ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Denver Broncos could be without both starting inside linebackers for Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots.
With Tom Brady at quarterback, the Patriots will usually operate out of a pass-centric game plan.
But the Patriots also are adept at adjusting to what they see from a defense and have proven this season they can run the ball when they believe there is room to be found. They are sixth in the league in rushing yards per game, and have five games this season with at least 130 yards rushing and three games with at least 160 yards rushing.
All of that could matter a great deal given Brandon Marshall, who missed Sunday’s loss to the Titans with a hamstring injury, and Todd Davis (oblique) are question marks for the Patriots game. Davis went to the sideline the first time with his injury in the first half of Sunday’s game and then left the game for good in the second half.
The Titans rushed for 180 yards Sunday, 138 of those yards in the first half.
“We struggled to stop the run the first half, didn’t play very good,’’ said Broncos coach Gary Kubiak. “We, obviously, in the second half, played really, really well.’’
Corey Nelson played in Marshall’s inside linebacker spot during the game while Zaire Anderson, who spent last season on the Broncos’ practice squad before he made the roster in training camp this year, played in Davis’ spot. Kubiak said “Zaire was one of our highest-graded guys defensively.’’
The Broncos are expected to keep to a schedule they used last week, which would mean after Tuesday’s day off for players that they would only use walk-throughs for Wednesday’s practice. The first full practice won’t be until Thursday.
This past Friday Marshall said, “I’m not close,’’ when asked about his injury. He said it is in the same spot on his left hamstring that he injured earlier this season.
