ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- As much as an NFL team can have its health, the Denver Broncos had theirs in 2015, for the most part, and when the season was done, they had everything.

Most of their Pro Bowl players stayed on the field most of the time, and there is a trophy in the team's lobby, one that sits right about at the intersection of talent and good health. As coach Gary Kubiak has said plenty of times, "that team got everything it had out of itself."

Alas, nothing is forever in a league filled with perpetual bumps and bruises, as well as the oft-repeated "nobody is 100 percent." And the Broncos are fighting through a stretch of three losses in five games as they try to clear one more hurdle to get to the relief of their bye week.

The Broncos play their 10th game of the season Sunday in New Orleans, then get their bye. And it will be well received: It is the latest the team has had its bye week since 1999, when Denver's fell during Week 12 of the season, Nov. 28 that year.

"That's part of it," Kubiak said. "You're going to miss players in the league as they get hurt. How you perform through those things has a lot to do with how your season goes. We've held up and done a pretty good job thus far."

The Broncos lost defensive end Vance Walker for the season because of a knee injury in training camp. That affected the Broncos' rotation on the defensive line before they had even played a preseason game, and while that was similar to how things started on the injury front last season, the Broncos just haven't had the same good fortune they had in 2015.

Losing Derek Wolfe to an elbow fracture was another blow to a Broncos defense that already has had some bad injury luck this season. AP Photo/Paul Jasienski

Last season, the Broncos lost left tackle Ryan Clady on the first day of organized team activities to a season-ending knee injury, then lost his replacement, Ty Sambrailo, to a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 3. And after that, beyond a back injury that kept DeMarcus Ware out for five games, the Broncos for the most part steered clear of a swath of injuries that put too many holes in the depth chart.

Several players, including Aqib Talib, T.J. Ward and Danny Trevathan, missed one game last season. This season has been different even before the Broncos get to either their bye week or Thanksgiving.

"It does feel a little different," cornerback Chris Harris Jr. said. "But that's kind of the league ... guys have to be ready for their chance, they have to be ready step in."

In addition to Walker's injury, the Broncos have also lost running back C.J. Anderson, who is on injured reserve for what could be the rest of the season after arthroscopic knee surgery. Ware has missed five games because of a fractured forearm, Talib has missed two games so far with a back injury, and defensive end Derek Wolfe will be out several weeks with what he has said is a hairline fracture in his elbow.

Tight end Virgil Green and right tackle Donald Stephenson have also each missed three games because of a calf injury.

All key starters, all key to what the Broncos had planned to do on both sides of the ball. For example, in the Week 2 victory over the Colts, during which Stephenson and Green were injured, the Broncos had shown an efficient run game.

In the seven games since, as Stephenson and Green have been worked back into the lineup, the Broncos have topped 90 yards rushing only once, getting 190 against Houston in Week 7. And with Wolfe and Talib out in addition to fellow starter Walker, the Broncos have surrendered 100-yard rushing games in back-to-back weeks, capped by the Raiders' 218 yards Sunday.

"Everybody just has to do their job a little bit more," defensive end Jared Crick said. "Losing Wolfe, that's going to hurt. ... Until then, we just have to go out and do our individual jobs. If we can all do that, and do it just a little bit more, we'll be in good shape."

At 6-3 heading to New Orleans, it all means the Broncos want to dial in on the Saints so they can get to their week off at 7-3, then try to get healthy for the stretch drive.

"Nothing is decided. We lost [in Oakland], but no championship got won," Harris said. "We have a lot work to do. We can play [the Saints], get our minds right, put everything in that game and then get as healthy as we can."