{"id":179549,"date":"2025-07-04T00:35:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T00:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/179549\/"},"modified":"2025-07-04T00:35:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T00:35:11","slug":"broncos-s-p-j-locke-expected-to-be-healthy-by-training-camp-following-spinal-fusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/179549\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos S P.J. Locke Expected To Be Healthy By Training Camp Following Spinal Fusion"},"content":{"rendered":"

P.J. Locke<\/a>\u00a0played in the Broncos\u2019 wild-card loss but was then unable to participate in team drills during minicamp this spring. The sixth-year safety was sidelined as a result of the spinal surgery he underwent following the 2024 campaign. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As detailed in a video released on Locke\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a>, an MRI conducted one day after Denver\u2019s season came to an end revealed a spinal fusion would be necessary. The procedure was a success, something which is key for Locke and the Broncos\u2019 secondary. A full recovery in time for training camp is expected, Luca Evans of the Denver Post reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like, man, it\u2019s just been a miracle,\u201d\u00a0Locke said in the video when reflecting on his recovery process.\u00a0\u201cI feel like it\u2019s been a breakthrough that I\u2019ve been praying for.\u201d<\/p>\n

A former UDFA, Locke did not register any starts across his first three Broncos seasons. He took on a much larger workload in 2023, however, logging a 69% snap share. Last season, the 28-year-old was on the field for over 1,000 defensive snaps.<\/p>\n

The Talanoa Hufanga<\/a>addition, though, is expected to demote Locke to the backup level. Hufanga and Brandon Jones<\/a> are positioned to start, but Locke \u2014 after two seasons as a defensive regular \u2014 represents high-end depth. This safety trio will be counted on to help Denver\u2019s defense repeat last year\u2019s defensive success (No. 3 in points allowed) in 2025.<\/p>\n

Locke re-signed with the Broncos<\/a> last March, and the $3.5MM average annual value of that pact represented a notable raise from his previous deals. The Texas product enters the coming campaign as a pending free agent, though, so his performance will be critical in determining his future. Provided the final stages of his rehab process go as planned, Locke will be available once training camp starts later this month in advance of an important campaign for himself and the Broncos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"P.J. Locke\u00a0played in the Broncos\u2019 wild-card loss but was then unable to participate in team drills during minicamp…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[232,231,258,2426,7,6,3913],"class_list":{"0":"post-179549","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-broncos","8":"tag-broncos","9":"tag-denver","10":"tag-denver-broncos","11":"tag-denverbroncos","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-p-j-locke"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114792164749518188","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}