When the Denver Broncos face the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 6, they may have to compensate for two key members of the offensive line being out due to injury.
This would be a bad week for the Broncos to be less than 100 percent along the offensive line, as Jim Harbaugh's Chargers are tough to handle in the trenches. But that is the way things are trending heading into the game.
Luke Wattenberg, the team's starting center, and Alex Palczewski, the team's right tackle who was inserted into the lineup when Mike McGlinchey went are injured reserve, are both nursing ankle injuries and are expected to miss this game. That is going to force the team to get creative with the offensive line going into Sunday.
Broncos expect to be without Luke Wattenberg, Alex Palczewski in Week 6
With Wattenberg and Palczewski out of the lineup, second-year player Alex Forsyth could get the first start of his career. That would put him on the field with Bo Nix, his college teammate at Oregon.
Josh Reynolds, Alex Palczewski and Luke Wattenberg did not practice for a second-straight day pic.twitter.com/VD8V7csRQC
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) October 10, 2024
In place of Palczewski, the Broncos would likely turn to Matt Peart, though undrafted rookie Frank Crum would also be an option. In addition, the team brought back Cam Fleming to the practice squad this week so the Broncos could choose to turn to him as well.
The Broncos have had one of the better offensive lines in football this season but the losses of Wattenberg and Palczewski, who has been great in McGlinchey's absence, threaten to throw that out of whack.
The Broncos will release their final injury report on Friday and things will become a bit more clear at that time. However, it does sound like some alterations are going to have to be made. This could be a key factor in this game as the Chargers have the league's No. 6 rush defense. They also have Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack, one of the best pass-rush duos in the NFL.
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