The AFC Championship Game is finally upon us and the Denver Broncos enter this contest with multiple injury concerns.
Of course, the biggest one is at quarterback, where Bo Nix has been ruled out due to a broken ankle that will knock him out for the rest of the playoffs. With Nix on the shelf, the Broncos will be deploying Jarrett Stidham.
With Stidham under center, the Broncos need all hands on deck. However, the team also entered the week with two concerns at wide receiver in Pat Bryant and Troy Franklin, both of whom were banged-up.
Let's see if Franklin and/or Bryant will be able to suit up for the AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots on Sunday.
Is Pat Bryant playing today?
Yes, Bryant will be suiting up for the Broncos on Sunday.
Bryant suffered his second concussion in three weeks in the divisional round win over the Buffalo Bills last week but was able to clear the protocol in time to be ready for the showdown versus the Patriots.
After a quiet start to his rookie campaign, Bryant has become a consistent contributor for the Broncos in the second half of the campaign.
He finished the regular season with 31 catches for 378 yards and tallied 32 yards on three receptions last week.
Is Troy Franklin playing today?
Unfortunately, we do not have a concrete answer on Franklin's status, as he's listed as questionable to play due to a hamstring injury he suffered last week.
We would say that Franklin has a better than 50/50 shot, though.
That's because he was able to turn in three limited practices during the week, and with this being a hugely important playoff game, we would suspect Franklin is going to try his hardest to play no matter what.
We'll get our final answer on Franklin's status when the Patriots and Broncos drop their lists of inactives an hour and a half before kickoff.
Franklin served as Denver's No. 2 wide receiver behind Courtland Sutton this season, posting the second-most receiving yards on the Broncos with 709.
Franklin did not record a catch last week, and he hasn't had a reception in each of his last two games.
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