What It Means:

Patrick will miss at least Week 17 versus the Los Angeles Chargers, barring a false positive. He caught 2 passes on 4 targets for 18 yards last week with Drew Lock under center. Lock is expected to start again versus the Chargers while Teddy Bridgewater remains in concussion protocol. Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, and Noah Fant figure to absorb most of Patrick's targets.

numberFire's models project Jeudy to lead the Broncos with 7.0 targets in Week 17, followed by Sutton (6.4) and Fant (5.9). The Chargers have the No. 19 pass defense in numberFire's adjusted team rankings, compared to the worst run defense in the league, so the Broncos may try to lean on their ground game as much as possible.