The Denver Broncos are about as healthy as any team in the second round of the playoffs can hope to be. The Broncos have had their casualties this year, namely running back J.K. Dobbins, safety Brandon Jones, and center Luke Wattenberg, but they’ve managed to avoid the worst of the injury bug.

The Buffalo Bills can’t quite claim the same. The Bills were already banged up entering last week’s Wildcard Weekend.

While the Broncos rested, the Bills had to go into a tough environment and take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in their house. It was a physical game, and while the Bills prevailed, it came at a cost, with several players suffering serious injuries — including wide receivers Gabe Davis and Tyrell Shavers, both of whom were lost for the season.

Adding insult to injury (literally), the Bills have to travel on a short-week turnaround to play the Broncos on Saturday at 2:30 pm MDT. As a result of the Saturday kickoff, both teams had to start their practice clocks a day early, so Wednesday was Day 2 of the preparation week.

Let’s examine how things stand with both teams’ practice report.

Broncos’ Wednesday Practice Report

Defensive end John Franklin-Myers practiced in full once again, making it back-to-back days. He missed the season finale, so he’s had a good rest period to get ready for this game.

Limited in Wednesday’s practice were linebackers Dre Greenlaw (hamstring) and Drew Sanders (foot), along with tight end Lucas Krull (knee). Both Sanders and Krull are still on injured reserve, but the Broncos designated both to return on Tuesday.

I wouldn’t read too much into Greenlaw being limited on Tuesday and Wednesday, even if it’s the same on Thursday. The Broncos don’t want to tempt fate with him. He’s needed for this game against the NFL’s No. 1 rushing offense.

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Bills’ Wednesday Practice Report

The Bills had four injured players practice in full: quarterback Josh Allen (foot/knee/finger), safety Damar Hamlin (pectoral), kicker Matt Prater (quad/calf), and wide receiver Curtis Samuel (elbow).

Limited

• Terrel Bernard | LB (Calf)
• A.J. Epenesa | DE (Neck)
• Ed Oliver | DT (Bicep)
• Dalton Kincaid | TE (Knee/Calf)
• Matt Milano | LB (Ankle)
• Greg Rousseau | DE (Back)
• Shaq Thompson | LB (Neck)

It’s worth mentioning that Thompson went from not participating on Tuesday to being limited on Wednesday.

Did Not Participate

• Maxwell Hairston | CB (Ankle)
• Ty Johnson | RB (Ankle)
• Jordan Poyer | S (Hamstring)
• Tyrell Shavers | WR (Knee)

Shavers is still listed on the practice report but he’s headed to injured reserve with a torn ACL. The trio of Hairston, Johnson, and Poyer are all key players, so it’ll be interesting to see if they progress at all on Thursday.

Looking at the limited Bills players, there’s every reason to expect they’ll play on Saturday. But they won’t be at full strength. At what point do the mounting injuries reach critical mass, split Buffalo’s differential, and tip over the this team’s playoff hopes?

The reigning MVP can cover a lot of holes. But Allen is only one guy and his receiving corps is quickly falling prey to this war of attrition.

If the Broncos shut down Buffalo’s rushing attack and put the game on Allen’s shoulders, as counter-intuitive as it may sound, that’s the path to victory. Aside from James Cook and Kincaid, Allen is running out of help at the skill positions.

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