said. \u201cI think our training staff has done a great job of getting him prepared. Obviously, a quick turnaround. He\u2019s in shape and ready to roll, and hopefully we can have him on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dobbins has been on injured reserve since the middle of November due to a Lisfranc injury in his left foot sustained Nov. 7 against Las Vegas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The initial thought from sources around Dobbins was that his best chance to return this season was if Denver advanced all the way to the Super Bowl, allowing for the maximum amount of recovery time. Later in the season, though, head coach Sean Payton hinted that Dobbins had a chance to return earlier in the postseason.<\/p>\n

Dobbins himself has told people in the Broncos\u2019 building throughout his rehabilitation that he would be back for the playoffs, though ultimately, he was not ready to return for Denver\u2019s divisional game last week against Buffalo.<\/p>\n

Dobbins signed with Denver in June and was one of the NFL\u2019s most productive backs over the first half of the season. In 10 games, he rushed for 772 yards (5.0 per carry) and four touchdowns. He sustained the Lisfranc injury when he got tackled by Raiders defensive lineman Tyree Wilson on a play Dobbins believed was an illegal hip-drop tackle.<\/p>\n

Dobbins and the Broncos spent more than a week going through potential treatment options before the back eventually had surgery<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wattenberg back. Denver starting center Luke Wattenberg had his 21-day window opened on Wednesday, and he returned to practice as a full participant.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s perhaps not a big surprise, and it wouldn\u2019t be a stretch to think Wattenberg returns to Denver\u2019s starting lineup Sunday, either. No. 2 Alex Forsyth, who has started the past three games in Wattenberg\u2019s absence, was a limited participant Wednesday with an ongoing ankle issue that has caused him to miss snaps in each of the past two games.<\/p>\n

Payton himself said when Wattenberg sustained a shoulder injury late in the regular season that it was right about a four-week injury and that the IR placement was about managing the roster down the stretch of the season.<\/p>\n

Update on WRs.\u00a0Rookie receiver Pat Bryant (concussion) took part in the open portion of Denver\u2019s practice Wednesday and was listed as a limited participant, indicating he\u2019s making at least some progress through the NFL\u2019s concussion protocol. He was hit his head on the Empower Field grass on his third snap vs. Buffalo and was subsequently ruled out.<\/p>\n

Second-year man Troy Franklin (hamstring) was at practice and had his helmet, but didn\u2019t stretch with the team and didn\u2019t have shells on like the rest of the players. He was listed as a limited participant.<\/p>\n

The remaining list of players on the injury report who practiced fully: OT Frank Crum (ankle), S JL Skinner (quad), TE Lucas Krull (IR, foot) and LB Drew Sanders (IR, foot).<\/p>\n

DiNucci was ready. Ben DiNucci was working for CBS Sports on Saturday night in a New York studio. When he heard the news about Bo Nix\u2019s fractured ankle, he suspected he might be part of the ripple effect.<\/p>\n

Not long after, he heard from Denver quarterbacks coach Davis Webb and general manager George Paton.<\/p>\n

\u201cDavis and George called me Sunday morning and said, \u2018Hey, are you around?’\u201d DiNucci said. \u201cI still live in Highlands Ranch, so I\u2019m local. I said \u2018Yep. I\u2019ll see you guys Monday morning at 8 a.m.\u2019 and here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If Broncos running back J.K. Dobbins has hurdles to clear to be activated from injured reserve for Sunday\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":552108,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3781],"tags":[69519,7,2858,301,2863,187,3943,34717,165,42240,6324,6,9,302,41331,8131,66,13349,38210],"class_list":["post-552107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denver-nuggets","tag-afc-championship","tag-basketball","tag-broncos","tag-denver","tag-denver-broncos","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-denvernuggets","tag-j-k-dobbins","tag-latest-headlines","tag-luke-wattenberg","tag-more-broncos-news","tag-nba","tag-nfl","tag-nuggets","tag-pat-bryant","tag-sean-payton","tag-sports","tag-super-bowl","tag-troy-franklin"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115936002349177800","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=552107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/552108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}