As the Denver Broncos brace for the American Football Conference (AFC) Championship Game, one player will not join them, with safety Omar Bolden suffering a posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) tear and will have to miss the rest of the playoffs. 

Bolden sustained the injury in the first quarter of their Divisional Playoffs win over the Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday. 

After getting the knee checked, Bolden was forced to leave the game and was unable to check back in, ESPN reported. 

Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak made the announcement regarding Bolden's injury last Monday and on Tuesday, he was placed on injured reserve list. 

Taking the void left by Bolden on the 53-man roster was rookie cornerback Taurean Nixon who was promoted from the practice squad, ESPN and Denverbroncos.com reported.

ESPN added in its report that the 27-year-old safety will not undergo surgery for the injury, but he needs weeks to recover and such will make him miss the remainder of the season. 

"We'll miss him ... obviously he had an impact play early in the game. Just bad luck there," Kubiak said about Bolden. 

Bolden is the best returner for the Broncos, having 123 yards on punt returns and 342 yards on kickoff returns.

That was an amazing production for the former Arizona State Sun Devil, considering that he was limited to only nine games (career-low) in the regular season due to injuries.

But the Broncos cannot dwell on Bolden's injury since they need to be prepared facing the defending AFC and Super Bowl champions New England Patriots this Sunday.

Denver is already holding a win over Pats, whom they defeated in Week 12, with quarterback Brock Osweiler taking the starting job since during that time, Peyton Manning was dealing with a foot injury. 

The AFC Championship Game between the Broncos and Patriots will take place at Sports Authority Field at Mile High this Sunday.