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Julius Thomas Injury: Denver Broncos TE not sure he’ll play

By Kevin Parvizi

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Denver Broncos star tight end Julius Thomas still leads the league in touchdown receptions with 12 scores to his credit, and he’s done it despite missing the past two weeks with a nasty ankle injury. He has done everything possible to get back onto the field, and it finally looks like he will be able to make his return to the starting lineup. Thomas has been optimistic about his status ever since the week started, and he did manage to get back on the practice field yesterday. However, we do need to tone down that optimism, because it now looks like Thomas could end up being a full-blown toss-up.

According to the Denver Post’s Troy E. Renck, Thomas stated that he is “unsure” if he’ll be able to play in this week’s game against the Buffalo Bills, and he is listed questionable on the injury report. I would take the listing at face value, as it looks like Thomas will be a game-time decision. At this point, I would consider him to be 50-50, and we probably won’t know more about this status until Sunday. On the bright side, Demaryius Thomas looks set to play after dealing with an injury of his own, so the Broncos won’t lose their top pass-catcher.

Orange Julius is at 40 receptions this year, and he’s been more consistent than he was last season. That isn’t a surprise, but it has gone largely unnoticed due to the decrease in statistical output. His touchdown total is incredible, but his other numbers are lower simply due to all the targets heading in Emmanuel Sanders’s direction. Sanders has been a revelation, so he definitely deserves all the passes going his way. Hopefully Thomas can get back into the starting lineup this week, but there’s really no rush to bring him back. He’s a big key to this offense, but they don’t need him to beat the Bills, and their goal is simply to win in the playoffs and have him healthy for the long haul; there’s no need to risk any sort of aggravation to his left ankle.

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