ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Reinforcements have arrived.
After playing the last several games shorthanded, the Broncos will see several key players return for Sunday's game against the Chiefs.
Head Coach Vic Fangio said Friday that cornerback A.J. Bouye and defensive end Dre'Mont Jones would be activated off injured reserve before the game. Denver must officially make those roster moves for Bouye and Jones to play.
Fangio said the team has not decided whether to activate DeMarcus Walker, who is eligible to return off IR and practiced this week.
Tight end Noah Fant (ankle) and wide receiver KJ Hamler (hamstring), meanwhile, were not given game statuses on the team's final injury report, which indicates they will be available for Week 7.
Running back Melvin Gordon III, who missed the Broncos' Week 6 win over New England with an illness, was not on the team's injury report this week and is also expected to be available.
The Broncos could also potentially regain guard Dalton Risner (shoulder), who practiced on Friday on a limited basis for the first time this week. He exited Sunday's game against New England and did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday. He is officially listed as questionable, along with tight ends Andrew Beck (hamstring) and Jake Butt (hamstring).
Beck has not practiced this week, while Butt was added to the injury report on Thursday and did not practice on Friday.
Wide receiver/return specialist Diontae Spencer (shoulder) and outside linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu (quad) were ruled out. Attaochu also missed games against the Jets and Patriots.
With Spencer out, the Broncos will use a committee approach to the return game, according to Fangio. Bryce Callahan, Tyrie Cleveland, Tim Patrick and Phillip Lindsay could all be options.
"We kind of already know," Special Teams Coordinator Tom McMahon said regarding who will be the returner. "We're going to go into pregame and make sure we've got the right guys, but I think we're just kind of being coy about who that's really going to be when we get out that. We have a little bit of an advantage for them trying to figure out which of those five guys is going to do it. We have a pretty good idea."
