Sunday’s 44-24 win over the Dallas Cowboys was an injury roller coaster for Pat Surtain II and Broncos Country. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year suffered what seemed to be a lower leg injury early in the contest, but returned shortly after. It wasn’t long before he found himself back in pain, as he suffered a pectoral strain towards the end of the first half.
He did not return to Sunday’s game, and the news broke that the star cornerback would miss 4-6 weeks as he nurses the strain back to full health. He is a candidate to go on injured reserve, but no move has officially been made ahead of Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans.
While Broncos Country is likely not in good spirits following the news, as he is one of the main reasons why the team’s defense is so dominant, Surtain himself didn’t appear to be too down about it, as seen on his podcast, Closed on Sundays with Pat and Terrion.
“I think how I look at it, life is 10% how you make it, you know? The rest is up to you. So that 90%, I’m thinking, man, how could I get better from this? How can I learn from it? I’m gonna attack rehab. Let it get better, let it get stronger,” Surtain said. “But in the meantime, I’ll be kicking it, you know? I mean, supporting my dogs, it’s gonna suck, though, because I love being out there with the guys competing, being out there on the field, being that leader, but mind the setback. I’m gonna get back right.”
That last part of is key, speaking on leadership. He’s one of the leaders of this defense, and his presence will be missed more than just not being out there to guard the opposing team’s top receiver. His teammates look to him in the locker room, his energy feeds off of everyone else’s, and he has chemistry with other guys in the secondary that his backups don’t possess.
He also emphasized that he’s going to be out there supporting his teammates, but is going to use the new free time on his hands to do some things he hasn’t had a chance to do since the season kicked off back in July with training camp.
“But in the meantime, though, I’m enjoying kick it, you know? I mean, watch football, watch movies, spend some downtime to myself that I didn’t get to enjoy during the season,” he said.
Don’t worry, Broncos Country. He was confident that he’ll be back soon, and when he does make his awaited return in a few weeks, Surtain said that he’s going to be looking in form.
“The boy gonna be back out there in no time. Better than ever.”
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