The Denver Broncos are preparing to play the Pittsburgh Steelers in their first postseason appearance in a while, but they may be without veteran safety Brian Dawkins as they do it. The Broncos began practices on Wednesday to prepare for this weekend's game, but Lindsay Jones of the Denver Post is reporting that Dawkins wasn't present.
At this point, it's still unclear what's going on with Dawkins regarding his injuries or some other possible problem, but his presence on that defense would certainly be missed. The seasoned safety has been dealing with neck issues for the past couple weeks since aggravating the injury on Christmas Eve, and his absence would be a major problem for a secondary that's sure to be challenged on Wild Card weekend.
Considering that the Steelers won't have star running back Rashard Mendenhall during the postseason, they'll likely be passing more than usual. If Dawkins is unable to play, David Bruton will start in his place, and that could be a spot on the Broncos defense that Pittsburgh's passing game tries to exploit.
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Denver. For more in-depth coverage of this matchup, head to Broncos blog Mile High Report and Steelers blog Behind the Steel Curtain. For more news and notes from around the NFL, visit SB Nation's NFL news hub.