Knowshon Moreno Injury: Broncos RB Can't Catch a Break

Update: Sunday, Nov. 13 at 7:40 p.m. ET

The word from the Denver Post is that Moreno has a sprained ligament in his right knee and that he is "unlikely" to play in Denver's Thursday night tilt with the New York Jets in Week 11. In addition, "the initial diagnosis was he will be sidelined for a while."

Doesn't sound good.

I'm not sure how many people have noticed, but Denver Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno is having a tough season.

Oh heck, who am I kidding? In a day and age where everyone and their uncle plays fantasy football, I'd say just about everyone is aware of how things are going for Moreno this season. In fact, he's become something of a punchline.

Having already lost his role as Denver's starting running back earlier this season, things took another turn for the worse for Moreno during today's game against the Kansas City Chiefs. 

Here's the news, via the team's official Twitter feed:

The good news after the game, according to Pro Football Talk, is that Moreno suffered a mere mild knee sprain, which means his injury could have been worse.

Still, that Moreno got hurt is an oddly fitting turn of events. After all, the only thing worse than ineffectiveness is an injury, am I right?

This is true. But lest we get carried away, we should recognize that Moreno deserves some props for what he's done in recent weeks.

As poorly as Moreno's season started, he'd actually settled into a nice niche with the Broncos over their last four games. He was pressed into extra duty when Willis McGahee broke his hand against the Miami Dolphins, and ended that day with seven carries for 28 yards. A week later, he rushed for 69 yards on 14 carries against the Detroit Lions.

Today against the Chiefs, Moreno had 52 yards on just four carries, the last of which was a beautiful 24-yard scamper that came moments after McGahee had to be pulled from the game with a hamstring injury.

Coincidentally, that was also the run that ended Moreno's afternoon.

Because of that, you actually have to feel for Moreno. He had a shot to prove himself, and he was robbed of it.

Moreover, we're talking about a Broncos offense that needs as many running backs as possible. With Tim Tebow under center, John Fox has installed an extremely run-heavy system. In fact, Tebow threw just eight passes in today's 17-10 win over the Chiefs. The writing is on the wall that Fox doesn't trust Tebow's ability (or lack thereof) to throw the football.

So if Moreno has to miss some time, he truly will be missing out.

I want to say it could be worse. But honestly, that might be stretching the truth a little.