Julius Thomas Injury: Denver Broncos TE ‘iffy at best’
Denver Broncos tight end Julius Thomas (80) is looked at by medical staff after an injury during the third quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Broncos defeated the Chiefs 27-17. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
For a second straight week, Denver Broncos star tight end Julius Thomas practiced on both Thursday and Friday and did more at practice on Friday than on Thursday. But for a second straight week, a report on Sunday has cast Thomas’s status into serious doubt. Just like last week, most of us went into Sunday thinking that Thomas would be healthy enough to suit up for a key game, but, just like last week, we were met by a report stating concern regarding Thomas’s status.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Julius Thomas is “iffy at best” to play in today’s huge game against the Kansas City Chiefs, as the Broncos look to avoid falling into a revenge-type loss against their rivals at Arrowhead. The Chiefs are looking to avoid dropping a third straight game, as they lost to the rival San Diego Chargers last week on a beautiful TD pass from MVP candidate Philip Rivers. Meanwhile, the Broncos fell to the New England Patriots in overtime last week, so they aren’t going to take this week’s huge game lightly.
Even so, the Broncos are still playing it cautious with Thomas, who is on track to be a game-time decision. Schefter reports that Thomas’s status will be decided in pre-game warmups, which means that all eyes should be peeled for reports on his status close to game time, which is set at 4:25 p.m. ET. The one bright side for fantasy owners is that this game isn’t a Sunday night game like last week’s Broncos game, so fantasy owners have some more options and time to make a decision (though it isn’t ideal to go into today’s matchup with a real contingency plan).
It looked like Julius Thomas would be a full-go today after practicing a good deal on Friday, but Thomas’s knee continues to bother him. He’s a full-blown game-time decision today, and his absence would definitely be a tough loss for the Denver Broncos. The elite pass-catching TE seems health enough to play, but the Broncos are being cautious with the health of their TD-maven. Per Schefter, Thomas’s knee is also “tight”.