There was some hope on Friday that Brandon Lloyd would be able to play for the Broncos against the Bengals.
That hope died a short time ago when the Broncos handed in their list of inactives for Sunday afternoon’s contest. Lloyd joined the other Broncos listed as questionable this week -- cornerback Champ Bailey, defensive end Elvis Dumervil and running back Knowshon Moreno -- on the list of players who won’t be seeing any action.
There wasn’t much expectation that any of those other players would be in the lineup, but the loss of Lloyd makes it a particularly painful clean sweep for the Broncos. The wideout was warming up before the game, but the verdict was that his groin injury wasn’t good enough for him to give it a go. When you throw in linebacker D.J. Williams, out for the second straight game, the Broncos will be without five starters as they attempt to avoid an 0-2 start.