ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Jay Cutler won’t blame the shuffled line for his left leg injury or the offense’s troubles.
Chris Kuper is playing left guard with Ben Hamilton (head) out and Chris Myers is at center in place of Tom Nalen (biceps).
Cutler was knocked out of the Broncos’ 44-7 loss at Detroit on Sunday when he was sacked and piled on in the first half.
“It’s just one of those games where nothing was clicking. We had the guys in the right place. We just weren’t making the blocks,” Cutler said. “I mean, it wasn’t a case where we were confused and had guys in different places.
“Those guys have picked up the slack, they’ve been playing well for us and I expect them to bounce back after this game and play even better the second half of the season.”
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NEWCOMERS:@ The Broncos welcomed wide receiver Taylor Jacobs and defensive ends Larry Birdine, Paul Carrington and Josh Mallard on Wednesday.
Birdine was signed off the Tennessee Titans’ practice squad.
“So, I’m assuming they saw something on me during the preseason,” Birdine said. “I’m here just trying to contribute. Any time you can go from a practice squad to an active roster with chances of playing and contributing and showing what you’re made of, you know, this is the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Carrington and Mallard played for Broncos defensive line coach Bill Johnson in Atlanta last year.
“It’s helped me,” Mallard said. “A lot of the stuff is the same. He teaches the same technique and it’s already helped me a lot. I come in here and I already know or already have an idea of what we’re going to be doing.”
Mallard was at his home working out when he got the call from the Broncos.
Carrington was actually on his way to Denver to see his brother and sister-in-law, who’s due to give birth any day.
“So, I’m in the airport in L.A. getting a flight to Denver when my agent calls me and says, ‘Hey, you’re about to become a Bronco,'” Carrington said. “I was already on my way here. I’ve been here since Thursday. So, first thing I did was try to run in this atmosphere, in this climate and it was a little tough. I won’t lie. I got winded real easily. First time I’ve been to Colorado in my life.”
The signings of three defensive ends might be bad news for Simeon Rice, who hasn’t played as much as he’d like after joining the Broncos as a free agent two months ago following offseason shoulder surgery.
“I couldn’t care less,” Rice said of the new guys’ arrival. “I’ve seen players brought in before. I couldn’t care less.”
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EXTRA POINTS:@ S John Lynch (neck), who sat out last week at Detroit after injuring his neck against Green Bay two weeks ago, returned to practice on a limited basis Wednesday and did sprints afterward. Asked if he was ready to return to game action, however, Lynch would only say: “I practiced. We’ll see.” … DE John Engelberger (shoulder) didn’t participate in practice, nor did RB Travis Henry, who has a knee injury this week after working through injured ribs last week.
