DENVER — Immediately after making the most important play of his NFL career, Broncos safety JL Skinner thought he missed the play entirely.
Midway through the third quarter of the Broncos' 10-7 "Thursday Night Football" win over the Las Vegas Raiders, Skinner broke through the Raiders' punt protection and came in close vicinity of Raiders punter A.J. Cole. Skinner extended his arms to block the punt, but instead of swatting it with his hands, the ball hit off the visor in his helmet's facemask.
"I didn't know where the ball was at, man," Skinner said. "I thought I missed it, honestly. I was hoping it hit something, because I'm like, 'Man, if I miss with my hand, it's got to hit my face or something.' I didn't know where the ball was at, but I'm glad it hit me and we blocked it."
Skinner only unraveled the mystery after the play was over, when he took a look at the visor.
"I didn't realize it hit my face," Skinner said. "I thought it hit my hand at first and I saw my visor and it had the mark of the ball on it. I kind of knew from there, it hit my face. … A heads-up play, for sure."
Skinner's block — the Broncos' first blocked punt since 2018 — was a difference-making play in the lowest scoring game of Denver's season. Running back Tyler Badie recovered the ball at the Las Vegas 12, and kicker Wil Lutz made a 32-yard field goal shortly after to give the Broncos the lead and the game's deciding score.
"JL's been huge for us, he really has," outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper said. "He's been an X-factor, if you will, for us. He's that guy on special teams that we look for. He definitely made that play today for us that changed the momentum for us and got us going. We're going to rely on him going forward."
Skinner's unintentional use of his helmet to block a punt and shift the momentum in a prime-time game was an unusual and wacky play, but don't be fooled — the block was the outcome of intentional planning and brilliant execution.
Skinner revealed after the game that Special Teams Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach Darren Rizzi switched the third-year safety's alignment on the punt block team for the matchup against the Raiders, an understated move that ultimately changed the trajectory of the game.
"Usually I'm on the outside, and this week, they put me on the inside," Skinner said of his alignment. "I was just thinking about how I could make a play, change the game a little bit. We had [run] one punt return already, and I kind of felt like I could get there, so the next time I just kind of shot it and it worked out."
Skinner also made his presence felt on special teams in the first half. Late in the first quarter, he tracked down the Raiders' Alex Bachman on a punt return for his seventh tackle of the season. Fellow safety Talanoa Hufanga highlighted that tackle as emblematic of what Skinner brings to the Broncos.
"JL made a big-time tackle today, too," Hufanga said. "A lot of people see the blocks, but they don't understand some of these tackles that they make are crucial in these field positions. That's a testament to who he is."
Selected in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Boise State, Skinner has contributed primarily on special teams in Denver and has played more than 70 percent of the Broncos' special-teams snaps in the games in which he's appeared over the past two seasons, per Pro Football Reference. This time around, his key special-teams play led to a Broncos victory, giving Denver the best record in the NFL at 8-2.
Skinner agreed that his block is the best play of his young NFL career and said he prepared well for his chance to change the game throughout the night — even if he did not envision exactly how he would pull it off.
"You never know when your play comes, but you've got to be ready when your time comes," Skinner said. "I was ready for the moment. I was thinking about that play all day, so I knew it was going to happen at one point."
