ENGLEWOOD — Entering a Dec. 13 practice, Broncos tight end Greg Dulcich said his often-injured right hamstring felt great and he was planning on soon returning to game action.

Then another health issue surfaced.

During the practice, after Dulcich had been designated to return from injured reserve, he sustained a foot injury. So Dulcich never did come off injured reserve, and he ended up playing in just two games all season.

“It was weird,’’ Dulcich said Monday at Centura Health Training Center about his foot injury, a day after Denver’s season ended with a 27-14 loss at Las Vegas. “It was like, of course, it had to happen the week I was coming back to practice. Just some weird swelling I have. Unfortunately, I have some bony feet and then my cleat kind of irritated it in a really freaky way.”

Until suffering the foot injury, Dulcich’s health problems in his two seasons all concerned a hamstring. He missed seven games due to the injury as a rookie before being hurt again the Sept. 10 opener against the Raiders.

Dulcich spent four games on injured reserve before returning to play Oct. 12 at Kansas City, and then hurt the hamstring again. He didn’t play again and finished the season with three catches for 25 yards.

“The plan is just going to try to get healthy and make sure I put this stuff behind me,’’ said Dulcich, who said he is “confident” he can return to the form in which he caught 33 passes for 411 yards in 10 games as a rookie.

During the season, Dulcich said he visited a number of specialists. He said he lost weight and other measures were taken to find out why he has had all these hamstring issues after having none at UCLA.

“There’s a lot of factors,’’ he said. “We were trying to think of all the things and leave no stone unturned. That was kind of the plan, like losing weight. It worked because my hamstring feels great (now). … It’s a bummer that I missed this entire year.”

Dulcich hardly was the only Denver player bogged down by an injury in 2023. And while Dulcich at least got into two games, safety Caden Sterns had his season end after just two plays from scrimmage.

In the opener against the Raiders, Sterns suffered a torn left patellar tendon and underwent surgery. After hurting his knee, he said he did some “pouting” for about a week.

“Two plays,’’ Sterns said Monday. “It really sucked not being out there, especially when you expect so much out of yourself. … You just kind of feel useless and I don’t wish that on anybody. But I can only grow from this.”

Sterns entered the season listed as even on the depth chart with since-departed Kareem Jackson. P.J. Locke eventually took over as a starter and played well, but he is an impending free agent.

Sterns remains under contract for next season. He expects to be ready for spring drills.

“Oh, yeah, I’ll be available,’’ he said. “It depends on how much. Just got to be smart about it. I have nothing but time to get it right (and) make sure my body’s in the best shape.”

The Broncos lost another defensive back in K’Waun Williams, who didn’t play at all in 2023 due to a left ankle injury. Williams had arthroscopic surgery just before the start of training camp and there was hope he would be able to return around midseason. But the ankle ended up not being strong enough and he needed a full repair.

“After the first surgery, it wasn’t really reacting well,’’ said Williams, Denver’s primary nickel back in 2022. “I went into it knowing I might have the option of the full surgery. I was trying to get back and see if it would work, but I ended up needing to have the full procedure. It was really frustrating (missing the whole season).”

Williams, 32, said he is “still rehabbing from the surgery.” He is an impending free agent and it remains to be seen if he will return to Denver, especially since Ja’Quan McMillian eventually took over as the nickel back and had a top-notch season.

“I’m open (to returning) but it’s more about my health right now and getting my body right,’’ Williams said. “I love this (coaching) staff and everything, but we’ll see where we go from here.”