Broncos' TE Noah Fant a Limited Participant in Wed Practice Ahead of Week 6

The Denver Broncos lost tight end Noah Fant to an ankle injury midway through the team's Week 4 victory at MetLife Stadium. The initial prognosis on Fant's ankle indicated that he'd likely miss Week 5's matchup at the New England Patriots.

Then the NFL went and rescheduled the Broncos' season. Week 5 was converted to a bye and the team's road tilt at Foxborough was moved to Week 6 — this coming Sunday.

Suddenly, Fant is no guarantee to miss a game, though it might be too soon to count these chickens before they've hatched. After not participating in one practice last week, Fant was limited in the Broncos' first practice on Wednesday.

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The second-year tight end is trending in the right direction. By the time the Broncos step onto the field at Gillette Stadium, 17 days will have passed between games. That's a lot of time for Fant's sprained ankle to get right.

The smoke signals wafting out of Dove Valley would indicate that Fant is unlikely to play in Week 6 but if I were to err, I'd do so on the side of optimism. The Broncos will slow-roll his progress this week and with how comfortable he is in Pat Shurmur's offense, the team can get by with him being limited in all three practices this week.

When it comes to making game-time decisions, head coach Vic Fangio typically shies away from suiting up any player who was unable to fully participate in a single practice during that week's preparations. However, Fant is an elite athlete and he's very smart. If anyone could go from limited work on the sideline straight into the starting lineup, it's him.

Maybe Fant doesn't play full snaps at Foxborough but even having him out there as a decoy at times could open things up for the Broncos' passing offense. That alone is a strong argument for suiting him up, provided he's even close to being a go.

Think of this: Drew Lock, Phillip Lindsay, and Noah Fant all returning to the starting lineup on the road at the Patriots? Now that would be one monumental emotional lift for the offense, to say nothing of how each player impacts the field of play.

There's also still a snowball's chance that No. 1 cornerback A.J. Bouye could return this week from injured reserve. Starting rush linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu, once again, did not participate in practice, which doesn't bode well at all for his Week 6 availability.

It's too soon to get out over your skis over the prospect of Fant playing this week. But being upgraded from DNP to limited is a step in the right direction with plenty of time left to bridge the gap.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.