Broncos Place RB Jonah Coleman On IR

Denver came into the season with J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey expected to compete for carries on the first-team offense. Dobbins, the presumed starter, was coming off a season that reminded far too much of his injury-stained past. As a rookie second-round pick in Baltimore, Dobbins lived up to his draft stock, leading the position room in rushing yards (805) and touchdowns (9) while sharing touches with Gus Edwards and Mark Ingram. After appearing in 15 games in his first season, though, Dobbins only appeared in nine of a possible 51 games over the remainder of his rookie contract.

As a free agent addition in Los Angeles, Dobbins had a rebound season but was still only able to start 11 of 13 game appearances. With that playing time, he logged career highs in carries (195) and rushing yards (905) while matching the nine touchdowns from his rookie season. The next year, he arrived in Denver, and was only able to start nine of 10 game appearances, producing 772 rushing yards and four touchdowns. When Dobbins was out last year, Harvey stepped in as the starter. In his opportunity as a rookie second-rounder, the UCF product accounted for 540 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns, adding 356 yards and five touchdowns through the air.

After Denver’s season opener, Harvey was dealing with a hamstring injury that would ultimately hold him out of the team’s Week 2 contest. With Harvey out, the team leaned on Dobbins and Coleman, and Dobbins, at one point, appeared to suffer a hip injury. Coleman got the first touches of his young career, tallying 39 yards and and touchdown, but a high-ankle sprain added him to the injury report with his teammates and will now cost him four weeks of his rookie season.

The Broncos were able to see Dobbins and Harvey fully participate in practices on Thursday and Friday after being limited to start the week. With Coleman out for the foreseeable future, working with banged up versions of Dobbins and Harvey this early in the season is not ideal, but it’s better than nothing.

Taking Coleman’s spot on the 53-man roster is long snapper Mitchell Fraboni. Joining him off the practice squad as standard gameday elevations will be fullback Adam Prentice and wide receiver Kolbe Katsis, an undrafted rookie out of Northern Arizona with return experience. This will be Prentice’s third elevation, meaning that if the Broncos want him to play past this week, they’ll have to sign him to the 53-man roster first.