{"id":645731,"date":"2026-01-01T14:53:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T14:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/645731\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T14:53:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T14:53:14","slug":"broncos-can-bring-back-2-more-players-from-ir-during-nfl-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/645731\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos can bring back 2 more players from IR during NFL playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/broncoswire.usatoday.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Denver Broncos;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Denver Broncos<\/a> might have to make some tough roster management decisions in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n<p>NFL teams are allowed to designate up to eight players to return from injured reserve during the regular season. The <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/teams\/denver-broncos\/332\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Broncos;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Broncos<\/a> have already used six of those designations, including two for linebackers\u00a0Drew Sanders\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/broncos-place-2-players-short-193036781.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:foot;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">foot<\/a>) and Karene Reid (<a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/broncos-lose-another-linebacker-injured-221325446.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:hamstring;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">hamstring<\/a>). Neither player has been activated to the 53-man roster yet, but both are eligible.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Even if Reid and Sanders are not eventually activated, they will still count against the team&#8217;s limit of eight designations, so the club has to weigh roster spots and return limits as it makes decisions.<\/p>\n<p>Another player who is eligible to return is tight end Lucas Krull (<a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/broncos-place-tight-end-injured-231208580.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:foot;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">foot<\/a>). If Denver plans to maximize its regular season IR returns, decisions have to be made by Saturday before the team faces the <a href=\"https:\/\/chargerswire.usatoday.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Los Angeles Chargers;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Los Angeles Chargers<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Once the NFL playoffs begin, the Broncos can bring back two more players from IR. Potential candidates could include center Luke Wattenberg\u00a0(who might be able to return for a potential\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/broncos-injuries-5-players-banged-130110371.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:AFC title game;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">AFC title game<\/a>) and running back J.K. Dobbins (who might be able to return for a <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/j-k-dobbins-could-return-184631932.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:potential Super Bowl;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">potential Super Bowl<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s unclear if safety Brandon Jones (<a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/broncos-place-starting-safety-injured-223300321.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:pectoral;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">pectoral<\/a>) has a season-ending injury. If not, he could be a third candidate to return in the postseason, but Denver&#8217;s playoff limit will be two IR returns.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Social: Follow\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/broncoswire.usatoday.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Broncos Wire;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Broncos Wire<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BroncosWire\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Facebook;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/thebroncoswire\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Twitter\/X;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Twitter\/X<\/a>!\u00a0Did you know:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/broncoswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/broncos\/2019\/08\/03\/denver-broncos-famous-fans-celebrities-include-paul-george-amy-adams\/79446413007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: <a href=\"https:\/\/broncoswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/broncos\/2026\/01\/01\/broncos-2-players-can-return-ir-during-playoffs\/87973795007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Denver Broncos: 2 players can return from IR during NFL playoffs;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Denver Broncos: 2 players can return from IR during NFL playoffs<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Denver Broncos might have to make some tough roster management decisions in the coming weeks. NFL teams&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":645732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[10886,232,231,258,2426,7,601,16496,262,3891,6,140],"class_list":["post-645731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denver-broncos","tag-brandon-jones","tag-broncos","tag-denver","tag-denver-broncos","tag-denverbroncos","tag-football","tag-j-k-dobbins","tag-karene-reid","tag-los-angeles-chargers","tag-lucas-krull","tag-nfl","tag-sanders"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115820416808216587","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}