ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — One of the Broncos' key defenders has returned to practice ahead of a critical AFC showdown with the Cleveland Browns.
Safety P.J. Locke (ankle) was a limited participant during Thursday's practice after he did not practice on Wednesday.
Locke suffered an injury against the Bills in Week 10 and did not play in Denver's Week 11 win over the Vikings.
"It felt pretty good," Locke said of his injury after Thursday's practice. "I feel like I made some strides, especially from last week, from yesterday to today. [I made] some big strides. … It's just a work in progress. Hopefully I can [play] Sunday, but we'll see."
As Locke improved to a limited participant, inside linebacker Josey Jewell (back) and running back Samaje Perine (knee) improved to full participants on Thursday.
Defensive tackle D.J. Jones (knee) remained limited on Thursday.
Outside linebackers Baron Browning (wrist) and Nik Bonitto (shoulder) and defensive tackle Mike Purcell (elbow) were full participants for the second consecutive day.
The Broncos will announce their game statuses for Week 12 following Friday's practice.
UPDATE [2:58 p.m. MT]: Long snapper Mitchell Fraboni (back) has been added to the injury report as a full participant in Thursday's practice.
