Privately, who knows. But publicly, Broncos head coach Sean Payton treated news of Justin Herbert’s Sunday absence with a waved hand and a shrug.

“Doesn’t — our focus is, this is a playoff game,” Payton told reporters Wednesday. “I just finished telling the team.”

Vegas certainly isn’t treating this Broncos-Chargers Week 18 matchup as a playoff game: Oddsmakers now favor Denver by 12.5 points Sunday, after Los Angeles head coach Jim Harbaugh announced Monday that the Chargers would rest star quarterback Herbert.

And the gap may widen even further in the coming days, as Los Angeles also rested wide receiver Keenan Allen, safety Derwin James and star outside linebackers Khalil Mack and Tuli Tuipulotu at the team’s practice Wednesday.

Payton, though, is clearly trying to push this Broncos roster away from any pitfalls of a trap game.

“We’re preparing for all of ‘em,” Payton said when asked about the Chargers’ potential absences. “This is more about us. And they’re a really good football team. I mean, tremendous football team. Jim’s done a great job.”

The focus for Denver now turns to Chargers backup Trey Lance, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, who has become a 25-year-old journeyman. Payton noted that Lance and Herbert were “different style of players” — Lance is a known scrambler — and Broncos star cornerback Pat Surtain II called Lance “very capable” on Wednesday.

“He’s a first-round pick, got all the intangibles, all the tools to succeed,” Surtain said. “So we definitely not taking this game lightly.”

Greenlaw’s absence lingers

The Broncos still were without Dre Greenlaw at practice Wednesday, as Greenlaw’s injury-plagued 2025 season continues. The starting inside linebacker missed last week’s Christmas night matchup with the Chiefs with a hamstring injury suffered late in Week 16 against the Jaguars, and now looks all but certain to sit for Sunday’s final regular-season game against the Chargers.

Sources told The Denver Post, however, that Greenlaw is expecting to be healthy come playoff time. A Week 18 win to secure the No. 1 seed in the AFC would help cement Greenlaw’s status for the stretch run, giving the linebacker another week of rehab before a divisional-round matchup.

Bryant, Adkins return

Wednesday also marked rookie receiver Pat Bryant’s first appearance in Broncos gear since a scary late-game hit in Week 16 against Jacksonville, resulting in Bryant being immobilized and sent to the hospital for a concussion. Bryant was ultimately a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice, and is still working through concussion protocol.

Tight end Nate Adkins was also back in action and limited at practice after missing Week 17 with a knee injury, the third injury-related absence of a stop-and-go year for Adkins. The key blocker sported a bulky brace on his knee in the portion of Broncos practice open to media Wednesday.

Payton denies any gamesmanship with former Charger signing

The Broncos raised eyebrows last week by signing reserve center Sam Mustipher off the Chargers’ practice squad, picking up the offensive lineman who was with Denver in training camp in 2024 — and also had spent a large chunk of this and last season working with Harbaugh’s group in Los Angeles.

Payton shot down the notion, though, that Denver signed Mustipher to gain any intel on the Chargers. The head coach pointed to the Broncos’ need for depth after placing starting center Luke Wattenberg on injured reserve last week.

“It’s not this, ‘Oh, we’re going to get all this information from it,’” Payton said. “This was about having, for this stretch run, another experienced center.”

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