Broncos battling injuries heading into Week Two

When the Denver Broncos face off against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon they could be without several key players. Four starters sat out practice Wednesday and again Thursday in Dove Valley.

Cornerback Champ Bailey (hamstring), defensive end Elvis Dumervil (shoulder), running back Knowshon Moreno (hamstring) and wide receiver Brandon Lloyd (groin) are all on a day-to-day status, reports Lindsay Jones of the Denver Post.

Defensive tackles Ty Warren and Marcus Thomas did not play on Monday and were expected to miss Sunday's game, along with linebacker D.J. Williams (elbow) and Demaryius Thomas (finger, Achilles).

The Broncos will officially declare the statuses of the four injured starters on Friday.

Meanwhile, Bengals rookie quarterback Andy Dalton was not able to throw at practice on Wednesday and may miss Sunday's game. Veteran quarterback Bruce Gradkowski will start against the Broncos if Dalton is not ready to go.

Here's hoping the injured Broncos heal up quickly. Their absence will certainly be felt by the Broncos.

You Decide: Which QB gives Broncos best chance to win?

We'll have more on last night's game in the coming hours. For now, head over to our facebook page to vote in a poll on who you think should start at quarterback for the Broncos in Week 2 against the Bengals.

Dish out your thoughts in the comments as well.

Personally, I don't think you can put all the blame on Orton. The offensive line was awful, the running backs created no rushing attack, the wide receivers dropped passes and both McGahee and Moreno put the ball on the ground. With that said however, if Orton doesn't step it up in the next few weeks, I'll want to see what the other quarterbacks can do.

Resetting Expectations

The kool-aid tasted oh so great in the past few weeks.

Over the summer, I was fortunate enough to be able to visit Dove Valley twice for a training camp practice as well as see the team beat the Buffalo Bills in the first game at newly named Sports Authority Field at Mile High. What I saw was a defense that made major strides after being ranked last or second to last in most of the major statistic categories. I saw an offensive line that was able to control the trenches on most occasions and a starting quarterback who took care of the football.

Rather than confirming the positive that most of us believed about this Broncos team in the first game of the season, we got a (un)healthy dose of reality instead. Reality is that this team is not much different from last year. Reality is that a run game, despite flashes in the preseason, was nowhere to be found last night as the offensive line struggled to create any room for Moreno or McGahee. Reality is that despite excitement about the return of Elvis Dumervil and the addition of Von Miller, a pass rush really does not help if your opponents run you over on first and second downs.

I'll give Darren McFadden the credit that he's one of the top 10 backs in the league, but we'll be facing plenty more of those down the road in Adrian Peterson, Chris Johnson and Jamaal Charles (twice) as well as another meeting with McFadden in the Black Hole.

I'm remaining optimistic that the run defense will improve over the season. One thing that could benefit the Broncos is that, now that week 1 is over, teams can sign veteran free agents without having to guarantee their full contract. I'm fine with Broderick Bunkley, Kevin Vickerson and Marcus Thomas (who's still recovering from injury) settling into their roles considering the short offseason we've had, but I keep wondering, can the Broncos really afford to wait for Ty Warren for more than half of the season? Not if you ask me. Ryan McBean... Mitch Unrein... well. Upgrades are always possible. With so many good rushers on our schedule, improving the run defense will be key if the Broncos want to have any success this season.

Despite the fact that this team struggled in several different areas of the game, the main focus of debate, as the Broncos prepare to face the Bengals in week two, will be the quarterback. Broncos fans seem divided over the situation, with many ready to have Tebow at the helm of the offense. While Kyle Orton clearly struggled on Monday, such a move would be a knee-jerk reaction after only one game in the season, and I'm sure the Broncos will not give in to any of the outcry.

However, imagine this scenario four weeks down the road, in which the Broncos are 0-5. Unable to improve their run defense after the Raiders game, the Broncos face, as previously mentioned, Cedric Benson and the Bengals, Chris Johnson and the Titans, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers and Phillip Rivers and the Chargers. While many noted the Bengals and Titans games as winnable before the season, things do not look to be so sure now. In the case of a 0-5 record, what should the Broncos do?

By then, arguing for a change at quarterback is not only a matter of having more faith in Tebow than Orton to lead this team to success. With what looks to be the best quarterback class in at least eight years eligible for the draft, the Broncos will NEED to know what Tebow brings to the table. As of yet he is the only quarterback under contract next year, and many questions still surround his future. While a few fans already seemed to have embraced the "Suck-for-Luck" movement, reality is that we might end up in a situation in which the Broncos are in a position to draft one of the top quarterback prospects available next year. If so, the team must know if Tim Tebow has any future with the organization.

As bleak as things looked on Monday, there is no need to overreact. Of the 16 teams that started this season 0-1, some will still make the play-offs. While the road back to the play-offs is still a long one for the Broncos, let's wait and see how the team looks against the Bengals on Sunday.

Overreaction is an easy form of escape in the situation that we are in right now and one that we need to avoid as much as possible. But while we're doing that, I'll put my kool-aid back in the cupboard, and hope they'll let me take it out again next year.

Follow Broncos Zone contributor Bert Jan Brands on twitter, @BertJanB.

Broncos ready for revenge on Oakland Raiders

When the Denver Broncos faced off against the Oakland Raiders at home in 2010 the result was an embarrassing 59-14 defeat. On Monday, both teams will face off again in Denver on ESPN's Monday Night Football double header.

This time, things will be different.

A lot of things have changed in Denver since last season. Legendary Broncos quarterback John Elway returned to the team as the Vice President of Football Operations before the team hired defensive minded John Fox as Head Coach and Dennis Allen as the defensive coordinator.

Denver then brought in players to upgrade the rushing attack (e.g Willis McGahee and offensive tackle Orlando Franklin); the home stadium was renamed Sports Authority Field at Mile High and perhaps above all, 2nd overall draft pick Von Miller will be joining defensive end Elvis Dumervil as the team's top two pass rushers.

With all that said, the Broncos still haven't forgotten what happened last season.

"You definitely don't want that to happen again," said cornerback Champ Bailey. "And I guarantee that won't happen again."

The Raiders agree with Bailey.

“They are playing with so much excitement and one thing I’ll say about their defense — they run to the ball very well. You’ll see one guy make a tackle and then there are six or seven blue shirts in there around the ball," said Oakland quarterback Jason Campbell It’s a tough challenge because you look at them on defense and they are totally different.”

Without a doubt, things will be different this year, including several jersey numbers.

On Thursday, Broncos defensive end Jason Hunter switched to No. 90 -- a more defensive lineman-esque number which will precede fellow DE's Robert Ayers (91) and Elvis Dumervil (92) numerically -- and linebacker/special teams captain Wesley Woodyard switched to No. 52 (previously worn by Hunter). Woodyard said it marks a new beginning for him.

Former Broncos running back Terrell Davis will be featured during the game's coin toss and will be on-hand to see what Denver's new two-back tandem of shifty Knowshon Moreno and powerful Willis McGahee are capable of.

McGahee, in honor of Davis, wants to bring back the Mile High Salute, which was popularized when Davis was with the team in the 1990's.

"We've got to bring back the 'Salute,'" McGahee said on Wednesday. "We have to represent for the running backs, Terrell Davis and those boys. When those guys were there we knew Denver was coming in and running the ball. That's got to be our mindset - running the ball against whoever, whenever, whatever they put up. We're ready."

Kickoff is just four days away, get ready for the return of Broncos Football!