Broncos need second-year jump from DL pair Eyioma Uwazurike, Matt Henningsen

For most Broncos fans, the team’s 31-28 win over the Los Angeles Chargers to close the regular season represented little more than a feel-good finish to an otherwise exasperating campaign.

It will go down as Jerry Rosburg’s lone head coaching win and other than that stand unassuming in the franchise’s history.

Don’t tell that to Matt Henningsen and Eyioma Uwazurike, though.

The rookie defensive linemen combined to play a season-high 47 snaps that January afternoon, a last chance to glean meaningful experience from what was considered by most a wasted season.

Not so for individual players like the rookie duo, who could well be counted on extensively in 2023 and beyond to provide sturdy work in the trenches for defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.

“It’s very good that they got those reps,” defensive line coach Marcus Dixon said recently. “They come in (now) and you can tell that they’re a little bit more confident in what they’re doing and in their ability. And they’re smart. They want to work as well.”

Uwazurike and Henningsen had different-looking rookie seasons, but face a similar task going forward: Make the jump from fringe role player to contributor in Year 2.

Uwazurike, a fourth-round pick, was inactive eight of the Broncos’ first 10 games but then saw extensive playing time down the stretch after Dre’Mont Jones missed the final four games with a hip injury.

Henningsen, a sixth-round selection, played defensive snaps in all 17 games, finishing with 229 (21% play rate) accumulated in increments of as few as three and as many as 25. He added nearly 200 special teams snaps, too.

“Everyone says that’s the biggest jump you’ve got to make, Year 1 to Year 2, so we’ve been working and we’ve been trying to make that jump,” Henningsen told The Post recently. “That’s the goal, essentially, is to jump every single year. Continuous improvement. ‘Eni’ and I are super close. We came in together and we’ve been grinding together since we got here.

“I think we can do some good things.”

They’ll be doing it as part of a retooled front line. D.J. Jones returns as an anchor on the interior and Mike Purcell is also back, but Dre’Mont Jones is off to Seattle, replaced by Zach Allen. Denver didn’t bring back DeShawn Williams, who parlayed the best season of his career into a contract with Carolina, where he’ll reunite with former Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.

Denver coach Sean Payton called newly signed Frank Clark an outside linebacker, so in a base 3-4 look, the Broncos could start Allen, Jones and Purcell up front. But Uwazurike and Henningsen — along with Jonathan Harris and Tyler Lancaster — could push for No. 1 reps as well.

In order make a true leap, the rookie duo must pressure opposing quarterbacks more regularly. Henningsen had one sack and two tackles for loss, while Uwazurike had two pressures in Week 18 against the Chargers.

“I just tried to get more quickness, some more fluidity in my movements and my moves and things of that sort,” Henningsen said of trying to add juice to his game.