Report: Broncos Send Another Offensive Starter to IR

The Denver Broncos have placed second-year tight end Greg Dulcich back on injured reserve, according to 9NEWS' Mike Klis. Dulcich's increasingly bothersome hamstring forced a tough decision from the playmaker-needy Broncos.

Head coach Sean Payton discussed the frustrating nature of the Dulcich injury.

"I'm sure he's frustrated, just like we are for him," Payton said this week.

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Dulcich is hitting IR for the second time this season, after suffering the initial hamstring injury in Week 1, but the long-term implications of his inability to shake the injury bug will have to give way to the roster juggling at the Broncos' depleted tight end spot.

Payton knows that shuffling the tight-end deck is part of being a head coach. The Broncos can only embrace the 'next man up' mantra because the wheels will fall off the wagon otherwise. Payton talked about how even the absence of one starter, or a starting-caliber player like Dulcich, can trickle down to every facet of the offense.

"There's a piece of something, as a starter, that you don't have," Payton said. "It doesn't go to a person, but it's probably spread out in the offense relative to what we do then. It's our league. We see it each week with teams losing key spots and key players. Where do [Vikings WR Justin] Jefferson's touches go while he's hurt in Minnesota? That's up to us to figure out each night."

While Payton was more matter-of-fact about pivoting around Dulcich's disappointing continued absence, offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi sounded more downbeat about having to rely on a remaining tight end corps that, frankly, isn't as talented in the pass-catching realm as Dulcich is.

"I think they've done a good job. They're all good blockers," Lombardi said of the tight ends on Thursday. "[I'm] talking about adding [TE] Nate [Adkins] now to the three guys. They're all good blockers and functional receivers. Obviously, Greg brings an aspect of speed and stretching the field that maybe those guys don't have. That obviously is a part of it, but we'll keep working the personnel groupings. I don't think all of a sudden they are going to start running the routes that Greg ran because he has a specific skill set that goes with that, but they are definitely going to be involved."

Dulcich was a 2022 third-round pick. He appeared in 10 of 17 games as a rookie (six starts) due to injury, and has seen action in just two games in 2023. For his career, he has 36 receptions for 436 yards (12.1 avg) and two touchdowns.

In other news, per Klis, the Broncos re-signed wide receiver Lil'Jordan Humphrey, after releasing him on Friday, and promptly elevated him to the gameday roster for Sunday's tilt vs. the Green Bay Packers.

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