ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph knows it's not easy to simply say "next man up'' when the player who will be missing from the team's defense Sunday is also the league's reigning Defensive Player of the Year, but Joseph said Thursday he's confident in the Broncos' plan to deal with the absence of cornerback Pat Surtain II.
"You're never as good as you could be without your best player, but that being said I'm confident in our group, it's a hand-picked roster,'' Joseph said. "Here's a chance for a young guy to play and kind of make a name for himself.
"We've got a game to win. I expect us to play well and I expect our young guys who are playing in place of Pat, I expect them to play well, that's why they're here.''
Surtain, who has missed just two previous games in his career - one as a rookie in 2021 and Week 7 last season, is expected to miss multiple games with a pectoral injury he suffered just before halftime last Sunday. The Broncos have not put Surtain on injured reserve to this point and the Broncos' first game without him this season will Sunday against the Houston Texans in NRG Stadium.
Neither Joseph nor Sean Payton would offer too many specifics about how the Broncos would deal with the loss of their best player in coverage. But second-year cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine played the second half in this past Sunday's win over the Dallas Cowboys in Surtain's spot opposite of third-year cornerback Riley Moss.
Rookie Jahdae Barron, who was the Broncos' first-round pick this past April, and fourth-year cornerback Ja'Quan McMillian have played in the nickel and dime packages.
"(Abrams-Draine) has played well for us in the past,'' Joseph said. " ... We have a plan to kind of pull Pat's weight with multiple guys. It's not any one guy, it's me calling it clean, it's our D-line providing a pass rush for our young DBs and it's our young DBs just doing it right.''
The Broncos will be aided somewhat by the return of linebacker Dre Greenlaw to the mix. Greenlaw was suspended by the NFL for the win over the Cowboys after the league said Greenlaw had confronted and "threatened'' referee Brad Allen in the moments following the Broncos' comeback win over the New York Giants in Week 7.
Greenlaw had missed the first six games of the season with thigh injuries. He played 21 snaps against the Giants and had six tackles.
"I just shouldn't put my teammates, my team, in that position,'' Greenlaw said Thursday in his first public comments since the suspension. "Emotional game, first game back, just turnt.''
Asked if during his appeal hearing with the league early last week he was given any specifics as to why he was suspended instead of fined only, Greenlaw said: "They didn't tell me, we showed clips or whatever, they're going to make their decision. All you can do is do what they tell you.''
Greenlaw, who is expected to play more snaps this week against the Texans than he did against the Giants said it was "very difficult'' to watch the Broncos' win last weekend.
