In the final game of the regular season, the last thing you want to see is a player go down with a serious injury, particularly if you are a playoff team. That is why many teams choose to rest their starters in the finale.
The Denver Broncos needed to beat the Los Angeles Chargers to make sure they got home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and they were able to do that, but there were a couple of times during Sunday's action where Broncos Country had to hold its collective breath.
First, center Alex Forsyth went down with what appeared to be an ankle injury. Forsyth, who replaced starting center Luke Wattenberg when the latter was placed on injured reserve, has played great football for the team, even shedding last year's disastrous situation in Kansas City. Sam Mustipher, whom the team just took off the Chargers' practice squad, replaced him.
Later, starting left Garett Bolles went down and lay face down on the turf for several anxious moments. He was able to get up and walk off under his own power, but it was still a tense situation for Broncos fans as Bolles is one of the best left tackles in the league. Frank Crum came in to replace him.
Luckily, both Forsyth and Bolles returned to the game. It was telling that the Broncos felt good enough to put them back into the game when they could have easily let them sit the remainder of it out to prevent the injuries from getting worse. It's likely that both situations were minor and that the two offensive linemen just needed to walk it off.
Garett Bolles jogs back in for third down. Gotta nice hand from crowd.
— MikeKlis9NEWS (@mikeklis9news) January 4, 2026
The Broncos, like any team, can ill-afford to lose any of their offensive linemen at this stage of the season. Forsyth is already playing as a backup, meaning the team would have looked at the possibility of playing a divisional playoff game with its third-string center. That said, it was a good move to add Mustipher.
In the case of Bolles, his loss would be immense. Crum is a player the team likes, but he would be put to the test having to step onto the field in a big playoff game. On top of that, Bolles is one of the Broncos' most deserving players of the team's recent success.
READ: History is on the side of the Broncos after team clinches home-field advantage
The Broncos will enter the playoffs with a situation in the health department that will be just about as good as a team could possibly hope for at this stage of the season.
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