Broncos continue to keep close eye on Pat Surtain after ankle injury

Pat Surtain II appeared to be moving well around the Denver Broncos locker room Sunday evening after suffering a sprained ankle late in the team’s 31-13 win over the Indianapolis Colts.

But the following morning, coach Sean Payton had no update as to his status on a short week with the Broncos facing the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday Night Football.

“I’m not going into the injuries at all,” Payton said, adding as the line of questioning continued, “I like Pat. I think everyone does.”

Surtain suffered the injury when he absorbed a shot from Colts wide receiver Josh Downs as he intercepted a pass with 7:46 remaining in Sunday’s game. He slowly walked off the field with assistance from Broncos medical personnel and then went into the blue medical tent for treatment.

The injury to Surtain came on the heels of losing fellow starting cornerback Riley Moss, who hasn’t played since suffering an MCL injury at Las Vegas on Nov. 24. Moss was seen stretching with teammates at the start of practice last week, but spent the week continuing his rehab work and was listed as a “did not practice” for all three days.

After trying Levi Wallace in place of Moss, the Broncos turned to youth in filling in for Moss on Sunday. They deactivated Wallace, using 2022 fourth-round pick Damarri Mathis in base-package downs and rookie fifth-rounder Kris Abrams-Draine in sub packages.

“We wanted to focus with Damarri in the base down and distances because we were able to kind of identify or a better clue of who was playing what receiver,” Payton said. “And then the sub packages, Kris got more of that work, and those guys handled that well. It was good.

“Two things took place yesterday. We felt somewhat positive about this young corner out of Pitt [Mathis] a few years ago, and it was good to see him — compete because he did a good job. And relative to [Abrams-Draine], we felt somewhat positive when we looked at him coming out in this year’s draft and the last two weeks, he showed some moxie, stayed with this guy didn’t panic when the ball’s in the air. There’s something about him.

“And so in both cases, I was really encouraged.”

But that doesn’t mean the Broncos won’t want Surtain at their disposal in Los Angeles on Thursday.

 

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