Broncos place Teddy Bridgewater, Kareem Jackson, Dalton Risner on IR

The Denver Broncos were officially eliminated from playoff contention in Week 17. Facing the Los Angeles Chargers' high-flying offense led by quarterback Justin Herbert on the road was already going to be a tough task, but Denver was also forced to trot out a severely undermanned squad due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wednesday brought a mixed bag of news for the Broncos roster. Three players were placed on injured reserve, but 12 players were activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list. The trio whose season has come to a premature end include starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, starting safety Kareem Jackson and starting guard Dalton Risner.

In 14 games this season, Bridgewater posted a 7-7 record with a 66.9% completion percentage, 3,052 passing yards and a career-high 18 touchdowns against seven interceptions. The signal-caller also added 30 carries for 106 rushing yards and two scores on the ground as well.

Jackson led the team in tackles with 88 and chipped in two passes defended, one interception and one sack as well. In his third NFL season, Risner committed just two penalties on the offensive line in 832 snaps.

The 12 players activated on Wednesday included DL McTelvin Agim, ILB Baron Browning, CB Bryce Callahan, OLB Bradley Chubb, OLB Jonathon Cooper, CB Mike Ford, WR Jerry Jeudy, T Bobby Massie, WR Tim Patrick, NT Mike Purcell, S Caden Sterns and OLB Stephen Weatherly. Denver also activated WR Tyrie Cleveland off of their practice squad/COVID-19 list.

The Broncos (7-9) face the Kansas City Chiefs (11-5) at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.