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Well here is some excellent news! Sorry if already posted!
KUSA—Thanks for the game-saving play, David Bruton.
Now make room for T.J. Ward.
"T.J.'s the leader,'' said Gary Kubiak, the Denver Broncos' head coach. "I'm very proud of David how David went in and played. Good to get T.J. back.''
Ward, the Broncos' starting strong safety, was suspended from the season-opening 19-13 victory against the Baltimore Ravens. Ward was found in violation of the league's personal conduct policy stemming from a misdemeanor incident at a bar in May 2014.
He watched the Broncos play from his home.
"It was very difficult," he said. "I wanted to be out there but I couldn't. I'm back now and ready to go."
Bruton started in his place. It was Bruton who knocked the game-losing touchdown pass out of the hands of tight end Crockett Gillmore's hands and into the air for fellow safety Darian Stewart to grab in the end zone.
Bruton suffered a bruised hip on the play, which increases the chances Ward will get his starting job back despite the short week of preparation. The Broncos play the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night at Arrowhead Stadium.
Malik OK
While Broncos defensive end Malik Jackson left the game Sunday against Baltimore because of concussion-like symptoms, an independent neurologist determined he did not actually suffer a concussion.
Jackson is expected to play against the Chiefs.
"Malik has not been diagnosed with a concussion," Kubiak said. "He's doing great."
Weird schedule
Kubiak has been through this Thursday night challenge before. In his first Thursday night game, in December of 2007, his upstart Houston Texans smoked Mike Shanahan's Broncos. 31-13.
It was the only time Kubiak has coached a Thursday night game at home. He has gone 1-3 in Thursday night games since -- all on the road, as will be the case this week.
After the Broncos came out battered and bruised but victorious in their Sunday afternoon game against the Ravens that ended around 5:20, Kubiak decided to hold practice this week at 6:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. The team will then have a light practice late Wednesday morning before boarding their charter flight to Kansas City.
"It's really difficult, first off, to come off an afternoon game and play on Thursday," Kubiak said.
The Chiefs not only have the advantage of playing at home Thursday, they played the early game Sunday at Houston.
"To me, that makes it even tougher because your time span is even less," Kubiak said. "There's not much you can do other than mentally get prepared, really. Physically, you've just got to get them as fresh as you can. What I'm trying to do is let them sleep in a couple days, get rested, trying to get their clocks ticking at the time we're going to be played and then we'll get our work done in the evening tonight, tomorrow and of course we leave on Wednesday. [I am] just trying to keep them as close to the routine that they're going to be following going into game day."
Mathis his own critic
Playing in the NFL is not supposed to so easy that a guy can miss the entire offseason, miss all of training camp, then join a new team and after one week of practice, go out and dominate on Sunday.
"I wasn't making any excuses for myself," said Broncos left guard Evan Mathis. "I'm still not. I expect more out of myself. I don't care how long I've been here."
Mathis did not grade out well by Pro Football Focus in his Broncos' debut Sunday against the Ravens. The offensive line as a group struggled as quarterback Peyton Manning was sacked four times while running backs C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman combined for just 70 yards on 24 carries.
"I was the worst of the group," Mathis said. "I would have liked us to be able to run the ball a little better. Overall, we were a little inconsistent. There were some highs and lows. That kind of stuff is very valuable for it to happen where you can learn from it and not let it happen again. To be able to escape against a team like Baltimore with a win is always valuable in your experiences."
Bronco Bits
Expect Broncos kickoff returner and backup safety Omar Bolden to be listed as questionable to play at Kansas City because of a left heel injury suffered while covering a punt in the third quarter Sunday. …
Demaryius Thomas (hand) and running back C.J. Anderson (toe) are expected to play. …
The highest graded defensive players by Pro Football Focus were DeMarcus Ware (+10.9), Von Miller (+6.5), Darian Stewart (+3.4), Aqib Talib (+3.0) and Chris Harris (+2.4).
The highest-graded offensive player was right guard Louis Vasquez (+1.3).
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