NFL teams
Jeff Legwold, ESPN Senior Writer 7y

Broncos claim Justin Forsett, place Kapri Bibbs on IR

NFL, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The minute the Denver Broncos put a walking boot on running back Kapri Bibbs' left foot/ankle, the position became a question mark.

Which is why the Broncos moved quickly Monday to grab a player who already knows the playbook, or at least the bulk of the playbook. The Broncos claimed Justin Forsett off waivers from the Detroit Lions, and he is expected to be ready to play at least some by Sunday's game against the Tennessee Titans in Nashville.

Forsett played for Broncos coach Gary Kubiak, as well as current Broncos offensive coordinator Rick Dennison, in Houston in 2012 and in Baltimore in 2014. Forsett had the best season of his career in '14 with the Ravens when Kubiak was the team's offensive coordinator -- Forsett finished with 1,266 yards rushing, 44 receptions and eight touchdowns to earn the only Pro Bowl selection of his career.

To make room for Forsett, the Broncos moved Bibbs to injured reserve with a high ankle sprain, an injury that can take weeks to recover from, especially for a running back.

A little over an hour before Bibbs was moved to injured reserve, he had expressed at least some optimism he would recover quickly enough to get back on the field. The Broncos have four games remaining in the regular season before any potential playoff games.

"I had an MRI [Monday] -- everything was stable, no bones or anything out of place,'' Bibbs said.

Bibbs provided the Broncos' offense with a spark in the 20-10 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. He had runs of 24 and 13 yards in the Denver offense's only touchdown drive of the day.

Bibbs did not play in the second half after suffering the injury. His last carry of the game came with 3 minutes, 52 seconds left in the first half when he was tackled, for no gain, by Jaguars defensive end Dante Fowler Jr.

"One of the defenders rolled up on it,'' Bibbs said. "... Obviously I thought it was going to be a good game for me, but it didn't go the way I wanted it to go.''

Rookie running back Devontae Booker also was briefly out of the lineup after taking a hard hit -- the officials actually sent Booker to the sideline to be evaluated -- so for a time in the game the Broncos' only available running back was Juwan Thompson.

The Broncos will evaluate Forsett's conditioning, but the expectation is the 31-year-old will be ready to contribute. He appeared in three games for the Ravens this season -- at 3.2 yards per carry -- and played in two games for the Lions before he was waived this past week.

Kubiak called the Broncos' depth at running back "a concern right now.''

The Broncos are 23rd in the league in rushing at 100.2 yards per game and 28th in the league in yards per carry at 3.6.

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