Category: Broncos Buzz

Broncos CB Pat Surtain voted to 2023 Pro Bowl

Congrats to Pat Surtain for being voted to the Pro Bowl!

Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain has been named an AFC starter for the 2023 Pro Bowl, the league announced Wednesday.

Broncos safety Justin Simmons was named a first alternate.

Surtain has recorded 55 tackles (two behind the line of scrimmage), 10 pass breakups, two interceptions and one forced fumble in 14 games this season.

Simmons has totaled 49 tackles (two behind the line), six pass breakups, five interceptions, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in nine games this year (he missed five games due to injury).

Simmons and Surtain were both first alternates last year, but no Broncos players made the Pro Bowl in 2021, marking the first time in 41 years that the team was not represented at the NFL’s all-time game.

Former Denver outside linebacker Bradley Chubb (third), safety Kareem Jackson (fifth) and running back Javonte Williams (fifth) were also alternates for the Pro Bowl last year.

This season’s Pro Bowl will be a flag football game played on Feb. 5. Peyton Manning (AFC) and Eli Manning (NFC) will serve as head coaches for the Pro Bowl in Las Vegas.

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Broncos injuries: Russell Wilson practicing, on track to play Sunday

After sitting out last week’s game, Broncos QB Russell Wilson is back on the practice field and on track to play in Week 16.

Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson (concussion) was back at practice Wednesday as the team began on-field preparation for Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.

Wilson’s cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol last week but the Broncos still held him out to be cautious. Backup quarterback Brett Rypien helped the team defeat the Arizona Cardinals 24-15 in Wilson’s absence.

Denver coach Nathaniel Hackett said after Sunday’s game that Wilson will be back in the lineup this week.

Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton (hamstring) also has a chance to return this week after missing the team’s last two games.

“We are definitely hoping for Courtland,” Hackett said Monday. “It’s a hamstring, so we want to be smart with it. We’ve been dealing with these quite a bit this year, so we don’t want anything to be reaggravated. He’s been working really hard, and our training staff has done a great job to make him potentially available for this week.”

Meanwhile, running back Chase Edmonds (ankle) also returned to practice Wednesday, opening his window for a potential return from injured reserve.

Denver’s complete Wednesday injury report can be seen below.

The Broncos will practice again on Thursday and Friday before releasing a final injury report with game statuses for Sunday’s showdown with the Rams.

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Justin Simmons continues climbing Broncos’ all-time interceptions list

Justin Simmons now ranks eighth on the Broncos’ all-time interceptions list.

Following his two-interception performance against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Denver Broncos safety Justin Simmons is now tied with Louis Wright for eighth place on the team’s all-time interceptions list (26).

Simmons has recorded the third-most interceptions in a Bronco’s first seven seasons, and he’s eight interceptions away from ranking in the top five on the team’s all-time list.

Simmons is also the only active player in the NFL with at least four interceptions in each of the last four seasons.

“Justin has been great,” coach Nathaniel Hackett said Sunday. “He is the leader of this football team. That is probably the No. 1 most important thing with Justin. To be able to go out there and execute the way he has despite having some adversity. He has not experienced that type of adversity with the injuries and being out and on IR. He has come back, and I love how that whole back end is communicating.

“I love watching how they get organized with the motions, all those things. I think that just shows how they are as a group and how our defensive staff is putting them in the best positions. They are going out there and executing. It is great. I want to see Justin get some more picks.”

Simmons is the third player in franchise history to post three-straight seasons with at least five interceptions, joining Mike Harden and Goose Gonsoulin.

He has a long way to go to catch Steve Foley (44) for No. 1 on Denver’s all-time interceptions list, but Simmons is getting closer every year.

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Broncos QB Brett Rypien credits Nathaniel Hackett for TD pass vs. Cardinals

“I have to give all the credit to Coach Hackett on that one,” Broncos QB Brett Rypien said after his sneaky TD pass against the Cardinals.

Denver Broncos quarterback Brett Rypien scored on a sneaky play-action touchdown pass against the Arizona Cardinals last week. Rypien faked a handoff to running back Latavius Murray before holding the ball with his back turned for a half-second and then throwing to tight end Eric Tomlinson.

The play worked perfectly as Rypien hit a wide-open Tomlinson for a score. After the game, Rypien gave credit for the sneaky play to coach Nathaniel Hackett.

“I have to give all the credit to Coach Hackett on that one because we had run that play for a while and we ran it Friday during practice,” Rypien said after a 24-15 win. “I came out of it a little too early and got my head up for the reasons we were talking about. He did a great job coaching me up on that. He just kept saying, ‘Trust it, trust it, trust it.’ We worked it last night.

“I worked it in my hotel room, Saturday night. I really tried to work that thing and making sure I got that guy to come up because Eric blocked out on the end. Really, all we had to beat was the corner. I am just so happy that worked. That’s great coaching in my opinion.”

Hackett’s great coaching worked on Sunday, but the Broncos are still 4-10, so his job will undoubtedly be in jeopardy at season’s end. The coach isn’t going down without a fight, though, and he’s got at least three more games left to pull out all the stops.

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NFL draft order: Seahawks watch Broncos while Denver eyes 49ers

The 49ers’ playoff run will determine where the Broncos pick in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.

There are just three games remaining in the 2022 NFL regular season, which means we’re getting closer to knowing the order of picks for the first 18 selections in the 2023 NFL draft.

The Denver Broncos’ original first-round pick now belongs to the Seattle Seahawks following the Russell Wilson trade. Right now, that pick is on pace to be third overall behind the Houston Texans (1-12-1) and Chicago Bears (3-11).

Denver does have a first-round pick from the San Francisco 49ers that was acquired through the Miami Dolphins in the Bradley Chubb trade.

The 49ers have won seven-straight games and right now their first-round pick is 26th overall, but that is subject to change depending on their results in the playoffs. A first-round exit could see their pick climb up to 19th overall, but no higher. A Super Bowl win would drop San Francisco’s pick to 32nd.

So if Broncos fans want the highest possible draft pick in 2023, they’ll have to root for the 49ers’ downfall the rest of this season.

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Broncos place 2 players on IR, add 2 players to 53-man roster

Broncos moves: LB Dakota Allen and CB Darius Phillips to IR; OT Christian DiLauro and QB Jarrett Guarantano promoted to 53-man roster.

The Denver Broncos made several injury-related roster moves early this week ahead of a Christmas Day showdown with the Los Angeles Rams.

First, the Broncos placed linebacker Dakota Allen (hamstring) on injured reserve on Monday, the team announced. To fill Allen’s former spot on the 53-man roster, Denver promoted offensive tackle Christian DiLauro from the practice squad.

After that, the Broncos placed cornerback Darius Phillips (hamstring) on injured reserve on Tuesday, according to KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis. Phillips is one of 11 Denver players who have missed time due to hamstring injuries this season.

To fill the spot created by Phillips’ move to IR, the Broncos promoted quarterback Jarrett Guarantano from the practice squad to the active roster, Brandon Krisztal of KOA Radio first reported on Tuesday.

Guarantano served as Denver’s backup quarterback behind Brett Rypien in Week 15. With Russell Wilson set to return this week, Guarantano will get bumped down to QB3 duties, but a promotion to the 53-man roster is a nice consolation.

Story update: The Broncos announced Tuesday evening that they also signed guard Parker Ferguson and defensive back Devon Key to the practice squad and released inside linebacker Harvey Langi.

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Broncos rise one spot in NFL power rankings entering Week 16

After their win over the Cardinals, the Broncos moved up one spot in NFL power rankings.

A 24-15 win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 15 didn’t do much to improve public perception of the Denver Broncos as the 2022 regular season nears the finish line.

The Broncos took care of business against the Cardinals on Sunday, but they played most of the game against a third-string quarterback. That explains why Nate Davis has the team ranked 30th in his latest NFL power rankings for USA TODAY Sports, just one spot higher than last week.

Here is Davis’ commentary on Denver this week:

Nothing says coal in your stocking quite like having to watch this Denver team on Christmas afternoon.

Elsewhere in the division, the Kansas City Chiefs are ranked No. 3, followed by the Las Angeles Chargers (No. 11), Las Vegas Raiders (No. 25) and Denver.

The Los Angeles Rams, who will host the Broncos this week, are ranked 27th.

The Philadelphia Eagles remain ranked No. 1 on Davis’ list and the Houston Texans remain ranked No. 32 (last). To view Davis’ complete NFL power rankings going into Week 15, visit USATODAY.com.

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Broncos kicker Brandon McManus ranks 31st in FG percentage this season

Are you worried about Broncos kicker Brandon McManus?

Denver Broncos kicker Brandon McManus has converted 24-of-32 field goal attempts this season. That’s a conversion percentage of 75%, which ranks 31st in the NFL, only above Cade York (73.3%) and Chris Boswell (72.2%).

To be fair to McManus, it should be noted that five of his misses have been from 50-plus yards. If those five kicks are taken off the board, his percentage would obviously be much higher.

It is concerning, though, that McManus has two misses between 30-39 yards and one miss between 20-29 yards this season. McManus has also missed a pair of extra-point attempts, which are the equivalent of a 33-yard field goal.

McManus went 1-of-2 on field goal attempts on Sunday, converting a 52-yarder before later missing a 38-yard attempt. The kicker expressed his frustration on Twitter about the miss after an eventual 24-15 win.

McManus has been a good kicker for the Broncos for nine years, and he was clutch during the team’s Super Bowl run in 2015. If he continues ranking near the bottom of the league, though, Denver’s front office might consider bringing in some competition for McManus this offseason.

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Nickelodeon is breaking out the slime for Broncos vs. Rams on Christmas Day

The Rams will host the Broncos in a “slime-time” matchup on Nickelodeon.

In addition to being nationally televised on CBS, the Denver Broncos’ showdown with the Los Angeles Rams on Christmas Day will also air on Nickelodeon.

The game will feature Nick’s signature slime and plenty of animations added to players, fans, the field and just about everything else.

For the Win‘s Mary Clarke had this to say about Nick’s slime-time playoff game last season:

The biggest draw of the Nickelodeon broadcast is the wildly wacky graphics used to make it more visually appealing to kids. Specifically, the use of Nickelodeon’s famous neon green slime is featured in some form nearly every few minutes. …

Sure, the Nickelodeon broadcast may be cheesy — and filled with lots of slime — but it’s adorable fun at the end of the day. And really, isn’t that what we want out of our sports?

Here are some highlights from Nickelodeon’s game last year:

Sunday’s game will begin at 2:30 p.m. MT on CBS/Nickelodeon.

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Broncos vs. Rams can’t be flexed out of Christmas Day spotlight

The Rams will host the Broncos on Christmas Day in a nationally-televised game on CBS.

When the NFL scheduled the Denver Broncos to face the Los Angeles Rams on Christmas Day in May, the game seemed like an intriguing matchup at the time.

The Matthew Stafford-led Rams would be defending their Super Bowl title this fall and a late-season showdown with the Russell Wilson-led Broncos could have big playoff implications for both teams. In theory. In May.

Seven months later, Stafford is injured, Wilson has been underwhelming and both teams are already eliminated from playoff contention.

Sunday’s game is locked into a nationally-televised spotlight on CBS, though, and it’s not eligible to be flexed into another window. The contest will actually be televised on two networks — Nickelodeon will also carry the game.

The Rams are a little more intriguing following the arrival of Baker Mayfield, and the Broncos have been playing a little better over the last two weeks. So it’s possible that Sunday’s showdown could end up being a decent game, but there won’t be any playoff implications on the line.

Merry Christmas, football fans.

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