Badie out at least 4 weeks with back injury

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos are placing running back Tyler Badie on injured reserve Saturday, a source told 9NEWS.

Badie suffered a harrowing back injury Sunday in the Broncos’ 10-9 win against the New York Jets at rain-soaked MetLife stadium. Badie was carrying the ball when Jets’ linebacker Quincy Williams delivered a tackle blow from behind. As Badie received the hit, Williams also poked the ball out for a fumble.

In a classy gesture, Williams reached out to the Broncos after the game with plans of checking in on Badie.

Badie, who deserves credit for revving up the Broncos’ running attack in the team’s week 2 loss against Pittsburgh (1 carry, 16 yards) and week 3 win at Tampa Bay (9 carries, 70 yards), was able to slow jog off the MetLife artificial surface while wincing in pain as he grabbed his back. As he reached the sidelines, Badie went down and was eventually blackboarded onto a cart and driven off the field.

He spent a few hours in a local hospital before he checked out well enough to fly back Sunday night on a commercial flight. In football terms, though, the back injury is significant enough that Badie will be sidelined a minimum of four weeks.

For this Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Empower Field at Mile High, the Broncos have undrafted rookie Blake Watson who could serve as the No. 3 running back behind Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin. Watson was kept on the Broncos’ season-opening, 53-man roster but has yet to be activated for a game. The Broncos also signed veteran running back Salvon Ahmed to their practice squad Tuesday.

The Broncos other rookie running back, Audric Estime, is eligible to return next week from IR where he landed with an ankle injury in the season-opening game at Seattle.