On Thursday afternoon, Broncos safety JL Skinner sat scrolling on his phone at Bo Nix’s locker. A team-issued iPad sat nearby, plugged into a nearby charging port. Skinner’s device was dead.

This was a bad week to have a dead iPad. Skinner had film to watch. Everyone in the secondary had film to watch. Life changes with Pat Surtain II injured and unavailable.

“Shoot, he’s Pat Surtain , man,” Skinner mused. “He takes away the number-one every time. You never have to worry about it.”

There is little historical precedent for a Vance Joseph-coached defense in Denver without Surtain, the reigning defensive player of the year. Surtain has missed one game since Joseph took command in 2023 — sitting with a concussion in a 33-10 win over the Saints last year — and a half of football against Da

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