As his surgeon reached for his drawer to pull out a reflex hammer, P.J. Locke sat on a doctor\u2019s office in mid-February, visibly nervous.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour favorite test,\u201d Dr. Chad Prusmack, a neurological consultant for the Broncos, told Locke. \u201cRelax.\u201d<\/p>\n
He tapped Locke\u2019s left leg. He tapped Locke\u2019s right leg. They twitched. Prusmack grinned up at the Broncos safety, giving him a fist-bump. And Locke clapped, beaming, the career-altering stitches on his lower back vindicated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt work again!\u201d Locke cracked. \u201cThat (expletive) was dead, last time.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Jan. 13, 2025 \u2014 exactly one day after Locke roamed for 76 snaps in the Broncos\u2019 wild-card loss to the Bills \u2014 the 28-year-old safety visited Prusmack\u2019s office for an MRI. As detailed by Prusmack in a 14-minute YouTube video released Tuesday on Locke\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a>, imaging revealed that one of the discs in Locke\u2019s spine was \u201ccompletely degenerated.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe has bone on bone,\u201d Prusmack pointed, looking at a scan from January. \u201cThere\u2019s supposed to be a disc in between these.\u201d<\/p>\n The result, as written in the video\u2019s description: Locke underwent offseason spinal fusion surgery, a procedure done to connect two vertebrae in the back<\/a>. It\u2019s a massive development for the Broncos\u2019 secondary depth, as Locke was seen at minicamp not participating in team periods \u2014 the reason now revealed.<\/p>\n Locke, however, is expected to be a full participant come the Broncos\u2019 training camp in late July, a source familiar with the situation told The Denver Post.<\/p>\n He was a vital piece of the Broncos\u2019 secondary in 2024, the fifth-year defensive back playing the second-most snaps of any player on the defense save now-departed linebacker Cody Barton. Locke, though, struggled in that season-ending loss to the Bills<\/a>, beat on a crucial and controversial touchdown grab from Buffalo receiver Tyler Johnson.<\/p>\n Quietly, as detailed in a conversation between Prusmack and Locke in the video, the Broncos safety was dealing with pain in his right hip before the surgery. And Locke hinted that a pre-surgery reflex test was a \u201cdetermining answer\u201d for him to get the operation.<\/p>\n \u201cEven the little bit of pain I do have from certain movements,\u201d Locke said, \u201cit ain\u2019t nothing compared to what I was dealing with during the season.\u201d<\/p>\n In the video, Locke is seen throughout various stages of his rehab, in one section grinding through mobility exercises in a pool.<\/p>\n \u201cI just feel like I\u2019m kicking and I ain\u2019t really moving,\u201d Locke told the camera, before an exercise floating on a board and propelling himself using his legs. \u201cSo, I don\u2019t know, it\u2019s like I gotta intentionally tell myself, man, to keep kicking, because my legs just wanna die out.\u201d<\/p>\n The surgery, isn\u2019t a career black mark. A\u00a02016 study by Wolters Kluwer Health revealed that a majority of NFL players who\u2019d undergone spinal-fusion surgery for herniated discs returned to play, with little difference in their performance after the operation<\/a>. And Lions defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike has retuned and played productive football<\/a> after missing the 2022 season due to spinal-fusion surgery.<\/p>\n Locke enters training camp, coming off his own operation, looking for a pathway to snaps in a crowded safeties room after the Broncos\u2019 signing of Talanoa Hufanga.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like, man, it\u2019s just been a miracle,\u201d Locke said in the video, of his recovery. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s been a breakthrough that I\u2019ve been praying for.\u201d<\/p>\n