When Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II suffered a lower right leg injury in the first quarter Sunday and was helped off the field, he returned after missing just one play.

But when Surtain hurt his left shoulder late in the first half of Denver’s 44-24 win over Dallas at Empower Field at Mile High, he was lost for the rest of the game.

While the Broncos were excited about the resounding victory, there was concern in the locker room afterward about the defending Defensive Player of the Year having been injured.

“I’m not sure about Pat,’’ said linebacker Justin Strnad. “Obviously, I hope he’s healthy. Obvoiusly, he’s a big part of what we do, but hopefully he’s healthy and we’ll adjust going forward.”

Surtain was first hurt when defending wide receiver George Pickens in the end zone on an incomplete pass when Dallas faced second-and-goal at the 1 early in the first quarter. But after being helped off the field by athletic trainers and missing the final play of the Cowboys’ drive, he was back for Denver’s next defensive series.

With 22 seconds left in the second quarter, Surtain was hurt while tackling Pickens after he caught a 7-yard pass from Dak Prescott. He immediately grabbed his left shoulder. He stayed in for one more defensive play, Denver’s final one of the first half, before sitting out the second half.

Broncos coach Sean Payton said after the game he wouldn’t discuss injuries. In addition to Denver losing Surtain, tight end Nate Adkins left with a knee injury suffered when an incomplete pass was thrown to him with 12:54 left in the game. And wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. was in the concussion protocol after he was hit on a kickoff return with 4:44 remaining in the game.

Payton did say he was pleased with how second-year cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine played in place of Surtain.

“I thought (Abrams-Draine was) pretty good, pretty good,’’ Payton said. “Proud of him. You don’t like to see that happen. You never know when a player goes down. The next man is up.”

Abrams-Draine finished with eight tackles on defense, trailing only outside linebacker Alex Singleton’s 11 on the Broncos.

“(Abrams-Draine) came in and did a great job,’’ said Denver cornerback Riley Moss. “Didn’t miss a step.”

The Broncos (6-2) next play at Houston (3-4) on Sunday.

Williams has uneven return

Former Broncos running back Javonte Williams scored two touchdowns on 1-yard runs for the Cowboys, but he was mostly held in check.

Williams, who entered the game as the NFL’s No. 2 rusher with 592 yards, was held to 41 yards on 13 carries. But Williams, who played for the Broncos from 2021-24, knew it would be tough running the ball.

“They got a great defense,” Williams said. “I feel like we could have executed a little bit better, probably more communication, just the small things. We were lacking on details.”

The Broncos knew they had to slow down Williams. But players were happy to see their popular former teammate back in Denver.

“I was trying to talk to him and say good things when we were playing, even when tackling him and stuff, but the referees thought I was talking bad to him,’’ Strnad said. “But no, really happy for Javonte.”

Williams did continue his hot scoring streak with his two touchdowns. Williams now has nine touchdowns, tying Herschel Walker’s 1986 record for the most scored by a Cowboys player in his first eight games with the team.

Playing fight songs

Preparations to face the Cowboys were livened up Saturday night.

The Broncos show a video at their hotel the night before games. They are spliced together by director of football video Joe Harrington.

“The last 11 plays are plays that I think (will be) touchdowns,’’ Payton said of what was shown Saturday. “(Harrington) basically gave me the fight song of everybody that was a skilled player. So we saw a play that we thought (tight end Adam Trautman, who played at Dayton) might score on. We heard the Dayton fight song before the play. We (played the) Central Florida (song for rookie running back RJ Harvey). None of the players knew the name of their fight songs except Mims (from Oklahoma).”

Harvey said the play shown Saturday was the one on which he scored on a 40-yard touchdown run Sunday. He admitted he doesn’t know the Central Florida fight song.

As for Mims, he didn’t have a catch Sunday. But before going into concussion protocol he did carry three times for 18 yards, had two punt returns for 26 yards and three kickoff returns for 93 yards, including a 46-yard effort.

Home streak continues

The Broncos extended the NFL’s longest home winning streak to nine games.

“It’s important for us to win at home,’’ said outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper. “It’s important for us to dominate and give the fans something to cheer for. We got the best fans in the NFL, so it’s important to make sure we hold homefield down.”

The Broncos last lost at home 23-16 to the Los Angeles Chargers on Oct. 13, 2024. They won their final five at Empower Field last season and are 4-0 at home this year.

Briefly

Broncos outside linebacker Dondrea Tillman had his first career interception in the fourth quarter, grabbing an errant Prescott pass at the Denver 9 and returning it 36 years to the 45 while bowling over several defenders. Tillman said he was “trying to score.” Even though he didn’t, he said the play “was amazing’’ and “everything I dreamed for.” … Outside linebacker Jonah Elliss returned after missing two games with a shoulder injury. Rookie outside linebacker Que Robinson, who played in his first two NFL games when Elliss was out, was inactive. So were running back Jaleel McLaughlin, defensive linemen Jordan Jackson and Sai’vion Jones, defensive back back J.T. Gray and quarterback Sam Ehlinger. … Payton called it the “Battle of Arkansas” with Jerry Jones, who owns the Cowboys, and the Walton-Penner group, which owns the Broncos, both being from the state. “So (owners) Carrie (Walton Penner) and Rob (Walton) got the ‘Battle of Arkansas game ball,’’’ Payton said. … Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson, who entered the game with 51 catches and six touchdowns, had just one target and no catches.