Take a deep breath, Denver Broncos fans.

After dominating in the team’s preseason opener last weekend, outside linebacker Nik Bonitto has not been practicing this week, causing some alarm in Broncos Country. Denver coach Sean Payton provided good news on Thursday.

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“Real quick with Nik, he had a little spur on the top of his foot,” Payton explained. “Now, I had two spurs removed on my big toe, and that hurt like a you-know-what. So I’m a little bit still recovering. It’s better. His is something that we just had done, and we knew that he was going to miss this week.

“He’ll be up and at it next week. He’s been fantastic. His miss, the days he’s missed have been this simple bone spur in a unique spot on the top of the foot. It’s not weight-bearing. He went ahead and had it done. I think three stitches. The goal would be to have him back at practice next week, getting some work against New Orleans.”

Bonitto getting back on the field next week and then playing in the team’s preseason finale against the Saints would be a great development. The edge defender apparently considered pushing off having the bone spur removed, but the Broncos explained it would be a quick recovery.

“It was something he noticed last week, and if you ever see him, he’s got really good edge power,” Payton said. “He has bend, and these deposits kind of grow where there’s pressure. It’s like your bone reacts to it and says more. So it was small. I think initially he was like, ‘Will it be just a day or two?’ I think the feeling with our foot and ankle specialist is like, yes, but this isn’t something that you locally shoot. He said, ‘Nik, this is so easy to remove and then not have to deal with it on Monday every other week.’ Then, all right, what’s the downside when you say three and a half, four days? Maybe it’s five days, [but] it just made a lot of sense.”

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Elsewhere on the injury scare front, left tackle Garett Bolles left Thursday’s practice and spent time in an ambulance before later going into the locker room. Thankfully, there’s good news there as well.

“He’s going to be fine,” Payton said of Bolles. “He had some asthma, some breathing issues, so we just pulled him out. He’ll be OK.”

Payton also announced that tight end Nate Adkins underwent a tightrope procedure for his ankle. Adkins is now set to miss the early portion of the 2025 season, but it’s not a long-term injury.

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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Denver Broncos injury report: Good news for Nik Bonitto, Garett Bolles