The last thing the Broncos wanted to hear about Knowshon Moreno's knee injury was that it was season-ending, but it was clear that the third year tailback was in a great deal of pain and it turned out to be a significant injury--an ACL tear--that will end his 2011 season.

Moreno was sent to injured reserve, and with Willis McGahee already day-to-day, the Broncos clearly needed to bring a running back to the active roster, and that's just what they did. The team has activated former Oregon running back Jeremiah Johnson from the practice squad, and they also added third year back Xavier Omon to the practice squad.

Johnson has been with the Broncos already once this season when he was activated for the Cincinnati game after Moreno went down with an injured hamstring in the first game of the season. He also ran for the Broncos in the pre-season and showed in the first game against Dallas that he had some skill, averaging seven yards per carry.

Lance Ball will be the primary backup, and Johnson will be the third back in case he is needed, and the Broncos also added former Northwest Missouri State star Xavier Omon, who was most recently active in 2009 with the Buffalo Bills.

Omon has seen action in seven regular season games, and has pretty good size at 5'11" 227 pounds. He will likely fill the same emergency role that was previously held by Jeremiah Johnson.