Justin Simmons arrived to work Wednesday for the first time in a long time without Kareem Jackson as a teammate.
Jackson was waived by the Broncos on Monday and the next day found out he had been claimed by Houston.
By Wednesday, Jackson was practicing with the Texans and Simmons adjusting to the reality of playing without one of his closest friends.
“That one’s bittersweet for me,” Simmons told reporters. “Selfishly I want him here and I think he helps our team in so many ways, but selflessly I’m happy for him because he gets to go back to the team that drafted him. Thatap where his home is and he’s going to go in and play. Obviously the Texans are a little bit ahead of us in terms of the playoff picture, so he’s going to be playing some big-time ball for them.
“He can still do it.”
Jackson had played the past four seasons with the Broncos but had not appeared in a game for Denver since Nov. 19, before he was suspended four games by the NFL for a series of unnecessary roughness penalties and illegal hits.
Head coach Sean Payton said the team was preparing for Jackson to return to the practice squad until the Texans put in a claim for him during the waiver process.
“When you have a veteran like that, there is a lot of communication that took place between (general manager George Paton) and (Jackson’s) agent,” Payton said. “In fact, I spoke to (Jackson) before he was claimed. We were all good to go, but the one outlier is another team can claim you…
“His family is there and I’m happy for him. I’m a huge fan of his. A huge fan. Itap only fitting. He was a teammate of (now Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans). Itap a good thing for him.”
Sutton, Browning in protocol. Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton and outside linebacker Baron Browning each did not practice due to concussions Sunday.
Sutton exited Sunday’s game early and Browning ended up playing 39 snaps.
Asked about Sutton, Payton said, “It was a good day today, but he’s in protocol. Hopefully each day there’s some progress. I didn’t even know when it happened. Obviously, it was early. It was on the go ball. He landed, and his head hit the ground.
“We’ll go day-by-day, really.”
OLB Nik Bonitto (knee) returned to practice for the first time since injuring his MCL Dec. 10 and was a limited participant.
Running backs Dwayne Washington (illness) and Samaje Perine (veteran rest) did not practice, nor did tight end Greg Dulcich, who remains on injured reserve.
Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.
