Broncos' TE Noah Fant exits Niners' game with injury, questionable to return

With the Denver Broncos hosting the San Francisco 49ers in their first home game of the preseason, the hometown faithful were excited to see some of these young players in the Orange and Blue for the first time.

Rookie first-rounder Noah Fant made his home preseason debut and promptly took a shot to the lower body.

#Broncos rookie TE Noah Fant is questionable to return with a foot injury.

Took a bad hit.https://t.co/PN1Ov0yhil
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) August 20, 2019

Fant got up and hobbled off the field. Kyle Fredrickson of the Denver Post reports that Fant is questionable to return.

At this point, there's no reason for Fant to return, even if he's just banged up and could still go. This is an exhibition game and the focus with Fant has to be preserving him for the regular season.

Head coach Vic Fangio told reporters over the weekend that the Broncos' starters would play more than they had up to this point thus far in the preseason and he was true to his word.

Joe Flacco and the first-team offense got the entire first quarter and scored three points. Fant was heavily involved in the offense.

You hate to see an injury to any player in the preseason but it's part of the game. The truth is, these young players need the live-bullet reps. The coaches, meanwhile, have to walk the razor's edge of getting these valuable players the reps they need, while hedging against risking them unnecessarily to injury.

There's only so much that a coaching staff can do. In football, you've got to take the bubble wrap off and take the plunge.

Here's to hoping Noah Fant just got banged up and that it's nothing serious. We will update this article when further info comes to light. Before he exited, Fant was targeted three times, hauling in two receptions for seven yards.

While we await word on Fant's prognosis, head over at our GAMEDAY Open Thread for Broncos vs. Niners and join the conversation.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.