When D.J. Jones was 7 and growing up in Greenville, S.C., he first played nose tackle.

“I loved it,’’ he said. “I loved hitting people.”

More than two decades later, Jones, 30, is still loving it. He anchors the defensive line for the Broncos, who will face the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High in a game to be shown on CBS to most of the nation.

Jones might not be talked about a lot on the broadcast, but that’s fine with him. The nine-year NFL veteran nose tackle is happy to plug the middle and have guys like outside linebackers Nik Bonitto, who has a team-high eight sacks, and Jonathon Cooper, who has six, get the recognition.

Asked about being unsung, Jones said, “I don’t want the glory.’’ When he is out and about in Denver, he said people usually don’t know exactly who he is.

“But then my girth kind of gives it away and I usually tell them,’’ Jones said about those who ask if he plays football.

At 6-foot, 315 pounds, Jones is a bit smaller than a lot of nose tackles, but he holds his ground and does the dirty work for the Broncos. He calls it a “special position” because “not everybody can play it.” A nose tackle has been said to be like a fire hydrant.

“Yeah, you got to be able to not be moved,’’ Jones said. “If a car hits a fire hydrant, the fire hydrant’s not going anywhere.”

Jones said “you’ve got to be grimy” to man the position and battle the opposing center.

“It’s kind of like a sumo wrestler in that the lower man usually wins,’’ Jones said of the importance of leverage.

Jones, who spent his first five seasons with San Francisco before signing with the Broncos in 2022, is very adept at stopping the run. He has 10 quarterback pressures this season, including a sack in Week 3 of Los Angeles Chargers star Justin Herbert.

Knowing the importance of Jones, the Broncos last March signed him to a three-year, $39 million contract extension.  Before the season, he was voted a captain by his teammates for the first time in his career.

“I think he’s probably one of the best nose tackles in the league,’’ said Broncos defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers. “D.J. does a good job of playing with physicality, he does a good job of winning with his get-off. … He’s a great teammate. He’s the most unfelfish guy on this team probably.”

Broncos safety Talanoa Hufanga played the past four seasons with the 49ers, including being Jones’ teammate as a rookie in 2021. He was thrilled to be reunited with him this season.

“He sets the tone for the front line,’’ Hufanga said. “He just knows what he’s doing and he gets everybody calmed down and he’s going to plug the middle.”

Hufanga and Jones have a joke between them.

“I tell him I want to be an offensive lineman one day against him just to see what it feels like to get thrown around like he does to bigger dudes,’’ Hufanga said.

Hufanga then added he only would do that when he’s “about to retire” since he might not get through the experience unscathed.

Vaughn on Williams

Plenty of current Broncos players got a close look at running back Javonte Williams when he played for them from 2021-24. Deuce Vaughn got to size him up plenty earlier this year on the Cowboys.

Vaughn was a Dallas running back for the past two seasons and until being waived Aug. 26. He was signed not long after that to Denver’s practice squad.

Williams, who rushed for 903 yards with the Broncos as a rookie in 2021 before suffering a serious knee injury in 2022, never looked fully recovered from the injury the past two years. But with Dallas this season he is second in the NFL in rushing with 592 yards while averaging 5.3 per carry. He already has more yards than he did with the Broncos all of last season, when he gained 513 while averaging 3.7 per attempt.

“It’s no surprise at all because I got to see that guy in the building for (nearly) six months,’’ Vaughn said about Williams, who signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Cowboys on March 12. “He’s a great player with the way he works and goes about his business and he fits into their scheme well just with his running ability and being a downhill power runner. That’s his game.”

What I’m hearing

—When the Broncos on Oct. 6, 2024, honored their first Super Bowl team from the 1977 season, they wore throwback uniforms from that era for a game against Las Vegas. They donned them again for the 2024 regular-season finale against Kansas City and now will wear them three times this season, starting on Sunday. “It’s not like the same feeling the first time we wore them,’’ said wide receiver Marvim Mims Jr. “But it’s still a cool feeling and it will be exciting to be wearing them.”

—Franklin-Myers, 29, grew up in Greenville, Texas, an hour northeast of Dallas, but he never was a Cowboys fan. Franklin-Myers cheered for the New York Giants, especially when they won Super Bowls in the 2007 and 2011 seasons. “They had the best D-line in football, with Justin Tuck and Osi (Umenyiora) and Mathias Kiwanuka,’’ Franklin-Myers said. “They had (quarterback) Eli Manning and Brandon Jacobs was the running back. I thought I could still play running back then.”

What I’m thinking

—Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II is the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He’s putting himself in position to also be a candidate for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award. His Patrick Surtain II Foundation recently announced a $50,000 grant to Columbia Middle School in Aurora to assist graphic design students, digital artists and other creators. The 3-year-old foundation has made a number of donations, including $200,000 in Surtain’s personal contributions.

—It’s one thing for a rookie to be undrafted; it’s another to not even be initially offered a free-agent deal. But linebacker Jordan Turner, from Michigan State, and wide receiver Kyrese Rowan, from Utah State, both have overcome that. Both were invited to Denver’s rookie camp in May as tryout players and then signed. And both continue to advance in the NFL. Turner made the Broncos practice squad to start the season and will make his NFL debut Sunday after being elevated Saturday. Rowan, after being waived following training camp, was signed last Wednesday to Denver’s practice squad.