Broncos Dodge a Massive Bullet with Patrick Surtain II's Injury

The phrase "non-contact injury" is the scariest combination of words in the English language for a football fan. When Denver Broncos star cornerback Patrick Surtain II went down on Sunday without anyone touching him, the entire Rocky Mountain region collectively held its breath.

Fortunately, the football gods decided to show some rare mercy. According to Tom Pelissero, Surtain has avoided a worst-case scenario. His Achilles is fully intact, and while he is dealing with an ankle injury that requires more testing, he dodged the season-ending bullet.

"Tom Pelissero reported that Surtain's Achilles is intact and all indications are that he avoided any worst-case scenario."

Usually, when a guy drops to the turf untouched, you immediately start looking up the recovery timeline for a torn Achilles and mentally preparing for a practice squad call-up to get cooked on the perimeter. Surtain walking away with just an ankle issue feels like finding a twenty-dollar bill in the pocket of a jacket you were about to throw away.

The injury scare came during a rough 24-14 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Denver's defense is built entirely around Surtain's ability to erase half the field, so losing him for the year would have been a catastrophic blow to their identity and any chance they had of staying competitive in the AFC West.

From a market perspective, Surtain is one of the few non-quarterbacks who actually moves the needle. If he had suffered a long-term injury, you would have seen an immediate adjustment on Denver's defensive props and weekly spreads. Opposing offensive coordinators would have started circling the Broncos on the schedule as a get-right game for their passing attacks.

Surtain still needs to undergo further testing to figure out exactly how much time he might miss with the ankle. But for now, Denver fans can cancel the panic alarms and just deal with the standard misery of a double-digit loss to the 49ers.