Broncos place rookie RB Jonah Coleman on short-term IR with high-ankle sprain
Denver is losing its rookie running back for a month. The Broncos are placing Jonah Coleman on short-term injured reserve with a high-ankle sprain, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported, an injury Coleman suffered in the team's Week 2 win over the Jaguars.
This is the injury that doesn't get taped over. A high-ankle sprain involves the ligaments above the joint, and the short-term IR designation carries a four-game minimum. Schefter reports Coleman is expected to miss exactly that: the mandatory four, no more. In a best-case reading, Denver gets him back in the Week 7 range with roughly a quarter of his rookie season gone.
The timing is what stings. Denver's backfield was already stretched thin in Week 2, when R.J. Harvey was considered unlikely to play against Jacksonville, per Mile High Report. Coleman's ankle surfaced on the injury report ahead of the Week 3 matchup with the Rams, and now the team has to absorb his absence for the next stretch of the schedule rather than a single Sunday.
For an offense coordinated and called by Davis Webb, whose staff the Broncos have publicly backed with what Mile High Report described as a "high level of confidence and comfort," this is the first real stress test of the season. Losing a rookie back means two problems at once: fewer bodies on the depth chart, and fewer snaps to evaluate a player the organization invested a draft pick in. Those developmental reps don't come back in January.
My read: Denver can survive four games without Coleman. Veteran backs and a heavier passing workload can cover the carries, and the short-term designation is a genuine break, since a season-ending injury was on the table with this diagnosis. What the Broncos can't replace is the information. Coleman's rookie year was going to be an audition, and a high-ankle sprain just deleted a quarter of it.
I'll take the over on him returning as soon as he's eligible, and I'll take the under on Denver's run game looking the same when he does. If the Broncos are still grinding out wins in October, this becomes a footnote. If the backfield gets exposed, September is when the season started tilting.
