Denver Broncos safety P.J. Locke will be on the roster bubble when the team opens training camp later this month, but a recent revelation has changed things for him going into this season.
In his own YouTube video, Locke revealed that following the team’s loss to the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs, he underwent neck fusion surgery. In the video titled “My Breakthrough”, Locke says, “It’s been nothing short of a miracle… a blessing. I ain’t got no pain levels. Even like the little bit of pain I do have from certain movements, it ain’t nothing compared to what I was dealing with during the season”.
Locke has been with the Broncos since 2019, where he began as a practice squad player. He then became a guy who was seen as a standout on special teams, but likely not a player who would contribute much beyond that. Locke ended up becoming one of the team’s starting safeties.
He had his struggles, particularly in coverage in 2024, and that led to the Broncos signing Talanoa Hufanga in free agency. Hufanga and Brandon Jones figure to be the starting safeties this coming season, but there is still room for Locke as a reserve safety, with him also going back to his special teams roots. But the news of this surgery could change some things.
Looking at it from a positive note, Locke says in the video that he is feeling much better and is relatively pain-free. It could also be an explanation of why his play seemed to take a dip last season. Rebuilt and refreshed, Locke could come into camp looking better than ever.
On the other side of the coin, it’s a risky surgery that few players in the league have ever had done, and even fewer have come back to play again. However, Peyton Manning was one who did, and Broncos fans know how well that turned out. That said, it still led to the end of the careers of guys like Ahmad Bradshaw, David Wilson and Jermichael Finley.
More recently, Justyn Ross, a highly-recruited player coming into college who is now with the Kansas City Chiefs, had to have the surgery due to a congenital condition, and he’s never been able to get his professional career off the ground.
Locke faces an uphill battle, and the odds aren’t in his favor. The Broncos added Hufanga and Sam Franklin Jr., a safety who can be a special teams ace for the team. Locke will have to prove not only that he’s fully recovered from the surgery and in condition to continue his playing career, but also that he is still one of the 53 best players on the roster.
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