ENGLEWOOD – Broncos safety Kareem Jackson had his two-game NFL suspension end on Tuesday. At 8 a.m. that day, his phone rang.

It was head coach Sean Payton.

“He called me and said, and I can’t remember exactly the words, but ‘We’re rolling. Don’t you come in and mess it up,”’ Jackson said after Thursday’s practice at the Centura Health Training Center.

The Broncos won both games when Jackson was suspended for unnecessary roughness, defeating defending champion Kansas City 24-9 on Oct. 29 and winning 24-22 at Buffalo on Monday night. His recollection of the phone call  jibes with what Payton said.

“I told him that we’re on a little bit of a roll and don’t mess anything up now,’’ Payton, whose Broncos (4-5) overall have won three in a row, said with a laugh.

The Broncos didn’t practice Tuesday and Wednesday. Payton said Jackson was in “good shape” in his first practice back.

It remains to be seen what might change with Jackson, a 14-year veteran, when he returns for Sunday night’s game against Minnesota at Empower Field at Mile High. He originally was given a four-game suspension by the NFL on Oct. 23 for a penalized hit on Green Bay tight end Luke Musgrave in an Oct. 22 game with NFL vice president Jon Runyan noting his past infractions were taken into account. Upon appeal, hearing officer Derrick Brooks lowered the penalty to two games on Oct. 24.

Prior to his suspension, Jackson had been fined a total of $89,670 for penalized hits Sept. 10 against Las Vegas and Sept. 17 against Washington and for non-penalized incidents Sept. 24 at Miami and Oct. 12 at Kansas City. He was ejected from the game against the Commanders as well as from the game against the Packers.

“I guess so,’’ Jackson said about whether he will have to change how he plays. “I mean, for me as a player, as an instinctive player, I’m going to always be in those (bang-bang tackling) situations because my preparation and my instincts are going to put me in those situations.

“For me, it’s just trying to lower my target as much as possible. A lot of things, obviously the hits that I have, I feel like are normal football plays. … At the end of the day, I mean, you’ve just got to live with what happened.”

Jackson’s hits against Raiders wide receiver Jakobi Meyers and against Commanders tight end Logan Thomas resulted in both players being lost for the game with concussions and missing a game the following week.

Jackson, 35, has said that he’s not trying to hurt anyone with his hits. But he does want more information on the rules and said Thursday he still hasn’t gotten that.

“Not at all,’’ he said. “I’m still looking for clarity on the rules, (There’s) a lot of gray area when it comes to the rules that’s been put in place and in my opinion nothing’s black and white. I’ve had several conversations with Runyan, with Derrick Brooks and still hang up the phone with no answers for me.

“I’m unsure how to play the game moving forward. I’m still going to be in these situations now as to how I play the game moving forward. I’m still going to be in those situations two, three times every week. Just trying to lower my target and hopefully don’t end up in that situation (again).’’

For now, Jackson is at least happy to be back with the Broncos after it was “tough watching” the two games he missed.

“It was three long weeks, so it feels good to be back,’’ said Jackson, making note of Denver’s bye week prior to the win over the Bills.

His teammates have applauded his return.

“It’s going to be great having Kareem back,’’ said safety Justin Simmons.

Jackson wasn’t allowed to be at the team facility during his suspension, but cornerback Pat Surtain II said he talked to him plenty during that time.

“(Jackson’s return is) a huge boost for us as a defense,’’ Surtain said. “Having that veteran presence in our locker room is great.”

When Jackson was out, P.J. Locke started both games. But Locke suffered a sprained left ankle in the second quarter against the Bills and didn’t return.

Locke, who didn’t practice Thursday, was replaced by Dellarin Turner-Yell, who had his share of struggles at Buffalo. Payton said Tuesday that Jackson would return to the starting lineup.

“Very proud of our guys,’’ Jackson said. “They played some (heck) of football obviously the two games. …. (I’m) just hoping to come back and be a part of it and be a piece to the puzzle.”