Broncos will be missing Dalton Risner vs Chiefs after elbow injury

The Denver Broncos already have a tough time generating much of an offensive push these days. That’s going to become even tougher in the team’s final game of the 2021 regular season with the news that interior lineman Dalton Risner won’t be available to play against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

Risner suffered an elbow injury in Week 17 that is likely to require 3-4 weeks to heal, which means Risner is going to be forced to sit out the team’s final game of the season. The fortunate news is that Risner’s injury, a partial UCL tear, will not require surgery and Risner should be just fine for any offseason training activities and certainly for training camp.

In Risner’s absence, the Broncos could turn to former sixth-round pick Netane Muti.

The Broncos will be without Dalton Risner along the offensive line on Sunday.

The Chiefs rolled over the Broncos by a final score of 22-9 at the beginning of December as part of their eight-game win streak that carried them to the top of the AFC West.

Risner is a popular player even in Chiefs Kingdom for his local roots as a Branson native and former Kansas State star. He was the second-round pick of the Broncos back in the 2019 NFL Draft and made the PFWA’s All-Rookie team that year. He’s gone on to start every single game for the Broncos since then—until this elbow injury.

The Chiefs and Broncos are slated to kick off on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. C.T. after the NFL flexed the game from its original Sunday afternoon spot.