Broncos safety P.J. Locke has called his recovery from offseason back surgery a “miracle.” His father agrees.

Locke revealed early this month in a 14-minute video on YouTube entitled “My Breakthrough” about how he underwent spinal fusion surgery after there were no guarantees before the procedure that he would be able to play football again. Now, his father, James Locke, said he will be at full strength when veterans report Tuesday for training camp at Broncos Park.

“He’s been cleared,’’ James Locke told The Denver Gazette about his son, who sat out spring drills. “So as far as I know, every indication shows that he has no limitations. He’s fully recovered.”

With that in mind, James Locke echoed what his son said in the video that “it’s been a miracle.”

“Absolutely,’’ he said. ““It’s been a long time since he was able to get through sessions and get through practices without tons of pain, trying to get himself together to practice the next day, get himself together all week to be able to play on Sunday. So, yeah, it’s definitely been a miracle as far as the pain that he had been dealing with for quite a while (being gone).”

James Locke said his son was born with scoliosis, a condition that long had played a role in him having some degree of pain in his back. He said the pain became by far the worst last season, when Locke, who turned 28 in February, became a full-time starter for the first time since entering the NFL in 2019.

“It’s wear and tear,’’ said his father, a former safety at Oklahoma Panhandle State. “A bit of it was something he was born with, a little bit of a scoliosis issue he had with his back a little bit out of line. And then just with all the collisions through the years and then that kind of caused that he had two pinched nerves in there.”

James Locke said his son was diagnosed with pinched nerves shortly after the Broncos lost 31-7 at Buffalo on Jan. 12 in a wild-card playoff game, a day in which he was “in quite a bit” of pain. Surgery was then recommended for Locke, and it was performed shortly after that game by Dr. Chad Prusmack. The doctor explained in the video that Locke had suffered a degenerated disc with bone-on-bone between his L4 and L5 vertebrae and that he fused his spine with a “cage” and screws.”

Locke in 2024 started all 15 games he played, missing two due to a fractured and dislocated left thumb. He played exactly 1,000 defensive snaps during the season, which included six times being in for every snap in a game and four other times playing 97% or more of them.

“He was just playing more, and obviously that’s a lot more collisions,’’ James Locke said of his son’s pain in 2024 having increased. “Definitely in the second half of the season, he was in quite a bit of pain … But he’s just the type of guy who’s not going to complain about anything. … He didn’t realize that he literally had two pinched nerves. I don’t know how he played with a pinched nerve. I had a pinched nerve (once), and I could barely pick things up with my hand.”

Now, James Locke can’t wait to see his son play in 2025 while expecting him to be pain free.

“I think he’s going to be super healthy,’’ he said. “He’s probably going to be more healthy than he’s been in quite some time, according to the doctors, and he’s going to actually get a chance to play with normal anatomy with his back. He’s excited that he’s playing pain free and he’s gained a lot of strength back, a lot of mobility, just things that had started to diminish because of those issues.”

With Locke working his way back from surgery, the Broncos in March signed free-agent safety Talanoa Hufanga, who was named first-team All-Pro with San Francisco in 2022 before battling injuries the past two seasons. While Hufanga is the favorite to replace Locke as a starting safety alongside Brandon Jones, James Locke said his son is undeterred about the competition.

“He’s handling it fine,’’ he said. “I always taught P.J. to control what he can control, and you control the way you go out and play and the way you handle yourself and that’s it. Let the chips fall where they may. It’s a long season. You never know what’s going to happen. You just stay ready and just control what you can control.”

With training camp getting underway, Locke is planning to do that with help from a “miracle.”

What I’m hearing

–The anticipation is Broncos defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers will report to training camp in top shape. Franklin-Myers’ offseason included working with pass-rush specialist B.T. Jordan in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and going to Naples, Fla., to work with a longtime trainer he has had and a nutritionist. While Franklin-Myers’ only participation in the Broncos’ offseason program was attending last month’s mandatory minicamp, head coach Sean Payton said during spring drills he was having a “good offseason” away from Denver. “He’s totally focused on having a great season, playing on the best defense in the NFL and winning a Super Bowl,’’ offered his agent, Cliff Brady.

–San Francisco’s Fred Warner recently signed a three-year, $63 million contract extension, making his $21 million average annual salary the highest ever for an inside linebacker. In other words, former Broncos star Karl Mecklenburg was born too early. “I was the first middle linebacker to make a million a year,’’ Mecklenburg, who played for Denver from 1983-94 and reached that milestone in the early 1990s. “I was the highest paid for four years.”

What I’m seeing

–With most of the NFL’s second-round picks sought to get fully guaranteed contracts, Broncos running back RJ Harvey didn’t land one. But Harvey, the No. 60 overall selection who agreed to terms Thursday, a day after Denver rookies had been scheduled to report for training camp, made out better than last year’s No. 60 pick, Buffalo safety Cole Bishop. Bishop had the first two base-salary seasons of his four-year contract guaranteed but got no guarantees for his third and fourth seasons. Harvey, who signed a four-year, $7.36 million deal with a $1.99 million signing bonus, got his first two base-salary seasons guaranteed at $840,000 in 2025 and $1.175 million in 2026, and had $719,823 of his third-year salary of $1.51 million guaranteed for 2027. His 2028 salary of $1.84 million is nonguaranteed.

–Broncos star outside linebacker Nik Bonitto will host a youth football camp Sunday at Columbine High School for more than 200 local kids. Bonitto, who hasn’t talked to the media since the end of last season, is scheduled to meet with reporters at the event. He no doubt will be asked how matters stand regarding a possible lucrative contract extension. Sources have said Bonitto, who will make a base salary of $5.35 million in 2025 and would become a free agent in March if not signed to an extension, is seeking a deal in excess of $20 million per season.