Report: Broncos Placing Rookie TE Greg Dulcich on Injured Reserve

Early Friday afternoon, the Denver Broncos unveiled their Week 17 injury report for the team's road tilt with the Kansas City Chiefs, ruling out rookie tight end Greg Dulcich. A short time later, NFL insider James Palmer reported that the Broncos are placing Dulcich on injured reserve, ending what remains of his season.

"Broncos placed TE Greg Dulcich on injured reserve. Dulcich has quickly become a favorite target of Russell Wilson’s during his rookie year," Palmer tweeted.

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Here's the final injury report for #Broncos at #Chiefs. pic.twitter.com/JExhSveMIx
— Chad Jensen (@ChadNJensen) December 30, 2022

Dulcich's promising rookie campaign comes to a screeching halt as yet another key Bronco lands on IR. It's no secret how snake-bitten the Broncos have been this year, with a league-high number of players and salary-cap dollars sitting on IR.

Denver's injury woes are so conspicuous that GM George Paton commented on the team's outlook on its strength and condition, nutrition, and sports science protocols moving forward.

"The injuries that we’ve had… [We’ve had] four coaches in six years, and there’s been injuries for the past six years," Paton said on Tuesday on the heels of firing head coach Nathaniel Hackett. "We have had a number of head coaches, and it’s up to us to fix the problem and do a deep dive in our entire wellness, our training, our strength and conditioning, our nutrition. It’s a bigger problem than just that."

Time will tell what changes the Broncos make to mitigate the deep impact these injuries continue to have on the team's ability to compete. The next head coach will influence Denver's wellness platform moving forward, according to Paton, whose remarks on the subject came alongside CEO and part-owner Greg Penner.

"Obviously, every coach we talk to we’re going to discuss how they do it," Paton said. "How do you run practice? How do you see sports science—Catapults, GPS, and everything that’s involved? There will be big discussions with all the candidates.”

As for Dulcich, the Broncos drafted him in the third round out of UCLA this past spring. He dealt with a hamstring in the summer that limited his participation in training camp and preseason action, leading to him not suiting up for his first game as a pro until Week 6.

Dulcich finishes his rookie season having appeared in 10 games with six starts, totaling 33 receptions (on 55 targets) for 411 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 12.5 yards per reception, giving the Broncos' beleaguered offense a legit playmaker over the middle and down the seam.

Like all rookie tight ends, Dulcich will have to continue honing his blocking skills, but after usurping the starting role from Albert Okwuegbunam, the Broncos have to be thrilled with the impact the rookie made.

When the Broncos clear up injured reserve and get all those players back, the roster is going to look quite different in 2023 for whichever coach assumes the head-man mantle of the franchise.

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