Brandon Jones made the play of Denver’s win Sunday at Las Vegas.
He snatched a Gardner Minshew overthrow in the third quarter and ran the interception back 37 yards to set the Broncos up in the red zone.
That became the offense’s first touchdown of the afternoon two plays later when Bo Nix hit Courtland Sutton for an 18-yard score.
Jones, though, was no guarantee to play in the first place.
He missed last week’s win over Atlanta with an abdomen injury and then spent all of Saturday sick. Jones made the trip with the team but was added to the injury report Saturday and listed as questionable.
Then he played all but two snaps defensively and made an impact. Jones finished with five tackles and continues to lead the team with 79. His next one will mark a new career high.
On Sunday, Jones played sick and his fellow safety P.J. Locke continued to play with a cast protecting his surgically repaired thumb.
“Their toughness, that’s stuff you can never question with those guys,” said defensive lineman and former University of Texas teammate Malcolm Roach. “I’ve been with them a long time and have been knowing some of the things they play with for a long time. Every day they can be out there you know they’re going to be out there.
“When Brandon was down last week, you knew something was really going on. And similar with P.J. a few weeks ago with the hand. They’re one of the toughest guys in the room so each time they can be out there helping us, you know they’re going to be there.”
Payton has been happy with the production from the revamped group — Devon Key has been the primary fill-in for Jones and Locke this year — after Denver released Justin Simmons in March and waived Caden Sterns during training camp.
“We’re better overall on the back end at that position than we were a year ago,” Payton said Monday. “We’ve played a few different guys back there, but I like how we’re playing. We’re communicating. Our (coaches) on defense, Vance (Joseph) and Jim Leonhard and all those guys, are doing a fantastic job.
“We’re definitely, I would say, further along and it was a good performance by those guys yesterday.”
Roach said the consistency and reliability of the safety pair allows the front seven to not worry if aggressive play leads to the occasional mistake.
“It might be kind of a bad mindset to have, but we know we can not do everything perfect up front because Brandon Jones and P.J. are going to erase it,” he said. “That’s what we like to say. They erase big plays. … Instead of a 20-yard gain, it might turn into an 8-yard gain. They give a good presence back there, a steady presence.”
Allen avoids serious injury. The Broncos got good news on Riley Moss’ injury Sunday and Payton had a positive, if brief, update regarding defensive lineman Zach Allen on Monday.
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Allen missed the game with a heel injury that cropped up during practice Friday. He wore a boot during the game and watched from the sideline, but Payton said Monday it doesn’t appear to be a long-term injury.
“We should be fine there,” Payton said. “I’m not going to hit any injuries today, but we should be fine there.”
Decisions, decisions. The Broncos have a pair of decisions to make on reserve list players in the next week. Denver must activate linebacker Drew Sanders back to the 53-man roster by Wednesday. If that doesn’t happen, Sanders’ 21-day practice window will close and he will revert to the physically unable-to-perform list and his season will be over. That’s ultimately what Denver decided to do with safety Delarrin Turner-Yell last week.
Then the Broncos have until Dec. 4 for receiver Josh Reynolds before they must decide on activating him back to the roster.
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