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Caden Sterns has a pair of Jordans coming his way, compliments of teammate D.J. Jones.
The shoes, mind you, aren’t because of anything the second-year safety did, but rather for something he should have done.
On San Francisco’s first third-down try Sunday night, Sterns had quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo picked off cleanly. He robbed the middle of the field, broke on an in-route to tight end George Kittle and had visions of a pick-six running through his mind.
“It was really clean. My eyes were really big. I knew it was just coming,” Sterns said this week. “… It was a great call and I was able to read (Garoppolo’s) eyes, which is something I do pretty well.”
Except Jones batted the ball down at the line of scrimmage.
“He came and apologized, told me he was going to get me some Jordans,” Sterns said. “I’m going to hold him to that.”
The pair of shoes Sterns has been filling the past two games — those of standout Justin Simmons, who is on the short-term injured reserve list with a quadriceps injury — are large. Simmons, the seventh-year pro, has earned second-team All-Pro honors two of the past three seasons.
The past two weeks, Sterns has filled in ably.
“I’m just trying to make the most of it,” Sterns said. “I’ve been wanting to make plays, show my abilities and also take it as a learning experience. There’s some things that go well and there’s some things that, you know, you make mistakes on. I’ll be the first to admit I’ve had some mistakes, but all correctable.
“Just really having fun, playing collectively as a whole and counting on one another to have a performance that we did on Sunday.”
Sterns played in 15 games as a rookie last year, starting twice and logging a pair of interceptions and a pair of sacks to go along with 28 tackles. This fall, he’s one of several role players who have already stepped in to an elevated role and helped the Broncos defense to its strong start.
In fact, through three games, Denver’s defense has thrived despite the fact that difference-makers have missed time at each of the three levels. Simmons will miss at least four weeks (Hackett expressed confidence Simmons will return in time for Denver’s Oct. 18 game at the Chargers), and cornerback Pat Surtain II missed more than half of Sept. 18’s win against Houston. Rookie Damarri Mathis should have given up a touchdown on a drop by Texans receiver Brandin Cooks, but caught a break, then broke up the next pass and played steadily overall.
At linebacker, Alex Singleton filled in the last two weeks for Josey Jewell. Up front, defensive tackle Mike Purcell and reinforcements helped hold San Francisco to just 88 rushing yards despite missing D.J. Jones (concussion) for all but 13 snaps.
“I go way back with Mike,” first-year defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero said of Purcell. “We were in San Francisco together, so I’ve known him for a long time and know the ability he has, character he has, the professional he is. It’s great to have a guy you know you can put in there, even coming off the bench. He can fill in all the spots and he can be a high-level player, really be a starter-like player, when he gets in those positions.”
The Broncos certainly have not faced a murderer’s row of offenses or quarterbacks in Geno Smith, Davis Mills and Garoppolo. But overall the depth — a question mark during training camp, particularly at linebacker and in the secondary — has held up when tested so far through three games. And while the competition perhaps hasn’t been what it will be later in the year, the players who have missed time – Simmons, Surtain, Jones and Jewell – count among the Broncos’ most important.
“We have a lot of good players, good backups, and I just think our assistant coaches have done a great job in terms of developing,” Evero said.
“We just have to always understand that everyone is always one play away. If you’re not preparing your backups as much as your starters, you can find yourself in a tough spot. That’s what we’re trying to get done.”
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