News & Info/Headlines

As Profootballtalk.com's Josh Alper framed it, "Broncos running back Devontae Booker is set to miss time due to a wrist injury, but the team does not currently expect his absence to spill over into the regular season."

This according to head coach Vance Joseph, who addressed the situation Thursday. Joseph said that Booker will have surgery on Friday to repair what Mike Klis of KUSA reports is a fracture that was discovered when he reported lingering discomfort in the wrist from offseason workouts.

Joseph said that Booker could play without having the surgery, but fixing it now keeps it from being a “long-term” issue for the running back. He also said that Booker should be ready for the regular season given a six-week timeline to recover from the operation.

As Alper suggests, that outlook could always change.

In the meantime, with Booker down and veteran Jamaal Charles not expected to get team reps until next week as he continues his comeback from knee surgeries, C.J. Anderson should get the bulk of practice time. Sixth-round rookie DeAngelo Henderson and veteran Bernard Pierce may also get longer looks.

Eventually, Booker’s injury may help the Broncos settled on a running back tandem of Charles and Anderson.

The good news here, could be additional clarity for Anderson.

Booker was the backup running back to C.J. Anderson last year. When Anderson suffered a season-ending knee injury during Game 7, Booker started the next six games.

As Klis reminded readers, Booker seemed to hit a rookie wall, however, and was replaced in the starting lineup by Justin Forsett. Booker finished with 612 yards on 174 carries for a 3.5-yard average.

Anderson looked to be getting on track before he suffered a torn meniscus in Week 7 against Houston and with the additions of offensive linemen Ronald Leary and Menelik Watson, as well as the return of OC Mike McCoy, a fully healthy Anderson could enjoy more room to run this season as long as he's the same guy we saw before last year's injury.

That's something to watch as the regular season draws near.