Broncos going the untested route to replace Kareem Jackson

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos will be without Kareem Jackson for the final two games of the season after he was suspended for being arrested for a DUI on Sept. 19.

Fortunately, the Broncos have a natural, experienced replacement in the waiting to fill the shoes of the Pro Bowl-alternate safety.

But Will Parks isn’t the route Vic Fangio is deciding to go to replace Jackson.

Instead of going with the natural replacement of Parks, who has played in 48 percent of the defensive snaps this year, Fangio is going with Trey Marshall, who has played in less than four percent of the team’s defensive snaps.

Marshall, an undrafted rookie in 2018, spent the majority of his rookie year on the team’s practice squad before being promoted to the active roster at the end of the season. No. 36 has spent the entirety of the 2019 season on the 53-man roster, but primarily as a special team’s contributor.

Thus, with the experienced Parks at his disposal, Fangio’s rolling the dice on the second-year player from Florida State.

“Well we haven’t seen Trey play ya lot of defense since preseason,” Fangio said, responding to what he’s seen from the 23-year old to give him this opportunity. “But he gets reps in practice and we’re confident he can go out there and do his job.”

This isn’t a knock against Parks, however. Instead of Parks moving back to his natural position of safety, the team will keep him at nickel cornerback where he’s spent the last few weeks.

“He’s overall given us good play for the most part,” Fangio said, complimenting Parks’ play at nickel. “He’s playing with an injured hand and has to wear a cast and that hinders him somewhat. But overall, he’s done a good job.”

In this new-look secondary, Duke Dawson will be Vic’s dime backer—used when the team has six defensive backs on the field.

In terms of Jackson’s two-game suspension, Fangio was “disappointed” in the safety’s actions back in September. Fangio said he addressed the team Wednesday morning.

“Just emphasized to them it’s always good to learn from other’s mistakes and learn from Kareem’s mistake,” Fangio said, describing his message to the team. “It’s a one-time thing and we don’t anticipate it happening again. Those one-time things can come back to bite you.”

Due to Jackson’s actions, the Broncos will go from a 10-year safety playing the best ball of his life, to a second-year player who played in four snaps on Sunday against the Chiefs.