Broncos place RB J.K. Dobbins on injured reserve with potentially season-ending foot injury

Parker Gabriel, The Denver Post on Nov 15, 2025

Published in Football

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DENVER — The Broncos may be without running back J.K. Dobbins for the rest of the season.

Dobbins, a source said, has a Lisfranc injury in his foot that required surgery and the Broncos placed him on injured reserve Saturday.

Dobbins, who injured his foot last week against Las Vegas, is technically first eligible to return Week 16 against Jacksonville but a source told The Denver Post the most likely scenario is that Dobbins will miss the remainder of the regular season and may only have enough time to get back to the field this year if Denver makes the Super Bowl in early February.

Dobbins is a free agent at the end of the season after signing a one-year, $2.07 million deal with Denver in June, meaning its possible he’s played his last snap for the Broncos.

The 26-year-old has been the Broncos’ most consistent offensive playmaker this season. He has also dealt with a list of major injuries in his career.

He tore several ligaments in his knee at the end of his rookie season in 2020 for Baltimore and missed the entire 2021 season as he worked to return. That led to Dobbins playing eight games in 2022. Then he tore his Achilles the first game of the 2023 season and missed the remainder of that year.

He gained 1,000-plus scrimmage yards in 2024 for the Los Angeles Chargers, but he missed four games late in the year due to a knee injury that required an injured reserve placement.

“People say I have injury issues, but I don’t. I’ve had two major injuries,” Dobbins said earlier this season. “That’s it. It’s not like I’m rolling ankles or — it’s not like I’m injury-prone. It’s just the injuries that I’ve had have been unfortunate. They’re God-given, actually, because, like, a torn knee, I can’t help that. I can’t help that. And then a torn Achilles, that’s something I can’t control either. …

“If you think about it, I don’t think many people could still play at the level I’m playing at now if they’ve had those two. God chose me for those. I don’t go out there afraid of that. Those were just unfortunate.”

Dobbins has been remarkably resilient in his career — he recently said “storms are beautiful” in talking about his approach to handling adversity — but now he faces another storm.

Dobbins entered Week 11 with a team-high 722 rushing yards, tied for fifth-most in the NFL, and averaging 5.0 yards per carry for a Denver offense that’s found ways to run the ball among the best in the NFL but has been inconsistent in the passing game.

The Broncos are ninth in the NFL in rushing yards per game and 18th in passing through their first 10 games. They’ll now have to try to build on an 8-2 start and a seven-game winning streak Sunday against Kansas City and likely for the remainder of the season without Dobbins.

Rookie RJ Harvey will have a key role in Dobbins’ absence. The second-round pick has totaled 389 yards from scrimmage and scored six total touchdowns in 2025, but he has ran for just 3.3 yards a carry outside of a 50-yard gain in Week 1.

To add insult to Dobbins’ injury, Las Vegas defensive end Tyree Wilson, whom Dobbins was adamant tackled him using an illegal “hip-drop” tackle, was not fined this week for his technique on the play.

Slew of moves

Dobbins' injury set off a wave of roster moves for the Broncos.

In addition to placing him on injured reserve, Denver waived veteran receiver Trent Sherfield. They filled those two 53-man roster spots by promoting corner Reese Taylor from the practice squad and activating inside linebacker Garret Wallow from injured reserve.

Sherfield was signed in the spring to be a core special teams player and a physical receiver. His role diminished in recent weeks with the emergence of rookie Pat Bryant and Denver made his role even more difficult to pinpoint this week when it signed Lil’Jordan Humphrey off of the New York Giants’ practice squad. Wallow missed the minimum four games with a hamstring injury.

The Broncos also elevated tight end Marcedes Lewis and inside linebacker Jordan Turner from the practice squad for Sunday’s game against Kansas City.