ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- A day after being pulled out of practice after taking a hard hit on his left shoulder, Denver Broncos running back C.J. Anderson was back on the field with the starters Sunday and took his usual workload in what was a high-impact practice at times.
"First off C.J. comes off a little bit of a banged shoulder (Saturday), wakes up this morning and says 'I'm going, I feel great'," Kubiak said. " ... And he had a really good practice."
Anderson even participated in goal-line and red-zone drills throughout the morning workout.
Broncos fullback Joe Don Duncan suffered a neck injury in red-zone work during the practice and remained briefly on the ground after taking the hit. He was examined by trainers and walked to the locker room unassisted, but did not return.
The Broncos gave several of the team's starters the practice off, with quarterback Peyton Manning, cornerback Aqib Talib, cornerback Chris Harris Jr., safety T.J. Ward, linebacker Von Miller, guard Louis Vasquez, tight end Owen Daniels and linebacker DeMarcus Ware not in drills.
Kubiak has said he will stick to that schedule -- it was the second time in training camp that group has been held out -- and it gave the Broncos a chance to look at some other players in those spots.
Backup quarterback Brock Osweiler ran the first-team offense and looked more settled than he did last week during his first opportunity to fill in for Manning.
"Thought he practiced well, missed a play at the end of practice there he needs to make," Kubiak said. "Think he continues to get more comfortable in his role when he gets the football team ... he needs to play a lot in the preseason."
The Broncos will release their first formal depth chart of the preseason Monday but it is expected to resemble the practice rotations of recent days. The offensive line remains a spot where the Broncos remain open to trying many combinations, but rookie Max Garcia played at left guard and Matt Paradis was at center this past week.
Kubiak was asked how much should be read into the depth chart.
"I would say not very much," Kubiak said. "...Don't read too much into what's going on up front or wherever, they're going to win and lose jobs in these preseason games, going against good players. Shouldn't say lose jobs, but they're going to win jobs playing against good players ... but everybody needs to keep their antennae up and keep going."
Kubiak said playing time in the preseason games will be divided up by specific players, that "the starters" won't necessarily get the same playing time, that "I see C.J. [Anderson] as a guy who needs to play more than Peyton Manning does."
