DENVER — A couple days before Christmas, which is also a couple days before the Broncos play the Rams in Los Angeles, it was good to see Garett Bolles pop into the locker room.
The Broncos’ starting left tackle through the previous five seasons and five games into a sixth, Bolles suffered a season-ending leg fracture in the Thursday night game, Oct. 6 against the Indianapolis Colts.
The broken leg required surgery to repair, which was performed in California. Bolles then spent a month there rehabilitating before returning to Denver a couple weeks ago to continue his healing process. Come Christmas Sunday, Bolles will be watching his team play the Rams on TV.
“Yeah, I’ll be here with my family,’’ Bolles said at his locker Friday. “Watch the game. Yell at the game. Try not to throw things at the wall.”
That’s happened? Things thrown at the wall while watching the Broncos play?
“Yeah, that’s happened,’’ he said with his ever-innocent smile. “But being out of the game you realize how much you miss it. You think, 'Do I want to keep doing this? Hang it up like some people have?’ But for me it’s reinforced how much I miss the game, how much I enjoy the game. How much I want to be out there. I know how much I’ve worked and how hungry I am to get back to where I belong. I know once I come back I’m not going to skip a beat.”
The Broncos have missed Bolles as much as he’s missed them. Calvin Anderson and Cam Fleming have done an admirable job in Bolles' place, but Bolles is one of the NFL’s upper crust left tackles who played in 82 of a possible 86 games from the time he was the Broncos’ first-round draft pick out of Utah in 2017 until game 5 against the Colts.
“I miss football every day,’’ he said. “Miss being with my brothers. I miss protecting No. 3 (Quarterback Russell Wilson). I miss the feel of the game, I miss the fans, I miss everything about the game. But it’s just made me that much better. I’m hungry to come back.”
Welcome back
You saw how Air Force run blocked against Baylor in the Armed Forces Bowl this week. It’s how the Air Force Falcons block every game, game after game, year after year.
The Broncos got a good one, then, when they added offensive lineman Parker Ferguson to their practice squad earlier this week. Ferguson was a three-year starter from 2018-20 at left tackle, where he lined up alongside Castle Rock native Nolan Laufenberg, and both guard spots for the AFA Falcons. Laufenberg is on Washington’s practice squad while his former Academy mate is back here.
“It’s great to be back in Colorado,’’ Ferguson said at his newly assigned Broncos locker. “Feels like home in a way. Saw the Rockies when I flew in and I was like, 'All right, here we go.'”
Raised outside Indianapolis, Ferguson signed with the New York Jets as an undrafted rookie last year. He spent time with the Atlanta Falcons practice squad this year before the Broncos picked him up. He’s not the first offensive lineman to pay his dues by bouncing around.
“Hopefully not too much longer. I’d like to stick here,’’ Ferguson said. “Coaching staff seems cool here and I’m excited to be here. I’m going to do whatever they ask me to do, try to finish the season right and hopefully go into the offseason program and try to make my way.’’
Injury update
Broncos receiver Kendall Hinton has been ruled for a second consecutive game because of a hamstring strain. Outside linebacker Randy Gregory was listed as questionable with a knee injury even though he missed all three practices this week. Put Gregory on the doubtful side of questionable.
Put receiver Courtland Sutton (hamstring), cornerback K’Waun Williams (knee) and running back Latavius Murray (foot) on the probable side of questionable. Left guard Dalton Risner (foot) and Anderson (sprained ankle suffered in practice Thursday) are truly 50-50.
Rams’ Donald won’t play
If the Rams were 10-4 instead of 4-10, their star defensive lineman Aaron Donald might have been able to return from his high ankle sprain this week. But the defending Super Bowl-champion Rams are as finished as the Broncos are in 2022 and Los Angeles head coach Sean McVay said Friday that Donald, a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, won’t play against the Broncos and probably won’t play again this season.
The Rams have just seven starters remaining from their Super Bowl game 10 months ago.
“He’s a great player,’’ Broncos’ head coach Nathaniel Hackett said Friday of Donald. “He’s one of the best players to ever put a helmet on. There’s no question about that. I’m not going to say I’m upset that he’s not playing. But they have very good football team and very good defense. ‘91’ (Rams DT Greg Gaines) is a beast inside. They have really good players. ‘54’ (Rams LB Leonard Floyd) is playing at a super high level, [Rams LB Bobby] Wagner and all these guys— [Rams CB] Jalen [Ramsey]. They have a really good defense. Anytime you have a guy like that, he is always going to make the defense better, but their defense overall is very good. We have a great challenge ahead of us.”
Christmas Eve morning
Hackett is pushing back his team’s meetings and walkthrough Saturday from the usual morning start to noon, so the players and coaches can have a Christmas Eve celebration with their families before flying out late-Saturday afternoon for Los Angeles.
“So we can have a little bit of Christmas before Christmas,’’ Hackett said.
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