PLAYER NOTES
–RB Royce Freeman is dealing with an ankle injury and did not practice Wednesday. He suffered the injury in the win at Arizona on Oct. 18 and spent the off weekend at the practice facility getting treatment. If he can’t play Sunday then Devontae Booker should get more reps behind Phillip Lindsay.
–LB Shane Ray did not practice before Thursday because of ankle and wrist injuries suffered in the loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 14. His status for Sunday at Kansas City was not known mid-week.
–S Dymonte Thomas practiced this week after a chest contusion suffered against the Rams on Oct. 14 kept him out for Week 7.
— C/G Nico Falah was signed off the New York Jets practice squad after G Ron Leary was placed on IR with a torn Achilles. Falah is dealing with a concussion and did not practice before Thursday.
–S Darian Stewart sat out practice this week with a neck stinger suffered in the Arizona win.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: QB Kevin Hogan will serve as Case Keenum’s backup this week after the release of Chad Kelly following his arrest. Hogan was claimed off waivers a week before the start of the regular season and has been inactive for all seven games. Now he will be thrust into a bigger role, especially if Keenum struggles or gets hurt against the Chiefs. Hogan said Wednesday he is ready for his new role. “I feel very prepared. This is going on Week 7 or 8 in the system and I spend a lot of time working and studying,” he said Wednesday. “The coaches have done a great job of getting me caught up and I’ve put in a lot of time and preparation, even though I haven’t suited up yet. I always took the game plan seriously and prepared as if I was playing. I’m not going to treat it any differently, just going to put the uniform on.” Hogan played eight games with Cleveland in 2017 and 2018. He is 60-for-101 with for 621 yards passing in his career.
GAME PLAN: The Broncos have to duplicate their blueprint from the first three quarters of the Oct. 1 matchup against the Chiefs, but do it for 60 minutes. They held Patrick Mahomes in check until the fourth quarter but then allowed him to engineer touchdown drives of 75 and 60 yards to rally the Chiefs from 10 down to a 27-23 win. Mahomes finished with 304 yards passing in the win with 153 of those coming in the last 12:47. Denver kept Mahomes in containment for the first 45 minutes, but it broke down in the pivotal fourth quarter.
The best way to contain Kansas City’s high-powered offense is to keep it on the sideline. The Broncos need to sustain drives, which might be tougher if running back Royce Freeman can’t play. Phillip Lindsay has shown he can carry the ball, but he has done it in tandem with Freeman, giving defenses different looks from the backfield. Quarterback Case Keenum has to get the protection up front to have time to find Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders and Courtland Sutton in the Chiefs’ suspect secondary.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–The Denver pass rush got to Patrick Mahomes plenty of times but only recorded one sack in the first meeting. Mahomes proved elusive, especially on one play in the fourth quarter when he switched the ball to his left hand and completed a pass to Tyreek Hill as linebacker Von Miller was pulling him down. When the Broncos have the opportunity, they need to tackle Mahomes before he can make a play and keep him contained in the pocket as often as possible.
–Broncos DBs vs. Chiefs Tyreek Hill. The speedster has torn up good teams this year, including a three-touchdown day against New England two weeks ago. Hill is one of the fastest players in the NFL so keeping him from getting into the open field will limit his effectiveness. Containing him most likely falls on All-Pro CB Chris Harris Jr., who has the ability to shut down the opponents’ top receiver. Harris needed IVs during the first game due to dehydration. “Yeah, I’ll definitely load up on some IVs or whatever for the game, as much as I can,” Harris said, laughing.
