Garett Bolles can’t escape the criticism, and rightfully so.

The former first-round draft pick in 2017 was called for four holding penalties on Sunday afternoon’s loss to the Chicago Bears, the most by one player since 2014. His performance was so awful, the boo birds were in full vocal display at Mile High Stadium.

After being taken No. 20 overall two years ago, Bolles has visibly struggled in each and every game he’s played. And when looking at the overall picture, according to Pro Football Focus, the Broncos left tackle has regressed throughout his three-year career.

It was so bad on Sunday that not only were the 75,000 in attendance loudly voicing their displeasure with his play, but so did former Broncos offensive lineman Mark Schlereth on the FOX broadcast.

“We’ll move you to defense if you continue to tackle like that,” Schlereth said.

And away from the airwaves, another former Broncos offensive lineman in Tyler Polumbus was critical of Bolles’ play, too.

After the third holding penalty was called, Polumbus tweeted this:

The Broncos went into 2019 incredibly thin on the offensive line, with basically one backup looking to fill in when necessary in Elijah Wilkinson. Only one game into the year and newly signed right tackle Ja’Wuan James was injured, leaving Wilkinson to start on Sunday. And, for a backup, he wasn’t half bad. Certainly not as bad as Bolles, who actually could have been called for two more holds which weren’t flagged.

But, that lack of depth up front creates quite a conundrum; if the Broncos want to bench Bolles, which they should, it would mean the seventh lineman Jake Rodgers or Austin Schlottmann playing at the critical left tackle spot.

Simply, because John Elway and Co. let Matt Paradis walk this offseason and because the front office has done awfully in terms of building an offensive line for years, Denver is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Back to Polumbus, the Denver native who bookended his career with the Broncos while also playing for the Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins. While fans have a right to be upset with Bolles’ play, Polumbus offers a special perspective into struggling as a professional athlete in Denver.

During the game, on every hold he was called, Bolles shook his head in disbelief even though they were clear penalties.

After the game, according to Mike Klis, Bolles was told by fellow offensive linemen to not talk to the media which Klis called “horrific advice.” Actually, Bolles may have wanted to take that advice considering his worst game as a pro was on Sunday.

Instead, he stepped up to the mic and told the media, “It was frustrating. I’ve built a reputation for myself in this league of holding. I disagree with it, to be honest.

“I’m going to turn this around,” he continued. “I promise you all that. I promise Broncos Country that. I promise my teammates that.”

Those are giant promises to fill considering we’ve seen little more than flashes of starter-worthy play from Bolles over the last two-plus seasons.

Offensive line guru Mike Munchak is supposed to be the savior for both Bolles and the line struggles in general; little has been seen in terms of improvement from that aspect.

Unfortunately for Broncos fans, Bolles isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Expect him to start the rest of this season as well as next year, the last of his rookie deal. Elway is going to give him all the chances possible to succeed, even if that means it’s two more years of terrible left tackle play in Denver.