The two players did not practice all week with ankle injuries. Surtain missed back-to-back games after suffering an ankle injury against the San Francisco 49ers, while Hufanga went down in the first half against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

Denver will turn to Jahdae Barron and Kris Abrams-Draine on the outside , although Riley Moss will return to the field after missing the game against the Chargers. Moss was dealing with a rib injury, but was a limited participant throughout the week and was seen stretching with the team on Tuesday. It doesn’t sound like Hufanga’s injury is very serious, and with the team’s mini bye, he could return for Week 7.

At safety, the question is Taylor Rapp’s availability off the practice squad. He’s been ingrained into defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s defense for more than a month and has played in big games before. Rapp will likely be elevated from the practice squad Thursday, though the team could turn to veteran Ugo Amadi, who was signed last week.

Safety Devon Key, who has played mostly special teams this season, replaced Hufanga when he exited. The dismal Chargers’ passing attack didn’t target Key much in the second half, but the Seahawks will present a different challenge. Multiple Broncos players said tackling Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba is a unique challenge, so Key will have his hands full if Smith-Njigba gets into the third level of Denver’s defense.

Aside from rookie running back Jonah Coleman and wide receiver Pat Bryant, who are both on injured reserve, the Broncos will have the rest of their roster available.

Kareem Jackson retires a Bronco

Although Kareem Jackson didn’t start his career in Denver, it seemed obvious he would end it there.

The former Broncos safety officially retired with the franchise on Wednesday. Jackson signed with the team in 2019 and started all 69 games he played. He posted six interceptions, four fumble recoveries, one forced fumble, and a sack.

He didn’t play with many good teams in Denver, but his former teammates still celebrated his retirement.

“Foreva Legend My Dawg!” Surtain said in the comments of the Broncos’ Instagram post.

“My Brotha!!! Legend,” former Broncos safety Justin Simmons said.

Orange & Blue, always., who played in Denver from 2019-23, officially chose to retire as a member of the Broncos today.

Congrats, K-Jack!

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos)

The 5-foot-10, 196-pound defensive back spent his first nine seasons with Houston after being selected 20th overall in the 2010 draft. Jackson will now plant the Broncos’ flag ahead of Thursday’s game against the Seahawks.

Wait, the same player who leads the NFL in receiving yards? The guy on pace to break the NFL’s single-season receiving record and catch more than 120 passes? That dude?

Yes, Broncos players said, that dude. Three different Denver defenders compared Smith-Njigba to a running back after the catch, saying his elusiveness with the ball in his hands is part of what makes the Seattle Seahawks wide receiver elite. Smith-Njigba ranks second in yards after the catch among wide receivers this season.

So how will the Broncos stop him on Thursday night at Empower Field at Mile High?

“Sometimes you got to eat your Wheaties,” safety JL Skinner told The Denver Post.

“You can game plan how you want to, he’s still going to make his plays,” safety Brandon Jones said.

That’s been a familiar sentiment from defenses that have faced Smith-Njigba this season. He’s caught 37 passes on 49 targets for 583 yards and seven touchdowns in five games this season. He leads the NFL in 20-plus-yard receptions with nine, and his 82-yard touchdown catch against the Arizona Cardinals is the league’s longest reception this season.

Those are just the basic stats. Smith-Njigba averages 4.1 receiving yards per route run, trailing only Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers. He creates 2.9 yards of separation on routes, which Broncos players said comes from his ability to run the entire route tree. He’s not a typical slot receiver in that way. Smith-Njigba can blow past a defensive back on a go route one play, then break three tackles after a tough catch over the middle on the next.

“You just always have to be aware of where he is,” Jones told The Post. “They’re trying to get him the ball.”

The next-closest player on the Seahawks is Cooper Kupp, with 129 receiving yards. Seattle’s top wide receiver has accounted for nearly half of the team’s receiving yards this season and 35% of its targets. He’s commanded the highest target share by any player through Week 5 since at least 2016 and has been targeted on 35.5% of his routes this season, the second-highest rate in the NFL, according to Next Gen Stats.

In each of the first three games, Smith-Njigba recorded at least 120 receiving yards and a touchdown. Jerry Rice is the only other player in NFL history to accomplish that feat.

The Broncos won’t only have to defend him on a short week, but they’ll likely do it without top cornerback Pat Surtain II, who hasn’t practiced this week because of an ankle injury. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph has discussed Surtain’s ability to take away half the field, a skill that would be especially valuable against Seattle. Safety Talanoa Hufanga also appears likely to miss Thursday’s game with an ankle injury after missing both practices this week.

The good news for Denver’s defense is that it could get its No. 2 cornerback, Riley Moss, back on Thursday night. Moss has been a limited participant in practice this week because of a rib injury and was seen stretching with the team during Tuesday’s practice. Backup cornerbacks Jahdae Barron and Kris Abrams-Draine also played well against the Los Angeles Chargers last week, while nickel cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian will likely see plenty of Smith-Njigba in the slot.

And what about bracketing Smith-Njigba? If he’s dominating so much of Seattle’s offensive game plan, shouldn’t Joseph send extra help toward the receiver? The Broncos will likely use some double-teams Thursday, but it’s not as easy as it sounds, Skinner said.

“People think you just going to line up and double-team a guy. Until he motions or until he lines up in the backfield or until he lines up in a bunch formation,” Skinner said. “It’s so much that goes into just doubling someone.”

Because Smith-Njigba lines up all over Seattle’s formation, it’s hard to build a static game plan to stop him. The key to slowing him down might not even be Denver’s secondary. Instead, the onus may fall on the pass rush to pressure Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold. Opponents are blitzing Seattle on 51% of third downs, the second-highest rate in the NFL. That pressure has contributed to the Seahawks’ ranking 31st in third-down offense.

“Given the guys that he’s went against, I think they’ve given him some funky looks,” defensive lineman Que Robinson said. “I feel like if we give them basics, they’ll take advantage of it … Gotta spice it up, they won the Super Bowl last year, man, gotta give them that respect.”

The Broncos know Smith-Njigba will get his opportunities. The challenge is making sure those don’t turn into game-changing plays.

No team has figured that riddle out so far.

They are 3-2 on the year and set for a short turnaround to a Thursday night game against Seattle, the defending Super Bowl champion.

Here are 7 thoughts after the victory.

1. One Sean Payton comment about Bo Nix makes sense, but is also a current cause for concern.

As Broncos head coach Sean Payton was talking through his team’s victory Sunday evening in a noisy SoFi Stadium hallway, he acknowledged much of his offense’s current reality.

His first game back calling plays was not pretty. Most of the same issues Denver had through four games returned in Week 5 despite the switch from Davis Webb to Payton on the headset. The Broncos ran it a little better and threw it probably a little worse. They didn’t score on any possession that started in their own territory.

Payton nearly put the win in jeopardy with a delay of game above the 2-minute warning. Denver missed 11 of 12 third-down attempts.

So on and so forth.

At one point, though, when talking directly about quarterback Bo Nix, Payton made a fairly normal observation that might shed a bit of light on broader issues with the Broncos’ current offensive mess.

“Obviously there’s a lot been said about his feet and I think he’s settling that down,” Payton said. “I think it’s important, from a protection standpoint, that early in games we provide that clean pocket so that his clock doesn’t get juiced up a little bit.”

Nix has been less effective early in games and, in particular, he’s too often rushed through progressions or checked the ball down quickly. Payton said earlier this month that Nix has good feel for his drop-backs and the way they time specifically with receivers’ routes down the field, but it����ap been a too-frequent occurrence when Nix hits the top of his drop, hitches and then makes a decision before the receivers are even into their breaks or work at the top of their routes.

Payton’s comment about providing a clean pocket early in games, meanwhile, is indicative of the sticky situation the Broncos are in offensively at the moment.

coach Sean Payton on what Bo Nix is doing well and not doing well. Can tell Payton is working to build up Nix’s confidence so he can “Let it rip.”

— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck)

Nix is pushing toward the middle of his third season as an NFL starter. He is squarely in the evaluation window as to whether he’s definitely the Broncos’ long-term answer, maybe a long-term answer or most likely not.

As a quarterback learns and grows, teams should be having to do less to help him, not more.

Of course, every quarterback is better with good protection. Same goes for a strong run game and a quality defense. That����ap true of Peyton Manning just as much as it is of Tim Tebow, Lamar Jackson and Michael Penix Jr.

But the reality is that the best quarterbacks in the league don’t need clean pockets and clear sightlines and a dangerous running game. In fact, they help foster those things around them merely with their presence. They don’t need everyone else on offense to do their jobs right in order to do their job right. Actually, they are unit-raisers. They are franchise-raisers.

None of that is to say that Nix can’t be that. He’s shown flashes of it over his first two seasons.

Right now, though, he’s not.

Instead, Payton and the offensive staff have to be cognizant of how they sequence things early in games to try to get Nix into the flow of a game without speeding up his clock too much.

Instead of putting more responsibility, more freedom, more flexibility on Nix’s plate, Payton is talking openly, again, about “reducing the calories.”

“Just a little bit,” Payton said after the game. “Every play, every motion, every shift is an ongoing (conversation). Bill (Parcells) taught me one thing: If you’re not having the output you’re looking for, you have to look at reducing the variables.

“So we’re trying to do that. Reduce the variables so guys can play faster.”

Nix is not Denver’s only issue on offense. He hasn’t been exclusively bad this season.

But for a head coach and offensive staff to be talking, 41 total starts into Nix’s career, about reducing calories and finding ways to help him get settled into game so he’s not too rushed is a lot of energy expended to make sure Nix is comfortable rather than him being in a place to help make everybody else’s life on offense easier.

2. It should not be this hard to get a pair of decorated wide receivers involved in the offense

If you just turned on the Broncos early in the fourth quarter when Nix and company got near the red zone, you’d think everything was A-OK for Denver’s top two receiving threats.

Jaylen Waddle hauled in a 10-yard completion on a second-and-3 throw from Nix, pushing Denver down to the Chargers’ 11-yard line and converting a first down. A penalty pushed the maligned offense to the 5-yard line and Nix threw one incompletion, then L.A. caught Denver off-guard with a blitz.

Nix saw it, thought, and saw Courtland Sutton come wide open across the middle, flipping the ball to him for an easy touchdown.

Bo Nix finds a wide open Courtland Sutton for the TD on CBS/Paramount+
Stream on

— NFL (@NFL)

The Broncos’ top two receivers. In the red zone. Putting points on the board.

That easy, right?

Not outside of that three-play sequence.

Waddle had just two catches for 19 yards.

Sutton’s first official target came on the first play of the fourth quarter. Before that, Nix threw him the ball once, but he drew an offensive pass interference and the timing was off anyway.

Together, they combined for four catches and 37 yards against the Chargers. On the season, Sutton has 11 catches for 104 yards and Waddle has 18 for 204. They each now have one touchdown. Together, they are on pace for 99 catches and 1,047 yards this season. Sutton himself averaged 1,029 per year playing with Nix over the past two seasons.

Waddle, in his first year with Denver, has played in 83 career regular-season games. Three of his nine (and four of his 19) lowest single-game receiving totals have come in his five games for the Broncos.

Those numbers have to change. Part of the equation is that Nix is only completing 58.9% of his passes.

The Denver quarterback has also struggled to consistently push the ball downfield. The Broncos have tried to get the ball in Waddle’s hands by sweeping him and tossing him the ball, but it’s been difficult to get their two most accomplished playmakers the football, and even harder to do so in positions where they can do damage after the catch.

3. Quinn Meinerz had a personal battle this week and he conquered it

Broncos All-Pro right guard Quinn Meinerz has mostly bad memories at SoFi Stadium.

The 2021 third-round draft pick had an abnormal heartbeat in 2023 that caused him to have to leave the game and be transported to a hospital, where he stayed a night for evaluation.

In 2024, Meinerz again missed time during the game against the Chargers with similar issues.

Then last year, he played every snap, but it was far from comfortable.

“I played the whole game barely being able to see or breathe,” Meinerz said.

This year? Meinerz played the whole game and came out feeling good about himself and the progress he’s made off the field in recent months.

In fact, Meinerz said he didn’t even really realize that Payton was calling plays instead of Webb over the course of the game.

“I was just kind of focused on my personal self today when it came to that,” he said. “I played a full game in this stadium without having heart problems. It����ap incredible. It����ap amazing. I’m really proud of myself.

“I did all the work I needed to do to be ready for this.”

Meinerz said he’s been working on breathing exercises with Broncos team mental health and psychology staffers. If the Denver defense is on the field and facing a third down, Meinerz usually starts going through his breathing routine then so he can get into a good rhythm by the time the offense is back out there.

“When you’re sitting there, you might just be mouth-breathing or whatever, but having conscious, in through the nose and out through the mouth, it helps lower the heart rate and the blood pressure, lock in a little bit. I’m a big believer in it.”

He doesn’t have a good explanation for why he’s had repeated issues at SoFi. Meinerz did say he’s had similar feelings in other games throughout his career, but the most acute bouts have been here.

“I’ve had an incredible start to the season from that perspective and I’m proud of the work that I’ve put in to kind of solve that problem,” Meinerz said.

4. Meinerz had a unique week contesting fines from NFL

The Broncos ‘standout offensive lineman also had a unique week with the NFL. He and several others around the NFL — including teammate Jaylen Waddle — appealed 20 total fines for celebrations over Weeks 2 and 3. Meinerz and Waddle, of course, pantomimed rolling dice after a 2-point conversion play against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3.

Per sources, RG Quinn Meinerz drew a fine of around $15k for posting the image of his drug test notification on social media after Denver's win against the Los Angeles Rams.

Apparently the NFL doesn't like that information being made public, even after pancaking Aaron…

— Parker Gabriel (@ParkerJGabriel)

As of late in the week, Meinerz was still waiting to hear on his appeal. A source said Broncos GM George Paton and executive vice president of football administration joined Meinerz’s appeal call with the league to better understand what players can and cannot do when celebrating.

That was just the start for Meinerz, though. He also found out he got fined $15,000 for posting a screenshot of his drug test notification from the league that arrived Monday after Denver beat the Rams, sources said previously, and Meinerz confirmed as much Sunday after the game.

Meinerz had a viral moment during the game when he threw future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald to the ground. Then the next day he was notified he had to take a drug test.

Apparently, the league did not appreciate Meinerz making that information public. Meinerz, a source said, is appealing that fine, too.

“I know I’ll never do it again and I hope I get my money back,” Meinerz said.

The league publicizes fines for in-game conduct each week, but did not acknowledge the fine for Meinerz’s social media post.

Meinerz is due $15.4 million in cash this year under the four-year extension he signed in 2024, so $30,000 in fines isn’t the end of the world, but it����ap no surprise he’s contested both. It����ap one thing to get fined for an illegal block or something that happens in the course of a play. It����ap another to get docked for celebrating and for a social media post.

5. Denver’s got another defensive lineman in the pipeline who is starting to show up in games

During training camp, many observers watching the Broncos defensive line work wondered whether the club might pull the plug on second-year man Sai’Vion Jones after just one year.

The Broncos traded up to get him late in the third round in 2025, but he played only spot duty as a rookie and looked like he might be in a battle with Jordan Jackson for one spot through training camp.

In the end, he made the 53-man roster and likely did so fairly easily. Payton and general manager George Paton put a premium on the line of scrimmage and the Broncos kept seven defensive linemen, just like they did the year before.

What was perhaps a surprise, though, is that Jones got the nod over Jackson and rookie Tyler Onyedim on the game-day active roster to start the season. Now he’s carved out a fairly small but important role in Denver’s defensive line rotation and he even showed some position flex against San Francisco when he took a handful of reps on the edge due to an outside linebacker shortage.

Allen said Jones, along with veteran D.J. Jones and Eyioma Uwazurike, handled, “a ton of tough run downs,” against the Chargers and was happy to point out Sai’Vion Jones’ growth in his second pro season.

“He’s been incredible,” Allen said. … “D-linemen, you have to give them two years to kind of figure it out. I think Sai’Vion has just really approached it the right way. He comes in, puts his head down, works, knows his job and does it at a high level. That����ap all you can ask for. I’m really proud of him.”

Allen has been through the same process of trying to figure out the NFL — as a third-round pick, for that matter — in Joseph’s defense and knows what it����ap like trying to get a foothold.

“He’s playing some really huge, important snaps for us at a tough position. That 5-tech, 4-technique is a tough one, especially for a young guy. I was doing that in Arizona and I don’t even know if I ever figured it out. That����ap why I’m a 3-tech now.”

Jones played mainly on the edge and a little bit of 4i at LSU and learned under three different coordinators in college. He’s starting to figure out how to play along the front and do so effectively.

He still thinks he could handle OLB, too, though, if needed.

“It wasn’t quite like riding a bike,” Jones said earlier in the week. “I’d say more like riding a scooter. It’d been like a year. It still kind of felt natural, though.”

The Broncos will gladly take the work wherever the second-year man is lined up.

6a. The Broncos didn’t run the ball well early in Sunday’s game against the Chargers, but they did run it a lot.

By halftime, Denver had 17 rushing attempts and 52 rushing yards, good for 3.1 per carry. The definition of a cloud of dust.

Denver had seven different players carry the ball and still none of them found a way to generate any explosive plays.

In fact, the Broncos went from the third quarter of a Week 3 win against the Los Angeles Rams to the fourth quarter against the Chargers without a rushing play of 10-plus yards. Even after eventually finishing with 29 carries for a season-best 106 yards, the performance overall represented a continuation of a major struggle early in the season.

The Broncos had only topped 100 yards one time and that was 104 yards in Week 2 against Jacksonville. That game, rookie Jonah Coleman closed the game out with a series of effective runs. Then he was placed on injured reserve with an ankle sprain. Since then, Denver’s rushing game had not been able to find any semblance of rhythm until, really, the fourth quarter Sunday. Coleman is first eligible to return to action for the Broncos after Thursday night����ap game against Seattle.

The most encouraging stretch came late. J.K. Dobbins finished with 18 carries and 68 yards, both season highs so far, and his first touchdown of the season. Most of that damage was done in the fourth quarter, when Dobbins rushed seven times for 43 yards. Over the first three quarters, he’d averaged 2.3 yards per carry.

6b. Through the first four games of the season, Denver’s pass rush had been good but not as disruptive as it had been over the past two seasons.

They didn’t get off to a particularly dominant start on Sunday against the Chargers, either.

Over the course of the game, though, Vance Joseph’s front-line group overwhelmed a makeshift Los Angeles offensive front. The Chargers were forced into starting four rookies due to a raft of injuries on their offensive line and Nik Bonitto and company made them pay.

Bonitto racked up two sacks, the most he’s had in a game since Week 14 against Las Vegas last year. Overall, Denver sacked Herbert four times and, critically, forced him into a pair of fumbles — one the Broncos recovered — and a fourth-quarter interception.

That closing blast from Joseph’s group highlighted two of the things Denver values most: Pressure on the quarterback and taking the football away. GIven the offense’s entire lack of rhythm for most of the afternoon, the turnovers mattered even more. Denver started four full possessions in the fourth quarter and all of them came from the L.A. 41-yard line or better. That was because of a 27-yard Marvin Mims Jr. punt return, a turnover on downs, a fumble and an interception.

7. The Broncos have some rest on the horizon after Thursday night, but they have to tangle with the Super Bowl champions on a short week first.

Denver, at least, gets to play Thursday night����ap game at home. Seattle has to travel after a physical, emotional division game of its own, a 32-29 Sunday afternoon home loss to San Francisco.

For Denver, no on-field challenge is bigger than figuring out how to deal with receivers Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp while still shorthanded at cornerback. It����ap unlikely Pat Surtain II will be back from an ankle injury and it remains to be seen if Riley Moss’ ribs will be in good enough shape to try to play.

With Moss, in particular, it����ap possible Denver held him out Sunday in part in hopes he’d be ready for one of the best receiver duos in football.

Smith-Njigba had five catches for 102 yards and a touchdown against the Niners on Sunday, giving him four 100-plus-yard outings in five games. That despite dropping a ball in the waning seconds that would have at least put Seattle in position to tie the game.

Only the Chargers held him under that mark last week.

Through five weeks, the reigning offensive player of the year has 583 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. That puts him on pace for a ridiculous 1,9282 yards and 24 touchdowns.

YOU ALREADY KNOW WHO IT IS Touchdownnnn

:

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks)

Broncos reserve cornerbacks Jahdae Barron and Kris Abrams-Draine did terrific work against a depleted Chargers receiving corps on Sunday night.

The challenge Thursday is only four days away but it will undoubtedly feel like a different galaxy.

Hufanga limped off the field after a Chargers run play in which he was hit in the back. He stayed down on the field before entering the blue medical tent for several minutes. He headed to the locker room after exiting the tent.

Broncos’ backup safety Devon Key replaced Hufanga. Denver entered Sunday without two defensive backs already — cornerbacks Pat Surtain II and Riley Moss. Backups Jahdae Barron and Kris Abrams-Draine replaced them.

A few plays after Hufanga’s exit, Denver’s defense surrendered a 42-yard touchdown run to Chargers running back Kimani Vidal. The Broncos trailed 17-10 at the end of the third quarter.

Hufanga knocked the ball out of Chargers tight end Charlie Kolar’s hands in the first quarter, which led to Denver’s first score of the game.

The Broncos safety was in the locker room after the game, wearing a boot on his left foot. Denver has a short turnaround before a “Thursday Night Football” clash against the defending champion Seattle Seahawks on Oct. 15.

If Hufanga can’t play, expect the Broncos to elevate practice squad safety Taylor Rapp for Thursday’s contest. Denver re-signed Rapp to its practice squad on Sept. 7 after initially signing him to a one-year deal on August 20. The safety has played in 93 games, starting 72 of them in his seven-year career. Rapp has 12 career interceptions, including one pick-six his rookie season.

Young defensive backs step up

Last Sunday, Kris Abrams-Draine got to play unexpected defensive snaps on his birthday. Hard to top that, he said in the locker room this week.

But this Sunday, Abrams-Draine was officially announced with the rest of the Broncos’ defensive starters for only the third time in his career. He, alongside second-year cornerback Jahdae Barron, was tasked with replacing the injured Surtain and Moss.

The two performed well against a wounded Chargers passing attack, helping limit Justin Herbert to a season-low 121 passing yards. Herbert has been held to under 125 passing yards only three times in his career, two of which came against the Broncos’ defense.

Abrams-Draine had a nice pass breakup against Los Angeles wide receiver Tre Johnson, and Barron recorded six tackles, including stopping Herbert short on a critical third-down late in the game.

Broncos coach Sean Payton said he thought Abrams-Draine and Barron performed well in his initial impression. With Surtain unlikely to play against the Seahawks, one of the reserve cornerbacks will be tasked with slowing down Seattle star wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba on Thursday evening.

Bo Nix takes brutal hit, brushes it off

Bo Nix took a crushing hit to the left knee by Tony Jefferson late in the fourth quarter. The referees called a roughing the passer penalty, giving the Broncos the ball near the goal line. Nix stayed down for a few seconds and appeared to grimace as he was hit.

None of the Broncos’ opponents were called for a roughing-the-passer penalty through the first four weeks. Bills defensive end Joey Bosa was fined $17,389 for a hit on Nix in the AFC divisional round game last year.

The quarterback brushed off the play after the game.

“I’m just glad we got a penalty, to be honest with you. Good to get a roughing the passer,” Nix laughed.

San Francisco receiver Deebo Samuel took the ball from quarterback Brock Purdy but then flipped it to Jacob Cowing on a reverse. Nine Denver defenders were outside the hashes to Jones’ right, including him.

He put his foot in the ground, measured a lot of green space in front of him and bolted.

Jones didn’t break down and hardly slowed. He made one course adjustment and squared up Cowing at nearly full speed.

What looked like a big play turned into a 2-yard gain.

Jones got up, straightened his shoulder pads and headed back to the defensive backfield.

It was one of several open-field tackles the Broncos safety made against the 49ers and the latest in a string of high-quality, often underappreciated, outings from Jones, who is happy to be back on the field after missing the stretch run last year with a torn pectoral muscle.

“It����ap been great,” Jones said this week of being back in action. “I didn’t miss how I feel after games just from a body standpoint, but I’m blessed to be back out there with the guys and to help any way I can.”

Jones is playing his seventh NFL season and already his third in Denver — he’s in the final of a three-year, $20 million deal that has turned into a substantial bargain for the Broncos — which makes him something of an elder statesman. He is the most veteran defensive back on Denver’s 53-man roster and is topped by one NFL season and a few months on the calendar by fellow 28-year-old Taylor Rapp, who was signed to the practice squad last month.

“It����ap crazy to think,” Jones said. “I tell people all the time, I’m the oldest — well, with Rapp here now, but before that I was the oldest DB we had in the room, which is insane that I’m, like, the seasoned vet.

“It feels like I was the rookie, you know, yesterday. It����ap a blessing. Especially going into Year 7. Already beat the average for people playing in this league and hopefully I got at least four or five more in me.”

Jones is a stabilizing force and, paired with Talanoa Hufanga, forms one of the more versatile and capable safety duos in football.

“It feels exactly the same,” Jones said of Year 2 next to Hufanga, who arrived last spring via free agency. “You’d have thought we’ve been playing together our whole entire careers. There’s a lot of unspoken in just the way we play off each other. Then the way we communicate and talk. It����ap comforting, we have a lot of fun, obviously, and we just feed off each other.

Against the Niners alone, Jones made four impressive open-field tackles against a bevy of playmakers like Samuel, Christian McCaffrey, and Cowing. He’s second on the team with 31 tackles, trailing only Alex Singleton’s 47. Jones’ 21 solo tackles are nearly twice as many as anybody else on the defense aside from Singleton (22).

Overall, the Broncos have been a much better tackling outfit, though they say they still have room to improve since a dreadful season-opening performance in Kansas City last month.

“It����ap been better,” Jones said. “From Week 1 to now we’ve done a really, really good job and made more of an emphasis of swarming to the ball, getting guys to the ball. Missed tackles happen. They happen. It����ap impossible to go an entire game without missing a tackle, but we’ve made more of an emphasis of getting the guy down and, if you’re the second guy in, punching at the ball.

“Make that the main thing and it����ap been a lot better.”

That kind of performance — along with Jones making plays — represents a return to normalcy for fellow Broncos defenders.

“I would say he’s probably one of the best in the league at open-field tackling,” fellow safety Devon Key said. “He knows that. He takes the right angles. Knows how to get the person down.

“Any time the ball gets through or squirts through a gap, I’m always like, ‘we’re good. B-Jones will get it down somehow.’”

The job for Jones and Hufanga, along with nickel Ja’Quan McMillian, only gets more important this weekend against the Chargers. They’ll be the regulars on the field alongside Denver’s young corner pair, Jahdae Barron and Kris Abrams-Draine, who are set to start for the injured top-line duo of Pat Surtain II and Riley Moss.

Jones thinks they’ll handle the work just fine. He’s played with both over the past three seasons, just not both at the same time in full-time duty.

The young guys know, too, that if anything breaks out, Jones will most likely get it to the ground somehow.

Jahdae Barron, Andrew Mukuba and Michael Taaffe were still in high school, eager to make a name for themselves in the crowded Texas football scene. The three worked out together for 100 straight days that summer, spending hours training under the watch of Bernard “Bam” Blake.

“The workouts got real competitive,” Mukuba told The Post. “It forced us to get close.”

After workouts, Barron would sit with the others inside Blake’s gym, talking for hours.

That summer, Barron’s close friend — Tardrick “Trollie” Fowler Jr. — . Everyone knew Fowler, Austin native and Broncos cornerback Sean Fresch Jr. told The Post, but Barron was particularly close with him. Fresch and Barron were training with Blake when they found out their 19-year-old friend had passed away.

“It really hurt,” Fresch said.

The next day, Barron was back in the gym training.

Six years later, Barron returned to Austin in the summer with a new goal. After struggling to find playing time as a rookie with the Broncos, Barron trained up to three times a day. He would work out with Blake and Taaffe in the morning, then lift at the University of Texas or a local high school in the afternoon and end the dae in a steam room or sauna, Taaffe said.

Other days included yoga and stretching, catching hundreds of balls on the Jugs machine or recovering at Kollective, a social performance club in Austin. Barron was not only trying to make the second-year leap so many fans expected from him, but also recover from a .

“That was the hardest I’ve ever seen Jahdae work,” Taaffe, a Miami Dolphins safety, told The Post. “He’s really hungry right now.”

Barron watched film of his 2025 season with Taaffe. He studied defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s complicated defensive designs, the scheme that made it difficult for him to get on the field in his first year. Barron worked on minute details and prepared to play as a dime defensive back, a role he filled as a rookie.

Mukuba and Barron also talked about their trying rookie seasons over the summer. Mukuba suffered a fractured ankle that ended his year, while Barron started just five games.

“He was self-aware, he knew what he needed to do,” Mukuba, a Philadelphia Eagles safety, said. “They brought you there for a reason.”

Barron arrived at training camp in Denver vying for the outside cornerback job opposite Pat Surtain II. Then Riley Moss had a breakout summer, cementing himself as the team’s starter. Barron was left on the bench again, beaten out in two straight years by emerging players in Moss and Ja’Quan McMillian.

He played even less to start his second season. Barron received just 30 defensive snaps through the first three weeks of the season, the second-lowest snap total of any healthy first-round rookie from the 2025 draft class.

This was a player who was so good in high school that his coach regretted not making an exception to his longstanding rule against playing freshmen on varsity. Barron played in 56 games at Texas, starting 38 of them.

“Is he frustrated (by the lack of playing time)? I’m sure he is. He wants to play more, but that frustration I can promise you is pointed at himself first,” Texas defensive backs coach Blake Gideon said. “He’s not the blame guy. He’s not going ‘these coaches or these guys.’ No, no, no, no. That’s not Jahdae Barron.”

So who is Barron? He’s the 24-year-old who bought his mother a house this offseason, switched to No. 23 and got a tattoo to honor Fowler Jr., and keeps Bible verse cards in his locker while frequently reading quotes to teammates. He’s also “cheap”, according to multiple teammates , trying to negotiate his way out of picking up the check at the Broncos’ weekly defensive back dinner.

On Sunday, he’ll finally be the man in the Broncos’ cornerback room.

After Surtain and Moss were injured in the team’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Barron is expected to start at cornerback against the Los Angeles Chargers. Everybody who knows Barron said he understands the opportunity in front of him — an extended chance at playing time and a chance to show his pedigree.

“Anytime you have a chance to increase your role, that����ap all any player can ask for in this league,” Broncos defensive backs coach Doug Belk told The Post.

It����ap the perfect opportunity for the mindset Barron has always had, Taaffe said. Once you get on the field, don’t ever come off.

“He’s gonna get tested. They’re going to go after him, and I think he’s looking forward to that,” Jason Cecil, Barron’s high school coach, said.

A family-first player

Barron grew up in Corpus Christi before moving to Austin. That����ap where Barron met Fresch, a Broncos practice squad player. The two ran track together, attended the same private school and played in the same youth football league.

Fresch immediately noticed that Barron was a “big family guy.” Raised by his mother, Techonia Davis, Barron is one of six siblings. Barron, who is extremely close with his mother, would tell Fresch about his dream of taking care of his family.

Football came naturally to Barron. Despite being a short, skinny child — Barron estimates he weighed 150 pounds as a young high schooler — Cecil spotted him almost immediately while he was in middle school.

“You could tell he was special,” Cecil said.

Barron was a running back for most of his young career. When he got to John B. Connally High School, Cecil immediately started pitching him on moving to defensive back.

Barron resisted. He hated the idea of tackling and, like most young players, wanted the ball in his hands. Once he switched, though, the transition was seamless.

“He took to it so quickly,” Cecil said. “You could see from Day 1 it was the right move.”

Barron became a star, earning all-state honors and establishing himself as a highly regarded prospect.

His talent oozed on the field, but Cecil worked to rein in Barron’s confidence. The longtime coach called Barron the most confident player he’s ever coached, which he said was “good and bad.”

“He wasn’t the most humble kid as a high schooler,” Cecil said. “In high school he could get by without watching film. All he had to do was play man and get by with talent.”

But Barron took coaching well. Cecil said he used to “light his (expletive) up” if he saw Barron acting out.

Texas almost missed out on him, though. Barron originally committed to Baylor before decommitting after coach Matt Rhule departed for the NFL. He eventually flipped to Texas and Gideon.

“I know things haven’t always been easy for Jahdae … His upbringing and the challenges of moving at a pivotal time in his young life and finding his way,” Gideon said. “He navigated (college recruiting) all the way through, mostly by himself. He’s got some figure-it-out to him that not everybody has.”

Once Barron arrived on campus, Texas immediately earmarked him as a player it could train at different positions. He “took care” of Taaffe while the safety was still a walk-on. Barron still checks in with his hometown friends from his locker in Denver, Broncos tight end Evan Engram said.

Barron played in 41 games across his first four seasons in Austin. Entering his senior year, though, he still wasn’t regarded as a top-level NFL draft prospect.

On a summer night in 2024, Barron walked into Gideon’s office and asked a simple question.

“What do I need to do to get ready for the NFL?”

Gideon asked if he was ready for a challenging conversation, and the two sat down. They pulled up practice tape, offseason film and previous games from Barron’s career. They talked about what he needed to tweak and change to get better. It was a “very challenging” discussion, Gideon said.

Barron showed up the next night for more.

He exploded onto the national scene as a senior, becoming just the third Longhorn to win the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back. He joined Michael Huff, the 2005 winner, and Aaron Ross, who won in 2006. Barron switched to No. 7 for his senior season after telling Huff he wanted to honor his legacy.

“To go from being somewhat immature to now, he’s become such a stud,” Taaffe said.

The Broncos were clearly impressed. They picked Barron with the 20th overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft despite already having two young cornerbacks in Surtain and Moss.

Cecil, a longtime Broncos fan, said he was probably the happiest man in the room during Barron’s draft-day party. Even he was surprised by the pick.

“The fact that they drafted him with the corner room they have was shocking,” Cecil said.

There were flashes during his rookie year — an interception against the Dallas Cowboys and a beautiful pass breakup against All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce. All in all, it wasn’t the type of rookie season fans expected from Barron.

“I know he’s not happy with how things have gone,” Cecil said. “But I’ve never caught an ounce of negativity.”

Finding a role in Denver

Barron’s offseason was about finding a way to get on the field more. That meant working on the details that held him back as a rookie and preparing for the different roles the Broncos could ask him to play.

Denver has cross-trained Barron at multiple positions in the secondary, trying to find more ways to contribute. But playing different spots also means learning different responsibilities.

Broncos safety Tycen Anderson described Barron’s situation as essentially wearing three different caps. A player has to compartmentalize each role and change how he processes the game depending on where he lines up.

“I’m playing safety, so I gotta think a certain way. I’m playing nickel, so now my processing got to be way faster. OK, I’m playing corner so now I gotta look at splits and a bunch of other (expletive),” Anderson said.

For Barron, his versatility could theoretically help him find a role in a crowded secondary. But it’s a lot easier said than done. Imagine learning three different languages. Now imagine having to become fluent in all of them and still be better than someone with more years of experience.

“We wouldn’t ask him (to play different positions) if he wasn’t capable,” Belk said.

Despite the challenges of his first two years, Barron has fit well into the Broncos’ defensive back room. His goofy personality balances out the group.

The Broncos’ defensive backs get together for a weekly dinner, trying new restaurants and rotating who pays for the meal. If it����ap Barron’s turn, there are usually complaints.

“For him to be a first-rounder, he’s really cheap,” cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine said.

“He’s good as long as he don’t gotta pay,” Anderson added.

Barron’s teammates have seen how badly he wants to play. Now, with a bigger opportunity in front of him, he’ll have a chance to show the Broncos — and their fans — why they used a first-round pick on him.

“He’s definitely been wanting to play more,” Engram said.

He’ll get his chance Sunday.

“Where’s the first-round pick we used?”

“Is Barron a bust?”

“Why is Jahdae Barron not playing?”

Those questions, and more, were constantly asked during Barron’s rookie season and into his second year. Barron has been behind cornerbacks Patrick Surtain II, Riley Moss and Ja’Quan McMillian on the depth chart through his first two seasons. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph has said he’s wanted to find ways to put Barron on the field, while coach Sean Payton pointed to a lack of dime formations as the reason behind Barron’s lack of playing time.

But after Surtain and Moss both suffered injuries in the first half of the Broncos’ 24-14 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium, Barron was suddenly tasked with becoming Denver’s top cornerback. Surtain was helped off the field by two staff members, and Moss didn’t come out of the locker room after halftime.

“It probably impacts the defense when both your corners are down going into the second half,” Payton said.

He, along with reserve cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine, played the entire second half as Denver’s outside cornerbacks. Despite the Broncos’ loss, those two held their own against Brock Purdy and the 49ers’ receivers. Purdy had a much more efficient second half, but a good chunk of his production came on a 56-yard tight end screen to George Kittle that did not involve either cornerback.

The stats won’t show much: Barron had one pass deflection, and Barron and Abrams-Draine each had three tackles. But when the top two players at the same position go down with injuries in the same half, most defenses would fall apart. It’s already difficult to replace one starting corner — and arguably the team’s best defender at that — but replacing two at once is an entirely different challenge.

“You go 16 weeks, and that might happen once every two years,” Payton said. “Certainly it affects Vance and what you want to call.”

Denver’s secondary depth is uniquely equipped to handle such losses, though. Mike Evans caught just two passes for 26 yards; Deebo Samuel Sr. managed three receptions for 15 yards, and none of San Francisco’s tertiary wideouts made an impact in the second half.

Despite hardly playing through the first three weeks of the season (30 defensive snaps), Barron didn’t express frustration or disappointment publicly. The Texas product knows he’s behind two talented defensive backs, and Joseph’s system is difficult to learn.

“The older guys just kept me going, everybody’s reminding just each other, me and (Abrams-Draine) staying on each other, just play hard, play fast and communicate,” Barron said.

During his time at Texas, Barron showed up in Austin as a 150-pound defensive back from Corpus Christi. The Longhorns had a load of talent in the secondary, but the young, local kid kept making plays in practice, Texas defensive backs coach Blake Gideon told The Denver Post.

“I think Jahdae called me right. I would tell him to just keep pounding the rock and keep digging,” Gideon told The Post. “I think Jahdae is built for this type or any other type of adversity. We created that adversity for him (at Texas), and he’s been one of the best we’ve had at growing himself and challenging himself and looking in the mirror.”

Gideon said he promised Barron would place the blame on himself, not the Broncos’ coaches, for why he wasn’t playing.

“That’s not Jahdae Barron. Jahdae is frustrated, if he is at all, with himself and what he needs to do more of, or do differently, in order to prove that he deserves to be out there,” Gideon added.

He got his chance Sunday because the Broncos suddenly needed him. He could be tasked with even more in the coming weeks.

Surtain and Moss’ statuses remain uncertain, and Surtain could barely put weight on his right leg as he left the field. If either misses significant time, Barron could move into a starting role alongside Abrams-Draine.

Barron has rarely had an opportunity like this since the Broncos drafted him in the first round. Now, with uncertainty at the top of the depth chart, Denver may finally find out what its first-round pick can do with an expanded role.

1. Did Mims really fumble?: Social media howled that the Broncos “got away” with a pass interference call on the Rams late last Sunday that helped Denver pull off another home comeback. Well, the football gods must have kept that receipt, because the officials in Week 4 sure made up for whatever favors were left at Empower Field in the second half. With 9:40 left in the third quarter, Broncos returner Marvin Mims was ruled to have fumbled away a 49ers punt, appearing to lose the ball as the pigskin and his forearm touched the ground.  To the naked eye, he was down by contact. On most of the TV replays, he looked down by contact.  CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore said on the broadcast that he felt “Mims was down by contact,” while also noting that rules consider a wrist to be a part of the hand, and that a hand down can cause a fumble. The hosts had the ball at the Denver 28, and scored the game’s first TD nine plays later.

2. Bo Nix, checkdown artist? If you want to know why the Broncos’ No. 10 isn’t universally considered a “franchise” quarterback outside ����apountry, and why his critics call him a checkdown artist, Sunday is a perfect example. Despite a decent stat line in San Fran against a decent, physical Niners defense (25-42 passing, 214 yards, one score, no picks), the devil for No. 10 was in the details. Of those 25 completions, 14 were to Broncos running backs. Backs and tight ends wound up being targeted 20 times on the day. The old adage is that you can only take what a defense “gives” you, but Nix repeatedly missed mid-range throws that were either more than 12 yards beyond the line of scrimmage or over the middle of the field. At one point, even CBS analyst Trent Green, a former Chiefs and Rams QB, noted how many chances Nix missed between the hashmarks.

3. PS2, Moss dinged: With 38 seconds left until halftime in a 3-3 game and the Niners driving, ����apountry could feel their collective hearts trapped in a community’s throats. Cornerback Patrick Surtain II, the Broncos’ best player, appeared to tweak his right lower leg in a non-contact play while backpedaling on a 49ers drop back. As Brock Purdy completed a 24-yard pass to the Niners’ 42-yard line, Surtain began to hobble, and after the play, in the first of several scary moments, he collapsed to the ground. The 2024 NFL Defensive Player of the Year was able to stand up again and put a little weight on his right leg but couldn’t walk back to the visiting locker room without two Broncos staffers helping him with every slow step. Neither PS2 (ankle) nor CB2 partner Riley Moss (rib) were out with the starting defense on the Niners’ second drive of the second half. When it rains … you get a CB combo of Kris Abrams-Draine and Jahdae Barron.

4. First-half penalties: The worst enemy for the Broncos’ offense in the first half, given the benefit of hindsight, was probably the Broncos themselves. At the break, Denver had five penalties compared to just one for the hosts. And the timing of those flags was even worse, as the laundry proved to be drive-killers. After linebacker Alex Singleton forced a turnover on downs at the Denver 34, the Broncos worked a third-and-2 at the 42 with 13 minutes to go until halftime. But a false start by left tackle Garett Bolles made that a third-and-7 at the 37; Nix was flushed out of the pocket on the ensuing play, and the Broncos had to punt. On the Broncos’ next possession, Denver faced a third-and-1 at the visitors’ 39 with 9:06 left — only for Bolles to jump again, turning a short-yardage dive into a third-and-4.

Patrick Surtain II suffered a non-contact injury to end the first half and Riley Moss was ruled out for the rest of Sunday’s game with a rib injury. Moss did not play on Denver’s first defensive possession of the second half and was not seen on the sideline. Surtain will not return to the contest with an ankle injury.

Moss suffered a rib injury in the Broncos’ second preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. He missed a few practices after that but hadn’t missed any regular-season game action at the start of the year.

It was unclear when Moss suffered the injury against the 49ers. He played the entire first half but did not return from the locker room to open the second half.

Reserve cornerbacks Jahdae Barron and Kris Abrams-Draine replaced Moss and Surtain as Denver’s two outside cornerbacks for now. Barron is a former first-round pick, and the Broncos selected Abrams-Draine in the fifth round with the 145th overall pick in 2024. He’s started three career games, while Barron started five games last season.

This story will be updated. 

OFFENSE — B-

It was a tale of two halves for Denver’s offense. The Broncos and Bo Nix drew boos from the home crowd in the first half after they failed to score a touchdown, went 0-for-2 in the red zone, converted just one of six first downs and committed four penalties. Nix even squandered a prime scoring opportunity in the second quarter when he threw an ill-advised interception at the 8-yard line.

But in the second half, Denver finally converted on its scoring opportunities. The Broncos scored on four of their final five (full) drives. Nix completed 11 of his 15 passes for 132 yards and a 122.1 passer rating in the second half. The quarterback targeted his No. 1 option, wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, 10 times. It paid off. Waddle recorded eight catches for 138 yards after a disappointing two-target night in Kansas City. A beautiful double move late in the fourth quarter essentially sealed the win for Denver.

The Broncos were actually outgaining Jacksonville for most of the afternoon, but an inability to convert first downs or sustain any offense inside the red zone prevented them from turning yards into touchdowns in the first half. But in the final 30 minutes, Nix and company were finally able to break the scoring drought. Jonah Coleman ran well after J.K. Dobbins left the game with an injury and the Broncos’ offense did enough to preserve a dominant defensive effort from their teammates.

DEFENSE — A

It was clear all week that Denver’s defensive players were itching to redeem themselves after the season opener. They responded Sunday with a vintage performance, holding a high-powered Jacksonville offense to 268 yards, including 115 yards in the second half.

Denver’s secondary and pass rush complemented each other extremely well. Star quarterback Trevor Lawrence was 5-of-12 for a measly 19.8 passer rating in the second half.

Patrick Surtain II was rarely targeted, Riley Moss’s interception off Lawrence gave Denver’s offense life and Zach Allen was his usual disruptive self. An outstanding response from the Broncos after the disappointing Week 1 showing.

Riley Moss on his big interception

“It was nice to come down with one, I’ll be honest with you,” Moss said.

— Sam Jane (@sam_jane230)

SPECIAL TEAMS — B+

It was a solid day on special teams for the Broncos. Tyler Badie had a nice 34-yard return that set Denver up with strong field position, JL Skinner made a great tackle on a first-quarter punt, and Will Lutz made his field goal attempts. Kris Abrams-Draine muffed a punt, though he recovered it. A Cam Little missed field goal was the difference on special teams, giving the Broncos’ offense an opening to take the lead in the fourth quarter.

COACHING — B

Give Denver’s coaching staff credit for how the team responded in the second half. It appeared as if the Broncos were staring down an 0-2 start after a dreadful offensive half, but both sides of the ball played extremely well after halftime. Offensive coordinator Davis Webb’s unit was much better situationally, going 3-of-5 on third down in the second half. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph pressured Lawrence more in the second half, which seemed to spook the quarterback.

There are still questions about the Broncos’ offense, but they will certainly take the comeback win over a fellow AFC contender.