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.