Denver Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. will play in Sunday's AFC Championship game, but his injury is not insignificant, as he has a deep-tissue shoulder bruise that's needed 24-hour treatment, according to NFL reporter Ian Rapoport. Harris is officially listed as probable for the Broncos, and head coach Gary Kubiak said Friday that he thinks Harris is fine.
Harris suffered the injury against the San Diego Chargers in the last week of the regular season. The Broncos' talented cornerback played in last weekend's divisional round game against the Pittsburgh Steelers but saw fewer snaps, playing in 47 of the team's defensive 63 snaps, according to Jeff Legwold of ESPN.
"He had a good week. Everything I've seen this week in practice tells me Chris is fine, ready to go, I think he's feeling a lot better than going into last week's game," said Kubiak, via ESPN. "Just watching him work, doing things he does when he's covering well and being physical. He's been able to do that all week; we've had a really good week of work."
Harris reportedly will not need surgery on his shoulder, but he is clearly still in significant pain, as he has struggled to do daily activities because of the injury, according to Rapoport. Harris has been an impact player for the Broncos' top ranked defense this season with 58 combined tackles, two forced fumbles and two interceptions. The Patriots have some dynamic weapons on offense in wide receiver Julian Edelman and tight end Rob Gronkowski, and it will be interesting to see how Harris holds up in coverage on Sunday, as he has been a key player in their defense's success this season.
