Pat Surtain II will not play Thursday night against the Seahawks after being ruled out with an ankle injury, leaving the Broncos short one of their top defensive backs for a game that arrives fast and carries immediate consequence. Talanoa Hufanga was also ruled out with an ankle injury, while Riley Moss was listed as questionable with ribs.
That injury report landed on the eve of Thursday Night Football, when Denver is set to host the Seahawks at 6:15 p.m. MT on Prime Video. For a short week, the status changes matter because availability often shapes the plan before the opening snap, and Denver now has to prepare without two players who were unavailable after repeated nonparticipation in practice.
Moss is the name to watch if the Broncos want one piece of the secondary to come back. He was limited in all three of Denver’s practice reports and sat out Week 5 after hurting his ribs against the 49ers in Week 4. If he is cleared, he gives Denver at least one cornerback option back on a night when Patrick Surtain II is gone and the defense has to absorb the loss.
There is at least some help elsewhere on the roster. Brandon Jones, Sai'vion Jones and Ben Powers were full participants on Wednesday and did not receive game statuses, while Denver also added a pair of defensive backs to its game-day roster for Thursday Night Football against the Seahawks. That is the practical answer to the open question around Surtain’s absence: the Broncos are not replacing him with one player, but with a mix of available defenders and roster moves designed to keep the back end intact.
The wrinkle is that Moss could be back at the same time Denver loses Surtain and Hufanga. That leaves the Broncos with one possible return and two confirmed absences, a split that makes this more than a routine injury note. It is the kind of Thursday report that can change how a game starts and how long a team can hold up if the score tightens late.
For Denver, the next step is simple and immediate: get through the night with enough coverage help to make the matchup manageable. For Surtain, the more important detail is what the report does not say, because there was no indication his ankle injury was anything other than a one-game absence heading into Thursday’s kickoff.
