Vikings rule Jefferson out

Star wide receiver Justin Jefferson will not make his return Sunday night on national television.

The Minnesota Vikings announced Saturday that Jefferson will not be activated off injured reserve for the game against the Broncos on Sunday Night Football at Empower Field at Mile High. He will miss his sixth straight game.

In another wide receiver move, the Broncos on Saturday elevated wide receiver David Sills V off the practice squad to the active roster for the game. It’s the second straight elevation for Sills, who played four snaps without a target in last Monday night’s 24-22 win at Buffalo.

“I’m staying ready and on top of the game plan,’’ Sills said on Thursday. “You’ve just got to go out there and put your best foot forward in practice and hope it pays off. Someone’s always watching. Everybody’s always evaluating what you’re doing in practice.”

Sills will serve as the fifth receiver behind starters Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy, rookie Marvin Mims Jr. and Lil’Jordan Humphrey. Sunday’s game will mark the third straight one that wide receiver Brandon Johnson has sat out while on injured reserve due to a hamstring injury. Johnson will not be eligible to return until after next Sunday’s home game against Cleveland.

In the first game Johnson missed, the Broncos elevated Tre’Quan Smith off the practice squad to be the fifth receiver and he played 10 snaps without a target. But Sills got the nod against the Bills after he had looked better in practice than Smith.

“I was a little surprised,’’ Smith had said Friday about not being elevated to face the Bills. “But not like mad or concerned or nothing like that. One thing this game has taught me is to be patient. … Congrats to Sills. He’s a hard worker. I’m happy for him. … I’ve got to be a team player.”

Smith has 131 career NFL catches for 1,764 yards while Sills has 13 career catches for 123 yards.

The Broncos on Saturday elected to not elevate tight end Lucas Krull off the practice squad to the active roster for Sunday’s game after he had been elevated to face the Bills and played 20 snaps. That puts rookie Nate Adkins, who has been active six times this season but was inactive at Buffalo, in line to be the third tight end against the Vikings behind Adam Trautman and Chris Manhertz.

Promising tight end Greg Dulcich remains on injured reserve for the second time this season with a hamstring injury and becomes eligible to return for the game against the Browns. However, it remains to be seen when Dulcich might be back.

The Vikings on Saturday also downgraded guard Chris Reed to out for Sunday’s game due to a foot injury, activated Nick Mullens off injured reserve to serve as the backup quarterback behind Joshua Dobbs and elevated linebacker Anthony Barr and cornerback Joejuan Williams off the practice squad to the active roster.

Too early to celebrate

The Broncos (4-5) have won three straight games, but tackle Mike McGlinchey said it’s too early to do much celebrating.

“It’s not time to smell the roses quite yet,’’ he said. “We got a lot of work to do. We got a lot of season left to play and we’re going to get better each week.”

McGlinchey knows something about winning streaks. When he was with the 49ers last season, they started 3-4, but won their last 10 games and then two in the playoffs before losing 31-7 at Philadelphia in the NFC Championship Game.

“It’s believing you can win and taking one game at a time. … We wound up winning 12 straight, so anything can happen in this league,’’ McGlinchey said. “It’s just a matter of playing week-to-week, taking your job as best as you can and finding ways to improve.”

Briefly

Ken Adamson, a guard on the Broncos’ first team in 1960, died last Tuesday at the age of the age of 85. Adamson played for Denver from 1960-62, his only pro experience, and was an AFL All-Star in 1961. … Reese Taylor, an undrafted rookie cornerback on the practice squad, said he is being groomed to be a nickel back. “Right now, I’m picking up a lot of things from (nickel back Ja’Quan McMillian),’’ he said. … Guard Ben Powers relishes the Broncos on Sunday night playing a second straight game on national television. “Playing in prime time, just like Monday in Buffalo, it’s great,’’ he said. “I love it.”