ENGLEWOOD — Second-year safety Justin Simmons was placed on injured reserve Wednesday because of an ankle injury he suffered in the Broncos’ win over the New York Jets on Sunday.
Simmons hurt his ankle while celebrating linebacker Brandon Marshall’s strip sack of Jets quarterback Josh McCown in the first quarter, and he left the stadium in a walking boot.
“Tough break. It’s almost like a freak accident, but I’m going to be completely optimistic,” Simmons said Sunday night. “Walking around in this boot, even putting pressure on it before the boot, it wasn’t terrible. It was tolerable. I bet tomorrow is going to be worse, but if I can get the swelling down and the pain down … Like I said, I’m trying to be optimistic. I want to play Thursday.”
Broncos coach Vance Joseph labeled Simmons’ injury a “mild, high ankle sprain” and said he would be day to day with his recovery. But Simmons did not practice during the team’s short week and will now use the rest of the season to recover.
Simmons, who was elevated to the starting role when T.J. Ward was released in early September, started all 13 games and ranked third on the team with 63 tackles (46 solo). He also recorded one sack for a loss of 6 yards, two interceptions, one interception returned for a touchdown and five pass breakups.
Fellow second-year safety Will Parks filled in for Simmons when he left Sunday’s game, and Parks probably will be the team’s starter for the final three games of the season.
“Will’s been a starter all year for us, so I wasn’t surprised that he can go in a game and operate for us,” Joseph said. “It was more at high safety. But he’s repped there all season, so I wasn’t surprised he played well.”
The Broncos also ruled out quarterback Paxton Lynch for Thursday’s game because of an ankle sprain and listed nose tackle Domata Peko as questionable to play. Peko missed the last two games because of a sprained MCL, but Joseph said earlier in the week that he “progressed fine” and “should be able to go.”
Cold rush
The Broncos will wear their all-orange color rush uniforms and navy helmets with the old “D” logo Thursday night. The Broncos wore the uniforms last year in their Thursday night loss to the Chargers in San Diego.
The uniforms drew mixed reviews from Broncos players.
“I’m not crazy about them. I think we look like human traffic cones out there,” quarterback Trevor Siemian said. “There was a time this year they didn’t give me a jersey in my locker, so I’ll take it. As long as there’s a jersey in my locker, I’m good.
“The helmets are awesome. The helmets are sweet.”
Added linebacker Von Miller: “I like it. You know me, come on, it’s me (laughing). I like it. Bright colors, I like it. The whole team orange, I think it looks great. Some of the color rush colors don’t look as dope as ours. It’s dope. You get to go out there in all orange and play in front of the world. It’s a wonderful night.”
Stat change
The Broncos’ sack in the third quarter of their win against the Jets has been credited to defensive end Adam Gotsis. It is his second sack of the season and the third time in the last four weeks he posted a tackle for a loss.
