The Broncos are going to be without a starting member of their secondary at minimum for the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs.
Denver placed safety Brandon Jones on injured reserve Monday after he sustained a pectoral injury in the first half Sunday against Green Bay.
The 27-year-old safety has been one of Denver’s most reliable defensive players since signing as a free agent in the spring of 2024.
Jones played every snap of the first half Sunday against Green Bay, but after halftime was ruled out of the remainder of the game with the injury.
Itap unclear exactly when the sixth-year pro was injured, though he was involved in back-to-back big collisions in the middle of the field as the Packers mounted a last-minute drive that ended in a field goal before halftime.
Jones must now miss a minimum of four games, meaning the earliest he could potentially return would be the Divisional round of the playoffs. If the Broncos get the No. 1 seed and a bye through the Wild Card, that would technically count as the fourth game.
The extent of Jones’ injury was not immediately known.
Jones in the second half was replaced by veteran P.J. Locke, a former University of Texas teammate of Jones and a regular starter for Denver in 2024.
“It’s the next man up mentality,” Locke told The Post after Denver’s 34-26 win. “It’s a tough situation and I really pray it’s not as bad as what it sounds like. Hopefully he gets some good news in the morning when he gets his MRI.
“He’s an awesome player, man. It’s hard to replace him.”
Jones, though, clearly did not get particularly good news.
If there’s a silver lining for the Broncos, it’s Locke’s experience.
He started 15 games at safety for Denver last year but was bumped out of the lineup in the spring when the Broncos signed free agent Talanoa Hufanga to a three-year deal. Also this offseason, Locke had spinal fusion surgery to try to eliminate what at times last year became debilitating back and nerve pain.
In the first 13 games this season, he’d played a total of 14 defensive snaps. Then Sunday he logged 34 in place of Jones.
Head coach Sean Payton didn’t address Jones’ injury Monday but said Locke played, “good. I thought real well. Real well. He’s played a lot of football.”
Jumping back in isn’t easy for Locke, who has been a regular on special teams with 196 snaps in that department this season, but he’s used to it.
“Thatap kind of been how — being an undrafted guy and trying to work my way up — thatap how I got my opportunities to play last year,” he said. “Just always being ready.”
The Broncos defense was up to the challenge without Jones in the second half. They allowed just 111 yards overall and 32 passing yards after surrendering 251 yards
“Our biggest thing is just mixing up coverages and making it hard on the quarterback. We’ve got an elite rush so we’ve got to let them boys go eat. We put the pressure on the secondary to go cover these good receivers and we stepped up to the plate.”
Locke’s the kind of player who engenders confidence from teammates and he’s the kind of depth Denver was banking on as it put together what it hoped was a deep defensive group this offseason.
“P.J.’s a stud,” defensive tackle Zach Allen said Monday, noting no player has returned to the field after Locke’s specific surgery. “To come back and play at the level he has, to last night come in and do what he did, itap really special.
“P.J., everyone in Denver has seen over the past few years how good he can be. We’re really excited to have P.J. go.”
Jones’ is not the first pec injury the Broncos have dealt with in the secondary this year, of course. Reigning NFL defensive player of the year Pat Surtain II missed three games and took five weeks of recovery to get back from what he described as a partially torn pec.
Dr. Kenton Fibel, a primary care sports medicine specialist at Cedars-Sinai Orthopedics in Los Angeles and the medical director for the Anaheim Ducks, told The Post after Surtain’s injury that return timelines depend on the significance of the strain or tear but also on where exactly the injury takes place. If the strain occurs where the muscle turns to tendon, treatment is typically non-surgical. Injuries that occur where the tendon attaches to the humerus bone typically require surgery.
The Broncos also lost a practice squad safety Monday when Keidron Smith was signed off their practice squad by the New York Jets. Smith appeared in nine games for Denver last year as a special teams player but had not seen the field this fall.
Strnad leg-whipped. If inside linebacker Justin Strnad is forced to miss time with an ankle injury he sustained as he tried to run down on punt coverage in the first quarter Sunday, he’ll be all the more frustrated by how it happened.
If Justin Strnad’s ankle injury causes him to miss time, this will make it all the more frustrating. Packers DL Colby Wooden grabbed LS Mitch Fraboni by the helmet and threw him down.
Strnad got basically leg whipped on the process.
— Parker Gabriel (@ParkerJGabriel)
Packers defensive lineman Colby Wooden rushed up the middle but then grabbed Denver long-snapper Mitch Fraboni by the helmet and threw him to the ground. Fraboni got thrown right into Strnad and through his left leg, causing Strnad to collapse and grab immediately at his left lower leg.
Strnad threw his helmet in disgust as trainers attended to him on the ground.
