INDIANAPOLIS — To most anyone else’s standard, Pat Surtain II’s day Sunday against the Colts — 11 tackles, one pass breakup — could’ve been a season highlight.
To his own, his performance — beaten multiple times over the middle and to the sidelines by bigger bodies — was one of his worst games in recent memory.
One potential culprit: a left-ankle injury, which gave Denver the scare of all scares during the second quarter Sunday. After he went down in coverage on a third-down play against the Colts, Surtain lingered on the turf for a minute, appearing to grab at his left ankle. Eventually, he was helped up to a sideline medical tent, an arm draped around the shoulders of Broncos VP of health and performance Beau Lowery and head physician Dr. Karim Meijer.
Surtain simply “twisted” it, he revealed postgame. The star corner returned to action after roughly 10 minutes, rejoining the Broncos’ defense on a final defensive drive before the half. And Surtain called the injury “no excuse,” when asked if he felt it impacted his play.
“When I’m out there, I expect to play to the best of my ability,” he said.
Surtain said the injury was something he was going to take “day by day,” but said the ankle felt better.
“Just one of those things I need to monitor,” Surtain said. “Nothing crazy.”
The 25-year-old Surtain has now played in 68 games out of a possible 70 across his five-year NFL career — a picture of stability in the Broncos’ secondary. If he misses any time in practice, though, Denver’s loaded with bodies at corner. Kris Abrams-Draine saw some time at cornerback in the second quarter when Surtain was out, and rookie Jahdae Barron and nickel Ja’Quan McMillian both have the flexibility to play outside.
Evan Engram distant: Through two games, the Broncos’ biggest offensive offseason acquisition has yet to make much of an impact.
Tight end Evan Engram, head coach Sean Payton said in the lead-up to Sunday’s game, was “one of the matchups we want to take advantage of” against Indianapolis. Instead, Engram finished with just one catch for 12 yards on two targets and was largely quiet for much of the first half. Engram now has four catches (six targets) for 33 yards through two games.
He didn’t see a target until the 2:54 mark of the third quarter — it came just after he false started — and made his lone catch on second-and-11 with 5:39 remaining in the game.
“Just gotta stay ready,” Engram said of the long wait before the ball came his way. “Keep staying in the game, supporting the guys, doing everything possible for the success of the offense and the opportunities will come.”
Engram told The Post he felt “good” on the field after missing a chunk of the second half in last weekend’s opener due to the calf injury.
“Sometimes the ball finds you, sometimes it doesn’t,” Nix said postgame. “We got game plans in place for it, and sometimes they just do a good job of taking it away. You gotta progress. He’s (the No. 1 read) quite often.”
