J.K. Dobbins posted on social media Monday a photo of him in action with a caption reading “soon.”

That came after the Broncos on Monday designated the running back for return from injured reserve with a hope he can play in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game against New England.

The Broncos also officially signed quarterback Ben DiNucci to the practice squad after he had agreed to a deal Sunday. To make room on the squad, they released outside linebacker Garrett Nelson.

Dobbins sustained a foot injury Nov. 6 against Las Vegas and had surgery before being placed on injured reserve Nov. 15. He played in the first 10 games this season, leading the Broncos in rushing with 772 yards while averaging 5 yards per carry.

Dobbins will take the field Wednesday for practice. If all goes well during the week, he could play against the Patriots at Empower Field at Mile High.

When a player is designated for return from injured reserve, a team has 21 days in which to activate him or shelve him for the season. But with the Feb. 8 Super Bowl less than three weeks away, that deadline doesn’t matter. If the Broncos win Sunday and Dobbins doesn’t play, they then can decide whether to use him in Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, Calif.

“J.K. is a huge energy piece for our team,” Broncos tackle Mike McGlinchey said Monday about him returning to practice. “I’ll leave all the discussion up to the trainers and the staff on that, but he’s obviously a huge piece of what we’ve done, an incredibly great teammate. He’s been working his butt off to be able to a chance to get back. … It would be a great boost if he’s healthy.”

The move was made on Dobbins after he had done work last week on a side field. After he was injured, Dobbins was replaced in the starting lineup by rookie R.J. Harvey, who ran for 540 yards in the regular season but averaged just 3.7 yards per carry.

In last Saturday’s 33-30 overtime win over Buffalo in a divisional playoff, Harvey had just 20 yards on six carries. Reserve running back Jaleel McLaughlin was more effective, having 21 yards on four attempts.

DiNucci was signed after Broncos starting quarterback Bo Nix suffered a season-ending broken ankle in last Saturday’s 33-30 overtime win over Buffalo in a divisional playoff game. Against the Patriots, Jarrett Stidham will start at quarterback and Sam Ehlinger will be his backup.

DiNucci, who returns after being on Denver’s practice squad in 2023, will serve as the third quarterback in practice during the week. He is not expected to be active Sunday.

The Broncos on Monday did not designate starting center Luke Wattenberg to return from injured reserve with him now being eligible for such a move after sitting out four weeks. Wattenberg was placed on injured reserve Dec. 25 and Broncos coach Sean Payton said then he was projected to miss around four weeks.

Wattenberg was replaced in the lineup by Alex Forsyth, who suffered an ankle injury late in regulation against the Bills. Forsyth was replaced for the rest of the game by Sam Mustipher, who was signed Dec. 26.

Shrugging off doubters

With Nix out for the season, Denver is a 5.5-point underdog against New England.

As far as McGlinchey is concerned, it’s nothing new that the Broncos aren’t getting a lot of respect.

“Everybody’s been doubting us since we’ve been doing this,’’ he said. “We’ve won 14 games (in the regular season) and people are saying we’re the worst one seed in the history of the playoffs and all that stuff.”

Denver and New England both went 14-3 in the regular season, but the Broncos won a tiebreaker to get the top seed in the AFC while the Patriots are No. 2. With the Broncos getting a first-round playoff bye and the Patriots playing in the first round, New England’s overall record of 16-3 is actually now better than Denver’s 15-3.

“We’re a team that’s been battle tested,’’ McGlinchey said of adversity surrounding the loss of Nix. “We’ve handled adversity every step of the way (this season).”

Roach lauded after big game

Zach Allen lauded fellow Broncos defensive linemen Malcolm Roach after he came up big against the Bills.

Roach, Denver’s top reserve lineman, had five tackles, which included 1.5 sacks. He had three overall quarterback hits and a fumble recovery.

“Roach is awesome,’’ Allen said. “He played a great game and he’s really good at all of it.. … He can do it all. We’re really fortunate to have him and just have a lot of good depth on the D-line. I think any other D-line in this league, he’s definitely a starter, because we’re just so deep up front. He does a great job when he’s in, and he takes really meaningful snaps for us, and the standard doesn’t drop.”

More honors for Broncos

The Broncos placed a league-high four players on the NFL All-Pro Team chosen by members of the Pro Football Writers Association.

Named to the team were guard Quinn Meinerz, tackle Garett Bolles, outside linebacker Nik Bonitto and safety Devon Key for special teams. Those four also were named to the PFWA All-AFC team along with cornerback Pat Surtain II.

On the NFL’s official All-Pro team, chosen by a media panel for The Associated Press, Meinerz, Bolles, Key and Allen were named to the first team. Allen did not even get PFWA All-AFC consideration.