ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The last time D.J. Jones shared the field with newly signed Broncos Dre Greenlaw and Talanoa Hufanga, the three men came within a field goal of helping the San Francisco 49ers advance to Super Bowl LVI.
Two years earlier, Jones and Greenlaw pushed the 49ers to an 11-2 start before Jones suffered an injury and finished the season on injured reserve. Despite Jones' injury, Greenlaw and the Niners went on to earn a spot in Super Bowl LIV.
In total, Jones called Greenlaw a teammate for three seasons and shared the field with Hufanga for a stretch of games in 2021 as the rookie safety saw extensive defensive action — including three starts — in nine contests.
Jones' knowledge of Greenlaw's and Hufanga's skill sets has the former 49er eager to welcome his old teammates into the fold — and to see how they'll elevate an already impressive Denver defense.
"We're getting game-changers," Jones told DenverBroncos.com. "We've already got some game-changers. We've got a Zach Allen, we've got a Pat Surtain II — but now we're getting game-changers that are going to make everybody else become game-changers. What we're getting is people that know ball, play ball at a high level and all they want to do is ball. That's it. They've got the right formula. They've got the right juice about themselves.
"I'm so excited. I'm more excited for them than I am for this new deal. I'm not lying. I can't put it into words, so I'll just let their actions show how I feel."
Jones said both Greenlaw and Hufanga "play like their hair's on fire" and that they are "elite athletes" who make plays and do their job.
The Broncos' defensive tackle — who signed a contract extension of his own ahead of the official start of free agency — said the addition of an All-Pro in Hufanga and a dynamic player in Greenlaw can elevate a Denver defense that ranked third in scoring defense in 2024. Jones, from his time with Greenlaw and Hufanga on the Niners, said he already knows what to expect.
"When you have a defense that when you go from [player] 1 to 11 and you look at each name and you can't really find a weakness in what they're doing, that's a tough team to go against," Jones said. "That's a tough team to go against, and that's what we've got right now.
"Right now, I'm more excited for the first day of practice than anything, so everyone can see what we've got. I know what's coming. We're going to make each other better. Everybody's going to make each other better."
