Limited in practice all week because of a sprained ankle sustained against Houston on Dec. 8, Broncos defensive end Dre’Mont Jones needed a pre-game workout to convince the trainers he was ready to play against Detroit on Sunday.
Good thing Jones got the green light.
Jones, a rookie third-round pick, had two of the Broncos’ four sacks in their 27-17 win over the Lions.
“He was a guy that came off the mat,” coach said. “We weren’t sure if he was going to be able to play. … The one thing that kept coming up with him through our discussions with him Tuesday through (Sunday): He really wanted to play. To me, that illustrates the resolve and mentality of the team. He has a pretty good sprained ankle, but he found a way to play.”
Jones’ two sacks came in 4.69 and 4.00 seconds. He entered the game with one sack this year.
“The funny part about my sacks was (the pass rushes) I was truly winning on, I didn’t get the sacks on,” he said. “It was the ones where I was just being patient and disciplined. I was able to come up and make a play, especially when we needed it toward (the end) and before we closed it out with the offense.”
Marshall leads way. Making his first NFL regular-season start, Broncos safety Trey Marshall made a team-high nine tackles.
“The most fun in the world,” he said of his experience.
Marshall was playing for , who was suspended last week for the final two games due to his September arrest for DUI.
“After the first series, I settled in and started playing football,” Marshall said. “The natural stuff all came back.”
On the Lions’ first series, Marshall was in coverage for Kenny Golladay’s 35-yard catch (on third-and-8). In the second half, Marshall was downfield when Golladay and cornerback converged for an eventual incompletion.
“Oh my goodness, I was thinking about that (interception) return and he came out of nowhere to knock it away,” Marshall said. “I was so mad.”
Spencer makes impact. It was an eventful game for Broncos returner Diontae Spencer.
Spencer started the second half with a 47-yard kick return that set up a field goal. In the fourth quarter, Spencer returned a punt 14 yards and an extra 15 was tacked on when he was hit well out of bounds by the Lions’ Steve Longo.
“I had seen our guy trying to pull back (his block), but I think he might have bumped into (Longo),” he said. “I was clearly going out of bounds and he just kind of ran into me. It was just one of those bang-bang plays and their sideline started chirping.”
The Broncos scored a touchdown after Spencer’s punt return/drawn penalty.
Simmons, S. Harris fined. From last week’s loss at Kansas City, safety was fined $56,156 for his unnecessary roughness penalty (hit on , who was deemed a defenseless receiver) and defensive end Shelby Harris was fined $21,056 for roughing quarterback (Harris’ hand made contact with Mahomes’ facemask).
The Broncos have been fined for seven penalties this year.
Champions honored. Throughout the game, the Broncos recognized the state’s seven high school football champions: Fleming (six-man), Sedgwick County (eight-man), Limon (1A), Sterling (2A), Palmer (3A), Pine Creek (4A) and Cherry Creek (5A).
Perfect weather. The game-time temperature of 67 degrees was the Broncos’ second-warmest December home game on record. On Dec. 6, 1981, the Broncos beat Kansas City 16-13 (temperature 68). The Broncos are 6-1 in their seven warmest December home games.
Footnotes. Fullback Andrew Beck’s first career carry went for three yards on third-and-1 during a third quarter drive that eventually ended with a field goal. Later, Beck was credited with a six-yard completion for his shovel to . … The Broncos’ offense was called for three first-half holding penalties (two on right tackle and one on left tackle Garett Bolles) but none in the second half.
