The Denver Broncos staved off elimination in overtime to advance to the AFC Championship Game. In doing so, quarterback Bo Nix ended his season, falling victim to an ankle injury and thrusting the rest of Denver’s season into uncertainty.
Another Broncos player who has been out for a while is running back J.K. Dobbins. Here is the latest on his status ahead of the AFC Championship Game:
J.K. Dobbins Injury Update
It’s on backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham to get the Broncos to the Super Bowl. While fans are rallying around him, they are also hoping that reinforcements can emerge in time to take down the New England Patriots.
One contributor Denver hoped could return is Dobbins, their running back. His first season with the Broncos was cut short by a foot injury suffered in Week 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders.
For Dobbins, the injury was a sobering snap back to an unfortunate reality. Dobbins missed his entire second season and played in just nine games over the next two seasons. He played well for the Los Angeles Chargers in 2024 before a knee sprain forced him to miss a month. For the fifth time in as many years, Dobbins missed significant time.
Clips of Dobbins returning to practice surfaced ahead of Sunday’s AFC Championship Game, and he was designated to return from injured reserve on Monday. The general expectation was for the running back to play against the Patriots.
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However, Broncos insider Benjamin Allbright tempered expectations ahead of the Saturday deadline to activate Dobbins.
“I would not go this far with it,” Allbright said. “There’s still a possibility, but I would say it’s less likely than people are portraying.”
Later in the day, Zac Stevens confirmed that Dobbins will not play in the AFC Championship Game against the Patriots.
On Sunday, Sean Payton confirmed that Dobbins is ’50-50′ to play in the Super Bowl if the Broncos are able to defeat the Patriots.
Pat Bryant good to go.
Troy Franklin OUT (hamstring)
Luke Wattenberg returns and will start at Center
JK Dobbins is 50-50 according to Sean if they make it to the SB.— Tracy Wolfson (@tracywolfson) January 25, 2026
Dobbins has been Denver’s best back this season, and even average play would be a boost to the backfield. By PFSN’s NFL RB Impact Metric, he ranked 29th among 53 qualifiers in 2025. Rookie RJ Harvey, who has taken the bulk of Dobbins’ snaps, ranks 47th with an “F” grade.
Dobbins was far more efficient than his rookie counterpart. His 153 carries for 772 yards and four touchdowns were tracking to be a career year. Harvey, meanwhile, found just 3.7 yards per attempt.
With a backup quarterback under center, the Broncos needed all the help they could get. Against a New England defense that ranks 12th by PFSN’s NFL Defense Impact Metric, Dobbins’ return would have been a welcome one, but Denver will now have to reach the Super Bowl for their running back to have a chance of playing again this season.
Preview for Broncos vs. Patriots AFC Championship Game
PFSN Analytics: Patriots: 67.9% win rate, Broncos: 32.1% win rate
Power Ranking
- NE: 7th (77.3)
- DEN: 3rd (79.2)
Offense
NE: 2nd (86.6; B) in PFSN’s Offense Impact (OFFi)
- Drake Maye: 2nd (91.1; A-) in PFSN’s Quarterback Impact (QBi)
- Offensive Line: 12th (74.5; C) in PFSN’s Offensive Line Impact (OLi)
DEN: 15th (75.9; C) in PFSN’s Defense Impact (DEFi)
- Stidham: Four qualified QBi games in his career. Best score: 81.4 (B-) with the Raiders vs the 49ers in 2022. His lowest score was a 72.7 (C-) in 2022.
- Offensive Line: 5th (80.9 B-)
Defense
- NE: 12th (78.2 C+)
- DEN: 1st (90.1 A-)
Special Teams
- NE: 20th (73.9 C)
- DEN: 22nd (70.9 C-)
Preview Notes
- Drake Maye has six fumbles, including three lost, in two postseason games after having eight with three lost in 17 regular-season games.
- The Broncos and Patriots have met in the postseason five times, with the home team winning each time. This will be the fifth time they play in Denver.
- Denver’s defense allowed an NFL-best 2.1 yards per play in the red zone. In contrast, New England’s red zone offense averaged 2.9 yards per play, ranking last in the league.
- On offense, the Broncos averaged 3.4 yards per red-zone play, ranking third in the NFL. Defensively, the Patriots allowed an average of 3.8 yards per red-zone play, ranking last.
- Denver’s fourth-quarter point differential was +64, second-best in the NFL for the regular season. The Patriots’ fourth-quarter point differential was -12, putting them at 19th overall.
- New England would be the ninth team to make a Super Bowl the year after losing at least ten games.
- New England is 9-4 in AFC Championship Games since the 2001 season.
A win gives the Patriots their 40th all-time postseason win, breaking a tie with the San Francisco 49ers. - Denver is 8-2 all-time in AFC Championship games, including 6-1 at home.
- A win would clinch Denver’s ninth Super Bowl appearance, breaking a tie with the Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, and San Francisco 49ers for the second most. New England’s 11 is the most in NFL history.
