Broncos make pivotal injury move before Saints game

On Thursday evening, the Denver Broncos will hit the field to take on the New Orleans Saints on the road without defensive superstar Patrick Surtain II , who will be missing his second straight game with a concussion. However, it's not all bad news for Denver on the injury front, as the team also learned it will be getting a different defensive impact player back in the lineup after a prolonged absence.

"The #Broncos plan to activate and play pass rusher Baron Browning tonight vs. #Saints," reported NFL insider Jeremy Fowler of ESPN on X, formerly Twitter. "Browning went on Injured Reserve after Week 2 but returned to practice this week, now gives Denver an extra rusher."

Meanwhile for the Saints, quarterback Derek Carr is likely to miss his second straight game with an injury, opening the door for Spencer Rattler to make another start for them. Rattler had an up and down game last week at home vs the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in what was a wild affair that ultimately turned into a blowout loss.

From the Broncos' perspective, Denver has played perhaps slightly above expectations so far this year, including some impressive wins vs the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets on the road.

The Broncos are looking to bounce back from a rough home loss to the Los Angeles Chargers a week ago in which the final score said 23-16 but fans who watched the game knew it wasn't really that close.

If Denver can muster a win on Thursday evening, they will have another very winnable game next week vs the Carolina Panthers before the schedule gets dramatically more difficult with games against the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs on the horizon.

In any case, the Broncos and Saints are slated to kick off at 8:15 PM ET from New Orleans.