Good news, Denver Broncos fans: Star cornerback Pat Surtain II is not believed to have suffered any serious sort of injury to his right ankle in the team's Week 15 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
According to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, the Defensive Player of the Year candidate suffered what it believed to be a "minor" ankle sprain on Sunday against the Colts.
#Broncos star CB Patrick Surtain, who exited early with an injury, is believed to be dealing with a minor ankle sprain, source said.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 16, 2024
With just a minor ankle sprain, it's possible we could see Surtain out there on the field for the Broncos' rematch on Thursday against the Los Angeles Chargers. It's also possible that second-year breakout player Riley Moss could return to the lineup after missing most of the last three games with a knee injury.
Broncos CB Pat Surtain II dealing with ankle sprain after Week 15
Surtain seemingly suffered the ankle injury when he picked off his fourth pass of the season, tying his previous career-high (2021) and continuing his bid for Defensive Player of the Year. Surtain has allowed a QB rating into his coverage of 49.5 and a career-best 8.0 yards per completion when quarterbacks actually do complete passes thrown his direction.
As we saw on Sunday against the Colts, throwing the ball Surtain's direction is just a terrible idea. The first pass that went his way, he made a great break on the ball to knock the pass down with perfect technique and coverage. On the second pass that was thrown his direction, Surtain leaped in the air for an acrobatic and athletic pick.
What's so amazing about Surtain's dominance at the cornerback position is the fact that the ball coming his direction is seemingly so rare. He has only been targeted 43 times this season and even though he's played just 13 games, it's still an astounding figure considering he was targeted 91 times last season.
It doesn't matter that he's not being targeted much, however, he's making the most of it. He has four interceptions on 43 targets, making his INT/target ratio better than 1/11. That's absurd.
Needless to say, the Broncos would like to have Surtain around for their "win and get in" scenario on Thursday against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers came to Denver and got a win earlier this season and Denver has a chance to not only exact a measure of revenge on Thursday night, but sort of put the Chargers in a terrible position.
After Sunday's craziness, the Broncos jumped ahead of the Chargers for the 6th seed in the AFC and they can push the Chargers even further away from the 6th seed with a win on Thursday. It would give the Broncos a commanding lead in divisional play as well as in overall record.
I don't know if Surtain is going to let himself miss that kind of game due to a sprained ankle.