Broncos safety Brandon Jones dealing with pectoral-muscle injury

The Broncos didn’t come out of Sunday’s 34-26 win over the Green Bay Packers unscathed.

Safety Brandon Jones underwent an MRI examination Monday after suffering a pectoral-muscle injury during the first half of Sunday’s game. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport was first to report news of Jones’ MRI.

Seven-year veteran P.J. Locke, a Broncos first-teamer at safety last year and for the second half of the 2023 campaign, filled in for Jones and played “real well,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said.

Jones and free-agent pickup Talanoa Hufanga have combined to create one of the NFL’s most dynamic safety pairings this season.

“I like the way they’re playing,” Payton said last week.

But now, the Broncos might have to make do without half of that combination for a while.

OTHER BRONCOS INJURIES DURING SUNDAY’S WIN

The team’s linebacker corps also took a hit when inside linebacker Justin Strnad left the field in the first quarter after suffering a right-ankle injury during a Jeremy Crawshaw punt.

Strnad, who started seven games filling in for Dre Greenlaw and later Alex Singleton during the season’s first three months, was helped off the field by team medical personnel. He could not put any weight on his right leg.

The Broncos already have two inside linebackers on injured reserve: third-year veteran Drew Sanders and rookie Karene Reid. Sanders injured his foot on the second day of training camp and subsequently underwent surgery. In recent weeks, he has worked out on a side field while his teammates have gone about their practice paces.

Reid suffered a hamstring injury Nov. 7 against the Las Vegas Raiders. He played 174 snaps in the season’s first 10 games, with all but three of them coming on special teams.

With Reid and Sanders sidelined, the team turned to undrafted rookie Jordan Turner for depth in three of its last four games. The Broncos elevated Turner to their 53-player roster Saturday after he reached his season maximum of three practice-squad elevations; he made his regular-season debut in Week 8 while Greenlaw served a one-game suspension.

Wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. also was evaluated for a possible concussion and a stinger, but returned to action.

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