The Denver Broncos will have the luxury of relaxing during the first weekend of NFL playoff games after earning home-field advantage as the AFC's No. 1 seed. They have also stayed relatively healthy throughout this season.
However, the team does have the ability to still bring four players back from injured reserve. They recently brought linebacker Karene Reid back from IR, knocking them down to four more players that they can get back this season.
The Broncos have more than four players on injured reserve, as does basically every other team in the league at this stage of the season, but if they win a playoff game or two, they could get three of their starters back for a run at the Super Bowl.
Which Broncos players could return from injured reserve
Ranking them in descending order of how the team should prioritize them, these are the players the Broncos can consider bringing back, so long as they are healthy.
Drew Sanders, LB
The Broncos technically could bring back linebacker Drew Sanders, but since he's missed the entire season to this point, that seems quite unlikely. In fact, there's probably a better chance that Sanders never plays for the team again.
Matt Peart, OL
Matt Peart was given the first chance to replace Ben Powers when he went down in Week 5 but Peart sustained a knee injury in the team's Week 6 game and has been out since. Alex Palczewski stepped into his spot and played quite well. Powers is now back as well.
There has been nothing to suggest that Peart's season is over, but the Broncos can probably leave him on IR.
Lucas Krull, TE
The Broncos will likely consider bringing Lucas Krull, who has been out with a foot injury since early October, back to the 53-man roster to give the tight end position more depth. But the fact that Nate Adkins has returned to the lineup makes that something the team should gloss over, as a player would have to be dropped from the 53-man roster to make room for him.
Luke Wattenberg, C
Alex Forsyth has filled in nicely during Luke Wattenberg's absence and the team has added extra insurance to the position by grabbing Sam Mustipher off the practice squad of the Los Angeles Chargers while also adding veteran Michael Deiter.
That could lead to a belief that Wattenberg's shoulder injury will keep him out for the rest of the season, but he also won't be eligible to return unless the Broncos reach the AFC Championship Game. Still, he's the best center the team has, so it would be beneficial to get him back.
Brandon Jones, S
If the Broncos could only bring back one player from injured reserve, Brandon Jones would probably be that guy. But after suffering a pectoral injury in Week 15, he could easily be done for the season.
The defense has taken a noticeable step back with Jones out of the lineup. His replacement, P.J. Locke, was also hurt during last week's win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Delarrin Turner-Yell came off IR a couple of weeks ago after nearly two years without playing and was hurt again. The only other safeties on the roster are Devon Key and JL Skinner, though the team did add former Bronco Tanner McCalister to the practice squad this week.
J.K. Dobbins, RB
Though it would likely take the Broncos making it all the way to the Super Bowl for this to happen, what a jolt it would be to the running game to get J.K. Dobbins back on the field. He has been out since suffering a foot injury in Week 10.
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RJ Harvey has had a terrific season, but the Broncos have not run the ball nearly as well without Dobbins and the offense in general has taken a considerable step back. The Broncos would love to get him back in the mix.
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