His body still weak and fatigued, De’Vante Bausby gingerly pulled his T-shirt over his head and his arms through the sleeves. One by one he slipped on his sandals, then turned slowly to recount what happened.



Forty-eight hours earlier, Bausby was a well-conditioned athlete, a professional at the highest level of his sport and a starter on the Broncos’ defense. At 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, the veteran cornerback has 4.4 speed and deceiving power as a tackler, capable of knocking back opposing receivers and running backs yards at a time.



But that changed Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles, where the Broncos secured their first victory but lost another key player. Bausby was accidentally flattened when teammate Alexander Johnson launched for a tackle of Chargers running back Austin Ekeler and crashed, helmet to helmet, into Bausby.



Immediately, Bausby’s body went limp from the neck down. As he lay on his back, team trainers and doctors rushed over,...