Clayton: The Broncos chances against the Steelers hinge on injuries

After four weeks of injury problems, the Broncos finally got some good news on Wednesday. Cornerback Ronald Darby is healthy enough to go on the designated to return from injured reserve list.

He suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1. The Broncos now have 21 days to put him back on the active roster.

Against the Baltimore Ravens the Broncos were down seven starters because of injuries since the start of regular season. Denver, Baltimore and San Francisco are the three most-injured teams in football.

Getting Darby back will help the defense. General manager George Paton thought he was the best cornerback on the free agent market this past offseason.

It may be too much to ask for Darby to play this week against Pittsburgh. But we will know better by the end of the week if that’s possible.

The big injury to follow this week is Teddy Bridgewater, who is in concussion protocol. The Broncos need Bridgewater in what is a critical road game against one of the better defensives in the league. That one is also too early to call.

Naturally, if he can’t go, it will be Drew Lock at quarterback for Denver. What you wonder is whether Lock can do well against the Steelers. If he doesn’t have his two veteran guards, it might be tough. The status of Graham Glasgow and Dalton Risner are also unknown.

I also keep saying that the Broncos really need to run the ball more. They can’t let Lock throw the ball more than 55 percent of the time and hope to win a road game.

Everyone knows the Steelers are struggling with Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback. He’s beat up and playing behind a rebuilt offensive line that is not playing well.

That makes Sunday a winnable game. But only if the injury situation improves.