12:37pm: Nathaniel Hackett confirmed Friday afternoon Bolles will need surgery and will miss the rest of the season. Anderson will move into position as the Broncos’ starting left tackle.
8:39am: Injury troubles continue to mount for a Broncos team that has now endured two crushing primetime losses. Thursday’s Colts overtime defeat brought an injury to their longest-tenured offensive starter.
Sixth-year left tackle Garett Bolles sustained a broken leg during the closing minutes of regulation, Mike Klis of 9News reports (on Twitter). A six-week timetable represents the best-case scenario here, but Klis adds the Broncos fear a lengthier absence could be in store. It is a lower right leg fracture, per ESPN.com’s Jeff Legwold. This injury, which will remove a fifth offensive starter from the team’s equation, could sideline Bolles for the season’s remainder.
The Broncos lost wideout Tim Patrick to an ACL tear early in training camp, while Javonte Williams went down with the same injury in Week 4. Denver entered the season without both members of its right tackle competition (Billy Turner, Tom Compton) and has played without right guard Quinn Meinerz since Week 1. The team’s third-round tight end, Greg Dulcich, has also been on IR throughout the season. Bolles’ absence will represent fairly new territory for the franchise, however. The 2017 first-round pick has not missed more than three games in a season previously.
The first tackle chosen in that 2017 draft, Bolles has started all 82 games he has played in Denver. The Broncos went through a period of left tackle instability between Ryan Clady‘s run and the Bolles selection, and while the Utah product has gone through an up-and-down tenure as a pro, he has locked down Denver’s blindside post since being acquired.
Holding penalties have been a frequent issue for the talented blocker, and the Broncos declined Bolles’ fifth-year option in 2020. That season, however, provided a breakthrough — a second-team All-Pro campaign — that prompted the franchise to reverse course. Bolles, 30, signed a four-year, $68MM extension midway through that season. That contract runs through 2024. Thanks to Russell Wilson‘s recent extension, Bolles’ $21MM 2022 cap hit checks in atop the Broncos’ payroll.
Denver brought in Calvin Anderson to replace Bolles on Thursday. Turner suited up for the first time this season against the Colts but did not see any game action. A knee injury led to Turner’s extended absence to start the season. Compton is on Denver’s reserve/PUP list due to a summer back surgery. He has not yet returned to practice. A former UDFA, Anderson is playing on an RFA tender ($2.5MM) this season. He has made five career starts. That number will likely rise in the coming weeks.
It’s always lousy when players get injured, but it felt extra horrible to see players get hurt in service of that godforsaken game.
The media should slow down on the ‘Russ is a HoF QB’. He looks awful.
Wouldn’t be the first time Denver had a HoF QB who looked awful. Wilson had 10 seasons before this one and made the Pro Bowl in 9 of them. He already has the 14th most passing TDs of all time and he’ll likely be in the top 20 in passing yards by the end of the year. He’s almost certainly a hall of famer, even if his time in Denver is a major disappointment (and right now, major disappointment would be a step up).
He’ll get in; I know that. I just hate that the media says ‘so & so is a sure fire HoF’er’ while still playing. It’s clear that the Seattle D and Lynch had much more to do with Seattle’s success than Wilson.
I’ve read Matt Ryan should get in as well, why? 1 MVP season? Same for Stafford. 1 season out of a career now makes you a HoF’er?
Sherman’s rip last night summed it up perfectly ‘Run the ball dang it!’.
They certainly had their most success with the great defense, but they kept having winning seasons without a very good defense or Lynch, and Wilson was the driving force. I don’t think Stafford belongs and I think Ryan is borderline. I don’t believe in team win-loss record as being a stat by which to judge a QB, but if Stafford were really that caliber of QB, I think it would be impossible for the Lions to have that little success with him over such a long stretch. Ryan was so good, so consistently at the most important position that I would likely vote for him, even if his best paled in comparison to all his no brainer hall of famer contemporaries. He’s top ten in all time passing yards and touchdowns, even though it rarely felt like he was top five in any given year. But also, it’s depressing to see Ryan right now.
Joe Theisman should get in then. 2SB’s & 1 ring. Plenty of division titles & playoff stats. He also was helped by a running game & D.
Different era’s so impossible to compare passing stats. But he won plenty of games.
He had team success, but he did less to drive it. Impossible to compare stats across eras, but even in his era, his stats mostly weren’t very good. He only even made two Pro Bowls, so it’s not like he was treated like a top flight QB for most of his career. Ken Anderson has a better case. And the game wasn’t as passing oriented, so QBs were less important. There should be more QBs from this era in the Hall, just like there should be more RBs from the 80s in.
I agree with D Sanders then. 2 sets of HoF’s. Stafford, Ryan, & Russ have media attention and stats in a passing era, but none of them are HoF’ers. They don’t elevate their teams at all.
Flacco deserves a spot then. At least he was the SB MVP with division titles and stats in the passing era.
Russ and Ryan absolutely elevated their teams. Flacco was a solid starter on good teams for a long time, but he wasn’t as good as Ryan and I don’t think he’s a hall of famer.
Matt has a career record of 122-104-1 .540 winning record. That is average.
Russ is better at .653% winning, but that’s going to drop the rest of his career.
Stafford is under 500. 88-97-1.
Like I said, I don’t believe in win-loss record as a stat for measuring individual players. In Stafford’s case, it’s just that he won SO little over his first dozen years. I don’t think winning a ton automatically means the QB is amazing, but I don’t believe a Hall of Fame caliber QB can fail to boost his team even over .500 more often over that long a period of time.
You always love to pick and choose what you like or dismiss. Win loss isn’t important to Stafford, but Ryan being barely above is carrying a team?
Whereas Flaco’s .598 winning percentage in Baltimore should be dismissed. Along with his 3 division titles and 10-5 playoff record, along with SB MVP
Stafford was never forced to sign any extension w/ the Lions. He choose to. That’s on him, not the franchise.
It’s pro sports. Win-Loss record is the #1 measurement to go by for QB’s.
OK, I flat out don’t think win-loss record is a good judge of QBs because it ignores dozens of other factors, I think Matthew Stafford is a very impressive but merely above average QB and nothing more, and Joe Flacco was a solid starter who had one great postseason. I’m also uninterested in continuing to debate the long tail of what started as a question of whether or not Russell Wilson is a hall of famer.
How can Matt S be both very impressive and merely above average? That makes no sense.
As for continuing to debate, you are the one that can’t stop debating on other people’s threads. If you don’t care for one’s opinion, then keep it to yourself. You never see me reply on your threads right.
Russ’s career isn’t over nor is he a HoF’er yet. He’ll continue to lose. Proof of that is what we’re seeing this season. Missed passes, running shotgun on 4th and, not calling TO in the Seattle game. He’s making rookie mistakes at 32-33 years old.
Stafford has incredible talent that got him drafted number one overall and makes him look more impressive than many better QBs, but has never been great. That’s how it makes sense.
And you actually think you don’t comment on other people’s comments? Try to remember you claimed that. It’s not even true in this very post.
There you go again! ‘Not wanting a debate’ while debating. Go be the secretary you are & take notes child.
How many #1 picks have been busts? Overall, not just at QB? ‘Very impressive & average’ still makes zero sense.
Do you not understand that a player can have incredibly impressive physical traits, like an unusually strong arm, and still not be a great overall player? This should be very familiar to a football fan.
Of course, that applies to all of the QB’s being discussed. Stafford, Flacco, Wilson, & Ryan. All are/were solid players, none are HoF’ers. Do understand that?
Using your logic, ‘W-L isn’t as important as other stats.’. Welcome to Canton Kirk Cousins! Might as well get D Carr fitted for his jacket as well.
I’m not a Denver fan, but to be excited about finally getting a quarterback which looked like the only weak spot on the team, and now to suffer through injury after injury has to hurt. Hackett probably was not the best choice for head coach either. Same with Josh McDaniels.
Wilson’s best days are long behind him. Seattle knew that.
Broncos Country, Let’s Ride!
Broncos came into the season with the potential to be champs this year. Then the real Russell Wilson stood up and it’s been all downhill since. Hopefully they can flip him and get out of that contract because that division has some amazing teams, with him the broncos just can’t hang
Would you trade for Russ after what he’s shown the first month? I wouldn’t and that exempting his new contract costs.
In fantasy I’m dropping him for David mills. Yup I’m that desperate for a qb2. His value has plummeted this year. Most people think it’s the coaching staff but Wilson is missing wide open targets.
As for trading for him, if there was a lot of draft compensation attached and I ran a team that had no chance and was missing lots of pieces then yes I would trade for him