An already-battered Broncos offensive line lost its most important member midway through Sunday’s game.
After a 3-yard gain by Denver running back RJ Harvey in the second quarter against the Chargers in Week 18, Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles lingered down on the turf in obvious pain. Trainers came out to tend to Bolles, who remained down for a couple minutes before looping an arm around a staffer and limping off to the sideline medical tent.
Bolles lingered in the medical tent for a few minutes before eventually exiting and heading directly to the locker room. The Broncos announced the star left tackle was questionable to return with an ankle injury.
Bolles, though, made a quick return in the second half, entering just two plays into the Broncos’ first drive of the third quarter after doing some warmup work on the sidelines.
The 33-year-old veteran has played in 51 of a possible 51 regular-season games across the last three seasons, a true iron man in recent years after a leg fracture wiped out most of his 2022 season. He’s not one to get dinged up often; if Bolles’ injury is serious, it’s a near-indescribable blow to this Broncos offense as they march into the playoffs.
Second-year reserve Frank Crum, who entered Week 18 with a total of 65 offensive snaps — mostly as a jumbo tight-end — under his belt in his NFL career, filled in for the rest of the first half Sunday in Bolles’ absence. Denver also has backup Alex Palczewski, who filled in at left guard for Ben Powers for much of this 2025 regular season, as an option if Bolles is limited down the stretch.
Bolles told The Denver Post in the locker room this week he’s played “the most consistent football” of his career in 2025, named a Pro Bowler for the first time in his NFL career. The 2022 second-team All-Pro is the longest-tenured member of this Broncos roster, and hasn’t allowed a sack in 17 regular-season games in 2025.
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