The Broncos have one of game’s best receivers and are days away from facing another top-10 defense. Needless to say, the Broncos will need Demaryius Thomas more than ever Sunday.
They might not get him, though.
Thomas sat out Thursday’s practice after a teammate stepped on his right ankle during Wednesday’s practice. His foot wrapped, Thomas hobbled around the Broncos’ practice facility Wednesday, hardly appearing in game shape.
Coach John Fox said Thomas’ ankle is bruised and that “he’ll be fine” but his absence leaves his status for Sunday’s game against Buffalo questionable.
“Well, I can’t necessarily say,” Fox said Thursday when asked if Thomas would be good to go for the game. “He’s day-to-day, like everybody on the injury report. … Business as usual.”
Injuries for the Broncos seem to pile up by the hour as they begin the final quarter of the season. , who sat out the last two games with an ankle injury, was limited again Thursday, but his drillwork leaves hope that he could return against the Bills.
C.J. Anderson’s recent play — a combined 335 yards on 59 carries the last two weeks — tempered the loss of Julius in the Broncos’ offense against Miami and Kansas City, but the potential absence of Demaryius could be a bigger blow. The Broncos face a Bills team that has allowed an average of only 96.3 yards per game on the ground (seventh in the NFL) and 216.1 (fifth) against the pass. Since Week 1, the Bills have not given up more than 118 rushing yards in a single game.
Demaryius has been targeted 137 times this season, by far the most of any Broncos receiver, and has caught 10 of Manning’s 36 touchdown passes.
“We’ll have plenty, as far as ammunition goes, and different plans of how we’ll use everybody,” offensive coordinator Adam Gase said. “It’s kind of going to be ‘wait to see what happens on game day.’ The good thing is we’re so interchangeable in what we do. We’ll figure it out. We’ll have a good plan as far as our personnel groupings go for Sunday. We just got to see how this all plays out and who’s available.”
Footnotes
• Cody Latimer left practice early with concussion-like symptoms and will go through the NFL-mandated protocol. Fox said he wasn’t sure if Latimer’s symptoms were the result of a hit last Sunday or in practice. …
• Aqib Talib was sidelined for the Chiefs game with a strained hamstring but practiced fully Thursday and said he’ll be “ready to roll” Sunday against the Bills.
• Terrance Knighton’s left elbow was cut during practice. It was taped up, but he was limited. …
• Kayvon Webster, Jacob Tamme and Quinton Carter did not participate.
• Lerentee McCray (ill) was limited. …
• UFC fighters Matt Brown, a Denver native, and Brandon Thatch attended Thursday’s practice while in town for their media tour ahead of their February card at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield.
• Jack Del Rio learned from reporters at Broncos practice that his son is now without a coach. Luke Del Rio is a quarterback at Oregon State, which lost coach Mike Riley to Nebraska on Thursday.
Nicki Jhabvala: njhabvala@denverpost.com or at twitter.com/nickijhabvala
