Broncos star cornerback Pat Surtain II will miss “some time” after suffering a left pectoral strain Sunday against Dallas, a source said Monday.

Surtain is not expected to play this Sunday at Houston. It is uncertain whether the Broncos will place Surtain on injured reserve or not, a move that would result in him missing at least four games and being out at least five weeks since they have a bye week during such a period. For now, he is considered by the Broncos to be “week to week.”

Surtain was hurt in the final minute of Denver’s 44-24 win over the Cowboys at Empower Field at Mile High while tackling wide receiver George Pickens and didn’t play in the second half. He was replaced by second-year man Kris Abrams-Draine, whom Broncos coach Sean Payton said did well.

The NFL announced Monday that the one-game suspension is over for linebacker Dre Greenlaw for going after referee Brad Allen and verbally threatening him following Denver’s 33-32 win over the New York Giants on Oct. 19. Greenlaw has a roster exemption until Tuesday before the Broncos will need to put him back on the 53-man roster. One possiblility to open a roster spot is releasing third-quarterback Sam Ehlinger and signing him back to the practice squad.

Speaking on Monday morning, Payton declined to provide an update on Surtain, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

The Broncos suffered at least two other injuries against the Cowboys. With 4:44 left in the game, wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. suffered an injury on a kickoff return and was put in concussion protocol. The Broncos, early in the fourth quarter, also lost tight end Nate Adkins for the game with a knee injury.

Adkins’ injury could take on added concern since a source said tight end Lucas Krull, who already has missed the past four games while on injured reserve, underwent surgery Monday to repair a fractured fifth metatarsal in his left foot and will be out about another eight weeks. Krull was hurt Oct. 2 in practice and there was an initial belief he might be out for the minimum of four weeks a player must be on injured reserve.

It is uncertain how long Adkins could be out. If he has to miss game action, the Broncos might seek a tight end since the two on their practice squad, rookie Caleb Lohner and Australia native Patrick Murtagh, are both raw.

Payton was asked why Mims, a valuable receiver and one of the NFL’s top returners, was put back to return a kick late in the game with the Broncos up 44-24.

“I know (special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi) was trying to send in (running back) Tyler (Badie) for Marvin,’’ Payton said. “Somehow, the communication failed. Tyler went in for RJ (Harvey, a running back who is Denver’s No. 2 returner) … At that stage of the game, you’re trying to be smart.”

Payton spoke well Monday of Abrams-Draine.

“I thought Kris did a great job,’’ Payton said. “The whole lot of them did when we went without Pat.”

Broncos defensive end Zach Allen also lauded the play of Abrams-Draine.

“Kris is a stud. … We have full faith in Kris,’’ Allen said.

Payton not in throwback gear

Broncos players wore throwback uniforms Sunday and their assistant coaches also donned throwback gear.

But the head coach didn’t. Payton wore a modern-era Broncos blue hoodie and blue pants during the game.

“I love the throwback uniforms,’’ Payton said. “I usually get to the stadium super early. (Upon arriving), I said, ‘‘Flip,’ (equipment manager Chris Valenti), the navy blue pants don’t match the throwback. We need either an orange or that Bronco blue, that old blue, as a pant.’ So I struggled with the navy and then the throwback on the top, so I just kind of went traditional.”

But Payton stressed how much he likes throwback gear, which the Broncos wore most famously during their 1977 Orange Crush season when they made their first Super Bowl.

“Make no mistake about it, I’m probably the biggest fan of the throwback sweats, colors,’’ Payton said. “I wanted desperately to wear it. I just hate the match with the navy bottoms, so we need to work on a lighter blue slack, or even I’d sport an orange slack if it was the right color.”

Allen’s reduced snaps

With Malcolm Roach back for the past three games, Allen is fine with having played reduced snaps.

Roach, Denver’s top reserve lineman, missed the first five games of the season due to a calf injury. In those games, Allen played 80.8% percent of the defensive snaps.

In the past three games, with Roach back, Allen has played 66.3% percent of the snaps, including a season low 59.5% against Dallas. But Sunday’s reduced total was also due to the lopsided score and Allen leaving briefly with an undisclosed injury before he returned.

“That’s a cool thing this year in that myself and the other guys haven’t had to play as many snaps because Roach comes in and does such a great job,’’ Allen said. “Roach is one of our most valuable pieces and the fact we have him back healthy is huge.”

Although the Broncos had the same three starters on the defensive line last season in Allen, D.J. Jones and John Franklin-Myers and they also had Roach last year, Allen played a whopping 89.4% percent of the snaps in the 16 games he played. But Payton said before the season he wanted to trim Allen’s snaps a bit to keep him fresh.

Despite being in for just 44 snaps Sunday, Allen had a sack and a team-high four total quarterback hits on the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott. Although the Broncos had just two sacks, they had a total of eight quarterback hits.

“We were definitely happy with the pressure we got,’’ Allen said.

Briefly

The Broncos won the coin toss Sunday but opted to receive rather their usual choice of deferring. “I wanted it to be a little bit of a message to our offense relative to starting fast,’’ said Payton, whose quarterback Bo Nix threw an interception on the first possession but quickly bounced back to have a game in which he threw four touchdown passes. … The Broncos went 4-0 in October, making Payton’s NFL career coaching record 54-17 in October compared to 31-30 in September. In his three Denver seasons, the Broncos have gone 10-3 in October and 4-7 in September. … Denver at Houston will face the NFL’s No. 1 unit in both scoring and total defense.