The Broncos will be without cornerback Pat Surtain II and safety Talanoa Hufanga when they host the Seahawks on Thursday night, per Pro Football Talk's Josh Alper. Cornerback Riley Moss is listed as questionable. Alper wrote that Denver may have Moss in the lineup, but the team will be short a couple of defensive backs even if he plays. Sportsnet and CBS Sports also reported that Surtain is out.
The length of the absences is where the reporting differs. A Yahoo Sports piece on the game said Hufanga is likely to miss the next two to three games and that Surtain is eyeing the Arizona Cardinals game for his return. A Reddit post linking a report said Hufanga will miss multiple weeks with an ankle injury. Only that Reddit post names the injury, and none of the headlines or summaries we have say what is wrong with Surtain or Moss. Yahoo also noted that Denver listed six players on its final Week 6 report.
The numbers show what Denver loses. Surtain has 21 total tackles in four games this season, so he has missed one of the five. Hufanga has played all five and has 23 tackles, one sack and one forced fumble. Moss has 16 tackles in four games, so he is also coming back from a missed game. If he can't go, Denver would be missing all three of these defensive backs at once.
Thu, Oct 15, 8:15 PM ET
The Broncos are 3-2 and third in the AFC West. They are coming off a 23-17 win at the Chargers on Sunday, which followed a 24-14 loss at San Francisco and a 30-26 win over the Rams. They allowed 26 points to the Rams and 24 to the 49ers in two of those three games. That makes the secondary a concern against a Seattle offense that has scored 29, 30 and 31 points in its last three games.
Seattle is also 3-2, second in the NFC West, and comes in after a 32-29 home loss to San Francisco. Before that it beat the Chargers 30-23 and lost 33-31 at Washington. Both Seattle losses were high-scoring, so a Denver defense short in the secondary may face a game of the same kind.
The Cardinals are 1-4 and play at the Rams on Sunday, Oct. 18. Yahoo's Arizona reference is the only timeline in the reporting for Surtain. Hufanga's estimate is two to three games, so Thursday night is the first of several games he is expected to miss. Moss's status should become clear before kickoff.
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