Chiefs rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane intercepted Bo Nix on his third career play.
Delane, though, landed on his right shoulder on Courtland Sutton’s tackle at the end of a 5-yard return.
The first-round pick entered training camp with a right shoulder injury.
He was in the training room while the Chiefs were on the field for the Broncos’ second drive.
The Chiefs list him as questionable to return.
Chiefs linebacker Cooper McDonald injured a knee while covering a kickoff after Patrick Mahomes’ 15-yard touchdown run. He also is questionable to return with a knee injury that is being further evaluated.
Broncos Clips
Sometimes, facts get in the way of a good story.
On Monday night, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that quarterback Drew Brees considered emerging from retirement to play for the Broncos in the AFC Championship, given the injury that happened to starter Bo Nix late in the divisional-round win over the Bills.
There’s only one problem with that. Brees, as PFT has confirmed, remains on the Saints’ reserve-retired list. A retired player must return by the Tuesday after Week 13 in any given year. After that, he can’t play for anyone.
Then there’s the fact that the Saints would have had to release Brees from the reserve-retired list. He then would have been subject to waivers.
That doesn’t mean the Broncos didn’t talk to Brees, as Schefter reports. If, however, then-offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and offensive assistant Pete Carmichael spoke to Brees without permission from the Saints, it would have been tampering.
Which leads to the next question. Will the league investigate the Broncos for tampering, based on Schefter’s report? Even without a complaint from the Saints, the league could take action.
It never got to the point at which the Broncos or Brees realized that the rules would block the move, because Brees had “discomfort” in his wrist. Then there’s the fact that Brees has said he can’t throw at all with his right arm due to his shoulder injury from 2005 — and that he throws better with his left.
So while the whole thing sounds good, it’s a big, fat nothing burger which, if anything, will get the Broncos in hot water for tampering with a player whose rights remain with another team.
Bo Nix didn’t get his season off to the best start, throwing an interception that set up the Chiefs at the Denver 46. The Broncos quarterback responded on the next drive, though.
He completed passes of 13, 4, 8, 11 and 19 yards on his five passes on the second possession. The 19-yarder was a touchdown throw to Evan Engram.
It tied the game 7-7.
Nix is now 5-of-6 for 55 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Wide receiver Pat Bryant has three catches for 32 yards.
Patrick Mahomes is still Patrick Mahomes.
If there was any doubt about his knee, he answered it on the Chiefs’ first drive. The quarterback ran for a 15-yard touchdown, giving the Chiefs a 7-0 lead.
Mahomes tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee on Dec. 14 during a Week 15 game against the Chargers and underwent reconstructive surgery the following day.
He ran for a 5-yard score on the previous play, but both tackles were called for holding. Tight end Travis Kelce got away with a hold on Mahomes’ touchdown run that counted.
Andy Reid had vowed to run the ball more this season, and the Chiefs did that on their first drive of 2026. They ran on eight of their 10 plays, picking up 57 yards. Kenneth Walker, the Super Bowl LX MVP, had seven carries for 32 yards.
Mahomes threw two passes and completed one for 9 yards to Xavier Worthy.
The Chiefs started the drive on the Denver 46 after rookie first-round pick Mansoor Delane picked Bo Nix and returned it 5 yards.
The Chiefs and Broncos play the final Week 1 game, meeting on Monday Night Football.
The Chiefs already had ruled out offensive tackle Josh Simmons (back) and safety Chamarri Conner (knee).
Their healthy scratches are quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, tight end Jared Wiley, offensive tackle Diego Pounds, defensive tackle Bryson Eason and linebacker Jack Pyburn. Nussmeier is the team’s emergency third quarterback.
The Broncos did not have any injuries heading into Week 1, so all of their inactives are healthy scratches.
Quarterback Sam Ehlinger, running back Tyler Badie, offensive lineman Kage Casey, tight end Dallen Bentley, defensive lineman Jordan Jackson and defensive tackle Tyler Onyedim are inactive for Monday night’s game against the Chiefs. Ehlinger will serve as the emergency third quarterback.
That means Jarrett Stidham officially held onto the backup job behind Bo Nix.
Fourth-round rookie running back Jonah Coleman is dressed.
Led by the Bears’ 59-point explosion in Charlotte, the NFL’s first week of the season has seen pinball machine-level scoring.
And the all-time Week 1 record is in reach.
Via Mark Maske of Front Office Sports, the 750 total points scored through 15 games fall only 41 short of the all-time Week 1 record. So with 42 or more between the Broncos and Chiefs on Monday night, the record will fall.
In his first Week 1 without coaching one of the NFL’s 32 teams since 2006 (when he was the Vikings’ defensive coordinator), Mike Tomlin shared his thoughts on the matter on NBC. He pointed to the current methods of practice and preparation.
“There’s less violence in team development,” Tomlin said. “There are less padded practices. And even the drills that they do are more geared toward skill development, 7-on-7, and things of that nature. Defenses spend less time shedding blocks and tackling than they used to 25 years ago when I came in the league.”
Tomlin has also said that mobile quarterbacks have an edge early in the year, because defenders aren’t allowed to tackle quarterbacks in practice.
The NFL likes high-scoring games. Over the years, the rules have been tweaked to encourage more of it. Which means that there surely will be a press release on Tuesday with all sorts of statistics about the scoring in the Week 1 games.
And, with at least 42 points tonight, a headline that Week 1 of the 2026 season was the highest-scoring Week 1 of all time.
The Broncos released wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey on Monday, the team announced.
Multiple reports say it’s a procedural move, and Humphrey will re-sign with the team this week.
He would have been inactive for Monday night’s game against the Chiefs.
The Broncos’ wide receivers for tonight are Jaylen Waddle, Courtland Sutton, Pat Bryant, Marvin Mims and Troy Franklin.
The team also announced the elevations of long snapper Mitchell Fraboni and fullback Adam Prentice from the practice squad to the game-day roster.
Fraboni, who is entering his fifth season with the Broncos, has appeared in 55 regular-season games and three postseason contests throughout his time in Denver.
Prentice, a sixth-year player, appeared in all 17 regular-season games during his first season with the Broncos in 2025. He made three starts. Prentice — who played 19 percent of the Broncos’ offensive snaps and 45 percent of the team’s special teams snaps during the regular season — also appeared in both postseason games for Denver.
The Chiefs announced a pair of additions to their roster for Monday night’s game against the Broncos.
They have elevated defensive tackle Marcus Harris and fullback Ben VanSumeren from the practice squad. Both players will revert back after the game.
Harris signed to the practice squad late last season and returned to it after being released this summer. He entered the league as a 2024 seventh-round pick in Houston and has never played in a regular season game.
VanSumeren was in camp with the Bills and signed to the Chiefs’ practice squad earlier this month. He appeared in 21 games for the Eagles over the last three seasons.
Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas is managing a shoulder injury after the team’s season-opening win over the Browns.
Thomas left the win due to the injury and head coach Liam Coen told reporters on Monday that the wideout will be limited in practice over the coming days. Coen does not expect the injury to impact Thomas’s availability against the Broncos in Week 2, however.
“I fully imagine him being able to play this game, no issues, just might not be able to get hit throughout the week or something,” Coen said, via Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com.
Thomas had three catches for 40 yards on Sunday.
Coen also said that defensive end BJ Green is expected to miss the Broncos game. Green is dealing with an elbow injury.
The dream team has had an unexpected detour.
After losing to the 49ers badly in Melbourne, and given Myles Garrett’s candid remarks about the impact of his health on his performance, Garrett will have knee surgery and be placed on injured reserve, per multiple reports.
It’s a stunning development for a Rams team that became the odds-on favorites to win the Super Bowl after Garrett’s arrival in June. His presence lured Aaron Donald out of retirement. Now, Donald will be playing for at least four games (if Donald plays in Week 2) without Garrett.
And it won’t be an easy road. The Rams host the Giants next Monday night. The following Sunday night, they face the Broncos in Denver. Then, the Rams head to Philly for a date with the Eagles. After that, the Rams return home for a Monday night showdown with Josh Allen and the Bills.
