Jeff Legwold
ENFIELD, England — Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton said Wednesday that left guard Ben Powers will miss significant time with a biceps injury.
Team sources said Powers suffered a torn bicep on the Broncos’ final offensive series in the team’s 21-17 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. Powers, whose arm was awkwardly bent in pass protection on a Bo Nix completion to tight end Adam Trautman, finished the game.
Powers did not make the trip to England with the team and underwent surgery to repair his injury. Wednesday was the first time Payton publicly addressed Powers’ injury. Powers is expected to miss at least two months and other players with similar injuries have missed an entire season.
“With a starting player, there’s always a — it’s never good, but the next guy is there and we’ll be ready to play him,” Payton said after the Broncos’ practice at the Tottenham Hotspur complex.
Payton wouldn’t say Wednesday who would start in Powers’ place, but Matt Peart worked at left guard during training camp. Powers had played in 40 consecutive games, including January’s playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills, since signing with the Broncos in free agency before the 2023 season.
When asked if Peart would replace Powers at left guard in Sunday’s game against the New York Jets, Payton said only: “We’ll see, we’ll see.”
Peart, who played last season as a backup for the Broncos, signed a two-year contract in free agency last March to remain with the team. Payton said Peart was an important depth player for the Broncos to re-sign.
“We know exactly what we’re getting (at Peart), we’ll see how we handle it,” Payton said.
The Broncos are currently second in the league in pass block win rate (74%) and 18th in run block win rate (70.9%). The Broncos had started the same five offensive linemen in their first five games of the season.
