After Sunday’s win over the Arizona Cardinals, I made the case that the Denver Broncos need to lean into their running game and become a run-first team. Now, they may not have a choice. Broncos wide receiver Jaylen Waddle is dealing with a setback in his recovery from a chest injury, and his availability for Sunday’s matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs is up in the air.

Ian Rapoport was the first to report the news on X:

“Broncos wide receiver Jaylen Waddle suffered an aggravation of his previous chest injury on the reverse last week, and his status for Sunday versus the Chiefs will be determined at a later time.”

That is not the update Denver wanted heading into one of its biggest games of the year.

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Sean Payton’s apology rings hollow now

Here’s what makes the situation so strange. Nobody asked Broncos coach Sean Payton about the reverse that led to the Waddle injury, but he addressed it after the game anyway.

Payton said, “it was awful, I’m sorry.”

At the time, it came across as Payton making light of a bad play call. Now, I’d bet he wants every bit of that moment back. The apology feels a little hollow when the result is a key receiver potentially missing a game against a division rival.

The timing could not be worse. The Chiefs are coming off a game in which the Seattle Seahawks blew their doors off, handing Kansas City its first loss of the season. A team in that spot usually comes out with something to prove. Denver will have to deal with that response while running out a passing attack that was already anemic, and it may have to do it without arguably its most explosive player.

Waddle’s slow start in Denver isn’t all on him

Let’s be honest about where Waddle’s season stood even before the reverse. This hasn’t been the start to his Broncos career that anyone envisioned when he arrived.

Those numbers are underwhelming for a player of his caliber, especially with the season nearly at the halfway point.

The truth is, I don’t put much of that on Waddle. For one, the offense has already changed play callers, moving from Davis Webb to Payton. That kind of shakeup makes it hard for any receiver to find a rhythm.

Additionally, quarterback Bo Nix has not been very good this season, and that includes the fourth quarter. A receiver can only do so much when the passes coming his way aren’t on target or on time.

Then there’s the ground game. Last week, Denver finally found a three-headed monster in the backfield, and that group could even get better after the trade deadline. That’s a story for another day, but it does tell you where the identity of this offense is heading. If the Broncos are going to win by pounding the rock, the targets for Waddle were likely to stay limited regardless.

Running game becomes a necessity against Kansas City

So between the injuries and the offense around him, I’m not sure what anyone could reasonably expect from Waddle in Denver right now. He hasn’t been put in a position to succeed, and this latest setback only adds to the frustration.

Nonetheless, the Broncos could be without one of their best offensive weapons against the Chiefs. If that ends up being the case, leaning on the run game stops being a suggestion and becomes the only path that makes sense. Denver found something on the ground against Arizona, and it will need to lean on that again if it wants to knock off a Kansas City team looking to bounce back.