Broncos rule out Hufanga and Surtain for Seahawks visit, with Hufanga expected to miss two to three weeks

Denver's Wednesday injury report, sourced to the team, closed the question for Thursday night. Hufanga and Surtain both missed practice and were ruled out for the Week 6 game against Seattle at Empower Field at Mile High, a 6:15 p.m. MT kickoff between two 3-2 teams. Cornerback Riley Moss, who has been dealing with a ribs injury, was limited in practice and is listed as questionable.

Hufanga's timeline is the longer one. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported on Wednesday that the safety is expected to miss multiple weeks with the ankle injury, with one source estimating about two to three weeks depending on how he recovers. Sports Illustrated and Athlon both carried the same estimate. Hufanga was hurt late in the third quarter of Sunday's 23-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers while making a tackle for a loss, and Thursday will be the first game he has missed since joining the Broncos as a free agent in the spring of 2025.

The Broncos are losing a playmaker in form. Through five games Hufanga has 23 tackles, 12 of them solo, with three tackles for a loss, a sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and two interceptions, one of them returned for a touchdown. That pick-six game, the 30-26 win over the Los Angeles Rams at Mile High, earned him AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors, and he picked off a second pass in the end zone to close that game out. In his first season in Denver he started all 17 games, made 106 tackles and was named a second-team All-Pro.

Surtain's absence is the older one. The former Defensive Player of the Year hurt his ankle in Week 4 against San Francisco, has not practiced since, and already missed the Chargers win. There is a measure of relief attached to his case: Heavy reported, citing 9News reporter Mike Klis, that there is hope Surtain can return next week against Arizona, while Hufanga is unlikely to be back that soon. Moss's status for Thursday was described in the same reporting as questionable.

The rest of Wednesday's report was cleaner. Safety Brandon Jones (foot), defensive end Sai'vion Jones (shoulder) and guard Ben Powers (biceps) were all full participants in practice and carry no injury designation for Thursday, according to the team-sourced report.

Who fills in matters against a Seattle passing game led by Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. SI reported that Devon Key stands to start at safety next to Brandon Jones while Hufanga is out, with JL Skinner and Tycen Anderson also on the 53-man roster and veteran Taylor Rapp available as a practice squad elevation. Athlon's account named the same group. SI also noted the Broncos have not placed Hufanga on injured reserve, which it read as a sign the team expects him back inside four weeks. For one short week, though, Denver's secondary goes in short-handed, and everyone in the building knows it.