The Denver Broncos placed ironman free safety Justin Simmons on injured reserve Wednesday with a quad injury sustained in Monday’s season opener.

Simmons will have to miss at least four games. He had played in 66 consecutive games.

Broncos head Nathaniel Hackett said Simmons suffered the injury in the second half of Monday night’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks and played through the injury.

Simmons is “going to miss some time,” Hackett said.

The Broncos promoted defensive back Essang Bassey to the active roster from the practice squad in a corresponding move. They also signed Anthony Harris to the practice squad.

Hackett also said that defensive end Randy Gregory (shoulder), linebacker Josey Jewell (calf), guard Quinn Meinerz (hamstring) and wide receiver KJ Hamler (knee) were held out of Wednesday’s practice.

Simmons, 28, played every defensive snap against the Seahawks, finishing with nine tackles and a fumble recovery. He returned the fumble — forced by Gregory — 17 yards to set up one of two Broncos red-zone drives that ended in a fumble.

He has 474 career tackles and 21 interceptions in 92 games (82 starts), all with the Broncos. The 2020 Pro Bowl pick was selected in the third round of the 2016 draft by Denver.

–Field Level Media