“I felt pretty good,” Locke said after practice. “I felt like I made some progress, especially since last week and yesterday.” It’s still in the works.”
Locke has had a difficult season thus far, missing the first four games of the season due to a toe injury, then playing a restricted role behind Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson until Jackson was suspended for two games last month.
Locke started each of Jackson’s absences, but was hurt during the Buffalo game when Simmons struck him at an unusual angle.
“We both were going for the tackle and Justin had a different angle than I did and we both hit the running back at the same time,” said Locke.
However, his workload is gradually increasing, and he has a chance to play in what is expected to be a defensive slugfest against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
“I just need to make sure I’m comfortable moving around,” he told me. “I don’t want to come in for four plays and be hurt or anything.” I’ve already been doing mental preparations this week to ensure that I’m on top of the game plan and what (Cleveland’s) attack is attempting to do to us.
“Other than that, physically I just need to make sure I’m comfortable and I can do all the movements out there.”
Locke was hardly the only Denver player whose practice load increased on Thanksgiving.
Running back Samaje Perine appeared to favor his knee on Wednesday and was designated as a limited participant, but he practiced fully on Thursday. Inside linebacker Josey Jewell (back) and defensive lineman D.J. Jones (knee) also missed practice on Wednesday. Long snapper Mitchell Fraboni (back) was added to the injury report on Thursday, although he practiced completely, as did outside linebackers Nik Bonitto (shoulder) and Baron Browning (wrist), as well as defensive lineman Mike Purcell (elbow).
Short day. On Thanksgiving day, the Broncos finished practice roughly a half hour sooner than usual. Denver players were on their way home to spend the holiday after post-practice meetings were postponed.
They plan to have a big work day on Friday to make up for the time they were not in meetings on Thursday. They practiced in shoulder pads and helmets on Thursday, however, and went through the standard Thursday drills: third downs.
Browns injury report. A number of noteworthy injuries to keep an eye on for the Browns: Starting cornerback Denzel Ward (shoulder) did not practice for the second day in a row, while safety Grant Delpit (thigh) was limited. Cleveland has 16 players on the injured list, though 12 of them practiced in some form on Thursday.
