Brandon Marshall has not spoken publicly in the days after his return from a suspension for conduct detrimental to the team, but Friday, Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said he likes what he’s seen and heard from the embattled wideout this week.
So McDaniels said Marshall will play Sunday against the Bengals after a “good week” of practice.
“I don’t want to talk about what his mind-set is, that’s for him,” McDaniels said. “But he’s had a good week of practice, he’s practiced hard, he’s doing everything we’re asking him to do and we’re excited about being able to put all those guys on the field together.”
McDaniels said all of the players who are in uniform Sunday will be needed for the game, including Marshall.
“Always a good thing to have everybody available and able to go in there and contribute, and we talked about it a lot this week,” McDaniels said. “We don’t have six, eight, 10 guys deep at every position. We’re going to need everybody to play and everybody to play well.”
When asked to comment Friday about his return, Marshall said simply, “No, thank you.”
There are NFL guidelines that require players to be available to the media at least once in the days leading up to a game as well as after games, and players can be fined by commissioner Roger Goodell under those guidelines.
Ready to go.
After an offseason rife with change and controversy, plenty ofBroncos players were ready to put the finishing touches on a game plan.
“I know everybody is ready to play against somebody,” said Broncos outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil. “We think we can be better than a lot of people predicted. All we have to do is go out and show it.”
McDaniels also said he’s eager to participate in his first game as a head coach.
“We probably have a better idea, I think, than everybody else outside of this building of what we think we can put out there,” McDaniels said. “Butthere’s always a little uncertainty with opening day . . . You want to get out there and get the butterflies out of the way, play football and execute the way we need to.”
Footnotes.
Safety Josh Barrett (shoulder) and defensive lineman Le Kevin Smith (left knee) were held out of practice all week and were designated as “out” for Sunday’s game on the team’s injury report. Guard Chris Kuper (right ankle) has practiced on a limited basis since Wednesday, but Russ Hochstein is expected to start at right guard against the Bengals. . . . Wide receiver Jabar Gaffney (left thumb) has worn an orange jersey — indicating a player who is limited for contact because of an injury — all week, but has participated in practice and caught passes with the injured hand in drills. . . . Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry sat out Thursday’s practice with a thigh injury but took part in Friday’s. He was listed by the team as probable. . . . Broncos tackle Tyler Polumbus was fined $5,000 for an illegal clip in the team’s preseason finale against Arizona. The league ruled he struck a defender from behind and below the waist.
Jeff Legwold, The Denver Post
