ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – The wobblers were gone. The players-turned-sideline-spectators, too.
The unbeaten Broncos returned from their five-day furlough refreshed, rejuvenated and almost at full strength with rookie pass rusher Shane Ray (knee) the only player not in attendance at a Monday morning practice.
Peyton Manning threw tight spirals, Emmanuel Sanders grabbed passes over his bruised left shoulder without grimaces, Aqib Talib ran without a limp and DeMarcus Ware fired off the ball without his bad back locking up.
Offensive guards Evan Mathis and Louis Vasquez even traded their baseball caps for football helmets and practiced with their teammates, their knotty knees much better.
Ty Sambrailo, who’s missed most of the last month with an injured shoulder, was back at left tackle, too.
“This will be probably the first day in about a month that we actually start the week with all of them in place,” coach Gary Kubiak said. “Evan looks good coming off the break. Lou looks better coming off the break. So, hopefully we’ll get a full week out of all of them as we prepare for this game.”
Only twice in the last month did Denver’s offensive line practice together before taking the field on Sunday, and that goes a long way toward explaining the discombobulated nature of their 29th-ranked offense, which keeps getting bailed out by the league’s No. 1 defense.
The Broncos and Packers are both 6-0 heading into their Sunday night showdown in Denver.
Manning vs. Aaron Rodgers.
The Packers have yielded an NFL-low 101 points, one fewer than the Broncos, but Denver’s defense has actually allowed just 82 points – 20 have come off Manning’s trio of pick-6s.
The Broncos are unbeaten thanks to a defense that has 26 sacks by a dozen different players and 18 takeaways, plus clutch drives by an offense that’s averaging just 1.5 touchdowns a game but comes up big when it counts.
Well, there is that trip to Indy next week, always an emotional time for Manning.
Then, there’s a home game against Kansas City and a trip to Chicago to face former Broncos coach John Fox and ex-offensive coordinator Adam Gase, architect of Manning’s record-setting seasons.
Finally, there’s Tom Brady and the Patriots to wrap up this nasty November schedule.
