Broncos wide receiver Pat Bryant returns to full practice after four-game absence

Wide receiver Pat Bryant participated fully in Wednesday practice for the Denver Broncos. He returned to the field after the team designated him to come off injured reserve. Bryant missed the previous four games due to an ankle injury sustained during a game against San Francisco.

The severity of the ankle injury was assessed in the days following that matchup. Both Bryant and the coaching staff anticipated he would be ready to play once the minimum four-game injured reserve period concluded. That period has now ended. Bryant is currently tracking toward a return against the Carolina Panthers this weekend.

Several defensive players did not practice on Wednesday. Starting safety Brandon Jones missed the session with a hamstring injury. He had been listed as questionable for the recent game against Kansas City. Jones played through most of the first half before pulling up on a play along the sideline. He did not return to the field after that stop.

Starting safety Talanoa Hufanga also did not practice. He has missed the last three games with an ankle injury. The team chose not to place him on injured reserve. The question remains whether he can return to practice later this week and play in the final game before the Broncos’ bye week.

Cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine, dealing with an ankle injury, and defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike, who has a shoulder injury, also sat out Wednesday’s practice. Veterans Courtland Sutton and Zach Allen received partial rest days. Allen has taken Wednesday rest days consistently throughout the season.

Head coach Sean Payton addressed the approach to player availability. He stated that players are either cleared to play or they are not. Payton insisted the team will not factor in the upcoming bye week as a reason to rest a player. He said, “Honestly, it’s, ‘Is he ready to go?’ We’re going. If he’s not, he’s not. There’s never any variance. If he’s ready to go, he’s ready to go. It’s one or the other. It’s not, ‘well …’ We don’t have that luxury. It’s just 17 games.”

Payton added that if a player is ready, the team treats the preparation as if they are playing the following week. He noted, “If he’s ready, we treat it like we’re playing (the next week). The bye doesn’t factor into it at all.”

The Broncos face a travel-heavy schedule for the remainder of the regular season. The team has five road trips left. Four of those games are in the Eastern Time Zone. The schedule includes a trip to Carolina this weekend, a Black Friday game in Pittsburgh, and later games against the New York Jets and New England. Only one road trip, to Las Vegas, falls outside the East Coast block.

Payton described the team’s travel routine for this week. The squad will depart on Friday night to adjust to the local time zone. They plan to complete a workout and a practice session in Charlotte. Payton said the team usually practices around noon in Denver. He added, “We’ll go out Friday night, get up on their time zone, get a workout, get a little practice in.” When the schedule was announced in May, Payton hoped for two consecutive East Coast games to allow for a longer stay. That did not happen. He joked, “We’re not going to Europe. We’re going to Charlotte.”