INDIANAPOLIS – Midway through the second quarter Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium, Broncos star cornerback Pat Surtain II had to be helped off the field by two trainers and went straight to the medical tent with an injured left ankle.

Surtain returned to the game after missing just one defensive play in Denver’s 29-28 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. But it remains to be seen how his ankle will feel as the week goes on.

“Something to take just day-by-day and see how it goes, but it’s nothing crazy,’’ Surtain said. “So I’m just going to get treatment and feel better.”

Surtain suffered the injury with 7:48 left in the second quarter. He sat out the next play when the Colts failed to convert on fourth-and-1 at the 50. Then he returned for Denver’s next defensive series.

“I sort of twisted it a little bit,’’ Surtain said. “I planted wrong, going in a different direction. So just one of those those things that I just need to monitor.”

The Colts threw at Surtain much more than most teams usually do against last season’s NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Broncos coach Sean Payton insisted Surtain was “good” after his injury.

“That’s no excuse,’’ Surtain said of whether his injury hampered him. “When I’m out there, I expect to play to the best to my abilities I had a little injury here but I got back in and was feeling confident.”

Regardless of how his ankle felt, the loss certainly hurt for Surtain. The Colts won on a 45-yard field goal on the final play by Spencer Shrader. It came after Shrader had been short on a 60-yard attempt but he was given a much easier attempt after a 15-yard leverage penalty on Denver outside linebacker Dondrea Tillman.

“You got to win the close ones and find a way to win and we didn’t,’’ Surtain said. “It was gut-wrenching for sure. We had them with a 60-yard field-goal (attempt). You can’t get much better than that.”

Franklin steps up

Payton has said the Broncos don’t have a defined No. 2 wide receiver after Courtland Sutton, but Troy Franklin might be emerging as that guy.

The second-year man Sunday had career highs of eight catches for 89 yards. He had a 42-yard grab and scored on a 3-yard reception from Bo Nix for a touchdown in the second quarter.

“He played well,’’ said Nix, who played with Franklin at Oregon from 2022-23 before both were Denver rookies last season. “He was everywhere. He played with great effort. I think it goes to show him just from his practice, man. … Itt’s good to see him have a day like that. I’ve seen that from him for as long as I’ve known him. … He’s starting to look like his college self again.”

Franklin didn’t have a lot to say about his strong showing.

“I’m just kind of taking it day-by-day, week-by-week and letting the coaches handle all my opportunities and stuff like that,’’ he said. “Just out there doing my job.”

While Franklin came up big, Sutton had just one catch for six yards. And tight end Evan Engram had just one grab for 12 yards.

Taylor’s redemption

Indianapolis running back Jonathan Taylor sure made up for last year’s game against the Broncos.

At Denver last December in Week 15, it looked as if Taylor had scored on a 41-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter to put the Colts potentially up 20-7. But a replay showed he had dropped the ball just before the goal line and it rolled out of the end zone for a touchback. The Broncos took over on their 20 and scored 24 straight points to win 31-13.

On Sunday, Taylor had 25 carries for 165 yards. That included a 68-yard run in the fourth quarter.

“He ran tough, he ran physical, he ran downhill,’’ said Colts coach Shane Steichen. “We had some inside zone stuff up, some trap plays. I thought the offensive line did a nice job for him.”

Badie again active

For the second straight game, Tyler Badie was Denver’s No. 3 running back over Jaleel McLaughn behind starter J.K. Dobbins and rookie RJ Harvey.

Badie had one carry for three yards and two catches for 19 yards. That included a 19-yard in the third quarter on third-and-15.

The Broncos had the same players inactive as for the 20-12 win over Tennessee to open the season Sept. 7 in McLaughlin, linebacker Dre Greenlaw (quad), tight end Nate Adkins (ankle), tackle Frank Crum, outside linebacker Que Robinson, defensive end Sav’ion Jones and quarterback Sam Ehlinger.

Briefly

Broncos rookie Jahdae Barron got his first NFL start, getting the nod at nickel over Ja’Quan McMillian. … Linebacker Justin Strnad started his second straight game in place of the injured Greenlaw. He had Denver’s only sack Sunday, the second straight game he has had one. …. Denver All-Pro returner Marvin Mims Jr. had two kickoff returns for a 26.0 average. But with teams kicking away from him, Harvey had three returns for a 23.3 average. … Rookie punter Jeremy Crawshaw had his second straight strong game, having three boots for averages of 44.7 yards gross and 43.3 net. … In the penalty-plagued game, the Colts had 11 for 68 yards and the Broncos eight for 83 yards.