Broncos getting key secondary piece back from injury this week

The Denver Broncos can’t make any more trades, but the roster can still be upgraded in other ways. Getting players back from injury will certainly help.

The Denver Broncos have suffered a number of key injuries on both sides of the ball this season, but the team is also getting some reinforcements as the year progresses.

In the secondary, the Broncos have lost Bryce Callahan and now rookie Patrick Surtain II to knee injuries in consecutive weeks. Although Callahan’s injury seems longer-term than Surtain’s, Mike Klis tweeted out that Surtain is not expected to play this week against the Eagles as the Broncos try to improve to 6-4 on the season.

Surtain missing a game isn’t the worst news in the world considering Kyle Fuller is coming off of a pretty good bounce-back game against the Dallas Cowboys, but the Broncos will also be getting back a key piece with Duke Dawson Jr. coming off of the physically unable to perform list.

Broncos getting key secondary piece back from injury this week

Dawson is a former second-round draft selection out of Florida whose time in the NFL has been plagued so far by injuries.

He missed most of his rookie season with the New England Patriots due to injury, and has had injury issues in each of his first three seasons in Denver.

With that being said, he’s proven to be an asset to the secondary when healthy, a versatile playmaker that can be deployed as a nickel corner and that’s perhaps where he will make his return if he plays significant snaps against the Philadelphia Eagles.

He played just 69 defensive snaps last season with the Broncos, but he’s also capable of playing a key role on special teams as well.

Again, Dawson’s return (along with the potential return of Essang Bassey in the near future) is coming at an ideal time for the Broncos having just had to deal with the losses of Callahan and Surtain in consecutive weeks.

Dawson has 27 tackles and two passes broken up in 26 career games, all with the Denver Broncos. This is a Denver secondary that has been playing lights out as of late, and a key reason for that had been the performance of both Patrick Surtain II and Bryce Callahan individually.

Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson both played outstanding games against the Dallas Cowboys and will be expected to continue to make sure things are being effectively communicated on the back end with so many changing parts.

The Broncos had Kyle Fuller playing nickel for the first time in his NFL career this past weekend against Dallas but against the Eagles, it will likely be some combination of Dawson, Nate Hairston, and possibly Essang Bassey playing in that nickel spot for the Broncos.

Hairston, for his part, had a nice pass breakup against the Cowboys as just about everyone in the Denver secondary was getting in on the action.

The Broncos’ defense has had the type of team success lately that leads me to believe a player like Dawson could be inserted into the gameplan and have some measure of immediate success himself.

Guys like Kenny Young and Stephen Weatherly have even come from other teams and are having some nice success early on.

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Dawson has been working his way back for this opportunity and in a contract year, there’s a lot at stake for him.