The speculation is nearly over.
How will Jay Cutler transition to his third NFL season? What will the Broncos do without Brandon Marshall?
“Now it is for real, and we will see what happens,” Cutler said Wednesday during his weekly news conference.
The Broncos open their regular season Monday at Oakland, with Cutler and the Denver offense looking to pick up where it left off in the preseason. The starters last played in the first half of the third exhibition game against Green Bay.
Cutler completed nearly 70 percent of his preseason passes and threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions and no sacks.
“The guys did really well,” Cutler said. “The backs picked it up well, the line protected the front four really well and the receivers caught the ball and were run blocking well.”
Cutler has reason to be confident. A year ago, he was entering his first year as a starter. Now he’s the unquestioned offensive leader.
“Physically I was fine, but mentally I was not there yet,” Cutler said of how he felt a year ago. “I was still learning the offense and still learning the defense and I was trying to put it all together. This year, I am a little more comfortable. We obviously have a lot of new guys that we have to get used to, but I feel good.”
Cutler will be without Marshall, the team’s No. 1 wide receiver who is serving a one-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. Marshall caught 10 preseason passes, including two touchdowns from Cutler.
Cutler on Wednesday admitted it will be “tough” to go against the Oakland secondary without Marshall, but seemed confident in the Broncos’ fleet of tight ends (Daniel Graham, Nate Jackson and Tony Scheffler) and other wide receivers. Of the four receivers expected to play Monday — Eddie Royal, Darrell Jackson, Brandon Stokley and Keary Colbert — only Stokley was a Bronco last season.
“We are going to have to make do,” Cutler said. “With the receivers we have, the tight ends and the running game, we’ll have to all pull together to make up for it.”
Coach Mike Shanahan said he didn’t expect the team’s game plan to change much without Marshall in it.
“We have some young players, so it might not be as deep as it normally is, but we have enough to show up and play,” Shanahan said.
Lindsay H. Jones: 303-954-1262 or ljones@denverpost.com
