The Broncos are going to be without Mike McGlinchey for at least the next four games.

Denver placed its starting right tackle on injured reserve Wednesday, the team announced, after he sprained his left MCL in Sunday’s loss to Pittsburgh. The earliest McGlinchey is eligible to return is Week 7 for a Thursday night game at New Orleans.

That puts second-year tackle Alex Palczewski in line to start at right tackle for Denver on Sunday at Tampa Bay. He played the Broncos’ final two snaps against the Steelers and now has the first crack at locking down the job in McGlinchey’s absence.

“It’s an awesome opportunity,” Palczewski said. “I’m excited to go out there and try to help the team win and just play for the guy next to me. That’s the thing I always care about is that offensive line is the only job where your sole job is to protect someone else. I’m excited to go play for the guys in here and play my first game.”

Palczewski spent most of his rookie season in 2023 on injured reserve but got a couple of weeks of practice at the end of the season. He said this offseason has been critical for him. The University of Illinois product whom head coach Sean Payton calls “Palcho” started 65 collegiate games.

“I mean, obviously there’s going to be a level of nerves,” Palczewski said. “But I did six years at Illinois. I’ve got plenty of starts under my belt. But obviously, it’s the NFL and there’s a lot of really good players. I’m just going to do the best job I can, work on my technique and just know that I’m going to give as much effort as I can.”

Palczewski said he spent most of the offseason here and trained with McGlinchey for much of that period.

“There’s so many leaders in the room and you can just go straight down the line, but Mike McGlinchey has helped me tenfold since I got here,” Palczewski said. “It’s been an awesome time here so far.”