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There were two huge collective sighs of relief on Monday in Dove Valley.
Receiver Jerry Jeudy and cornerback Pat Surtain II, both of whom exited in the first half with injuries on Sunday against the Texans, will be back soon. Jeudy suffered a rib injury but X-rays came back negative, according to a league source, while Surtain’s shoulder injury is non-serious.
Both players are considered day-to-day and will be evaluated going forward this week ahead of the Broncos’ Week 3 home game against the 49ers.
With those prognoses, the Broncos don’t have to worry about two of their premier players being shelved for an extended period of time. Safety and defensive captain Justin Simmons is already on the injured list with a quad injury.
Jeudy’s injury was initially called a shoulder injury by the team, but after the 16-9 win over the Texans, head coach Nathaniel Hackett corrected it to a rib injury.
The receiver had one catch for 11 yards on three targets at the time of his injury, which occurred at the six-minute mark of the first quarter. On that trick play, Javonte Williams took the pitch from Russell Wilson, then made a backwards toss to Wilson. The quarterback targeted Jeudy on a 15-yard out route toward the right sideline, where Jeudy was in man coverage with cornerback Steven Nelson.
Nelson made the pass-break up on Jeudy and then drove the receiver’s right shoulder into the ground. Jeudy immediately started writhing in pain on the ground, and after a quick trip into the sideline medical tent, walked to the locker room.
After a disappointing 2021 in which Jeudy had zero touchdowns, he got off to a fast start in Week 1 with four catches for 102 yards and a touchdown in the loss to the Seahawks.
Jeudy also got off to a decent start last year with six catches for 72 yards in a win over the Giants, but suffered a high ankle sprain in the third quarter of that game and had to be carted off the field. He missed the next six games, returning in Week 8, but his season-high was 77 yards in a game and he never found a sustained rhythm.
Surtain was replaced by Damarri Mathis at the 9:10 mark in the second quarter. On the previous play, Surtain was being blocked downfield by Texans receiver Chris Conley, so it’s unclear exactly how the second-year pro was injured. His injury adds to early-season secondary depth issues, with Simmons sidelined for at least three more weeks.
After Surtain left the field, the Texans targeted Mathis on two of the next four plays, and quarterback Davis Mills continued to throw his way in the second half. But Mathis held up. The fourth-round pick out of Pittsburgh finished the game with five tackles and a pass break-up.
This story will be updated.
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