Brandon Jones momentarily fell back into normal habits.
Early in last week’s win against Seattle, however, very little in Denver’s secondary was normal.
All-Pros Pat Surtain II and Talanoa Hufanga were out with ankle injuries. Riley Moss played corner, but only in base defense, as he managed an injury to his ribs. Devon Key started at safety, but rotated with practice squad veteran Taylor Rapp, who made his Broncos debut.
During home games, Jones normally doesn’t even bother getting in the defensive huddle. It’s so loud that hearing is a challenge anyway, so he stays deep and Hufanga relays him the calls from Alex Singleton.
“I forgot on the first play of the game and then was like, ‘Oh, shoot, I gotta get in there and get the call,’” Jones said. “That was a little different. But it went awesome.”
After Denver finished off a 17-14 overtime win against Seattle, Jones joked that he told the Broncos quarterbacks that he now knows how they feel with different personnel subbing in and out on a play-to-play basis.
“The quarterbacks were like, ‘How do you think we feel?’” Jones said. “It was so weird. I’ve just got used to playing with ‘Huf’ and making one change is something.
“I was just trying to keep it all the same for all of them and over-communicate.”
Jones eventually got back to his normal between-snap routine once Rapp got comfortable in the game.
That reflected the night overall. The Broncos had a lot of moving pieces early, but by the end of the night the secondary was making plays and operating normally despite being substantially short-handed.
It was a classic example of defensive coordinator Vance Joseph doing what he does best — building a plan around the players at his disposal and putting them in position to make plays.
In ideal circumstances, the only substituting that regularly happens in Denver’s secondary is McMillian coming on and off the field between nickel and base defenses. Then they occasionally use Jahdae Barron as the dime. In unique circumstances like goal line or Hail Mary defense, the personnel changes a bit more.
Not Thursday night, though. The Broncos were line-shifting.
“It was weird,” Moss said. “I was telling ‘J-Mac,’ — he’s used to it because we’re not always in nickel — it’s kind of hard to get into a groove because you’re only out there for a couple of plays and you’re out and you’re in.
“But it was good for me physically just getting my feet wet. … I thought it was smooth.”
Safety Brandon Jones (22) of the Denver Broncos slows down running back Emanuel Wilson (23) of the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/The Denver Post)
Joseph’s defense has spent the better part of the last two-plus seasons in attack mode.
The Broncos defensive coordinator has veterans at every level and All-Pro talent dotting the front line and the back end.
He has largely been able to play how he wants, when he wants. The Broncos, in turn, have largely dictated to opposing offenses.
This year has not been quite the same. Denver got blasted on the ground in Week 1 and rebounded nicely, though not completely, especially in the run game.
Against the Seahawks, though, Joseph had engineered one of his best outings since returning to Denver as the defensive coordinator ahead of the 2023 season.
“I wasn’t surprised by how they played,” Joseph said Thursday of all the reserves. “We had a good plan for those kids. They played to it.”
Sure, reigning offensive player of the year Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught 12 passes for 134 yards, but the Broncos limited his damage after the catch and kept him out of the end zone.
“It was really impressive,” head coach Sean Payton said.
“He was dialed,” safety JL Skinner said of Joseph. “It was a good little game plan.”
The Broncos sacked Sam Darnold five times, hit him 17 times total and picked him off twice between the fourth quarter and overtime. The second: a McMillian thievery that set up Wil Lutz’s walk-off field goal and came on Joseph’s final checkmate of the night.
The Broncos had played 2-man against Smith-Njigba most of the game and clouded coverage away from him. The Seahawks caught on over the course of regulation and started trying to attack downfield away from Smith-Njigba.
In overtime, Joseph bluffed the same look, hoping Darnold would take a shot. He did just that.
“It was a Cover 2 trap,” Joseph explained on Emmanuel Acho’s podcast after the game. “We showed him single high (safety) and rolled to Cover 2 at the snap. Our main package tonight was playing cloud and playing 2-man to JSN all day. Once they figured out what we were doing, they were taking shots away from JSN.
Cornerback Ja’quan McMillian (29) of the Denver Broncos celebrates his interception of quarterback Sam Darnold (14) of the Seattle Seahawks with safety Devon Key (26) during overtime of a 17-14 Broncos win on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/The Denver Post)
“So we showed that same coverage and rolled away and played cloud back to the field. We caught Sam. We laid eyes to the flat, he took the rail (route) assuming it was Cover 1 or single high.”
It was not.
“I was playing half (field) and he kind of just threw the ball up in the hole shot,” McMillian said. “He thought he had the hole shot and I just flashed across the receiver’s face and made a play on the ball.”
Now the Broncos head into Sunday’s game against Joseph’s former team, Arizona, likely still shorthanded in the secondary. Surtain has returned to practice this week, but his status is up in the air. Hufanga has not practiced this week and thus is likely out again. The Broncos are set to get outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper back but will be without fellow edge rusher Jonah Elliss (ankle).
The Cardinals challenge is a different one and centers on All-Pro tight end Trey McBride and wide receiver Michael Wilson. Those two have combined to gobble up 54% of Jacoby Brissett’s passing-game targets so far this season.
Another week, another chance for Joseph’s to show that, while Denver’s defensive numbers aren’t as gaudy as they were in the opening stanza of the 2025 season, they can still figure out ways to win the chess match even if they’re shorthanded.
“He’s definitely one of the best defensive coaches and defensive minds that I’ve been around,” Rapp said.
Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.