The Denver Broncos will be playing their only Monday Night Football game of the season with some key defensive players returning to the field. Both T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart returned to practice this week.

Bronco’s safety Darian Stewart went down on Dec. 13, in a loss to the Oakland Raiders after injuring his hamstring and did not see any playing time against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Stewart, who has come up huge in crucial situations for the Mile High crew this season, was limited this week at practice but will be expected to practice fully Saturday and play Monday night.

“It felt good,” Stewart told media after being asked about practice Saturday. “I think my confidence is there and I’ll be ready to go.”

Even head coach Gary Kubiak is feeling optimistic about Stewart playing Monday. “I would expect Darian to be back in full practice on Saturday. He’s feeling pretty good; we’re just being smart here. We’ve got an extra day and we’re trying to use it and I’m hoping he’s back full speed on Saturday.’’

Stewart will be coming back to help the league’s No. 1 defense and replacing freshly signed safety Josh Bush.

The absence of all-pro safety T.J. Ward has been crushing for the orange and blue this season. When Ward went down with a high ankle sprain suffered in the first quarter against the New England Patriots, the entire team seemed like a different squad. The return of Ward could not come at a better time, seeing as Denver just lost fellow safety Omar Bolden for the season after breaking his leg last week in Pittsburgh.

“Ward practiced well today,” Kubiak told Denver media. “I feel good about his work. We’ve still got a lot of time between now and game time, but he and Darian felt good about their work today.”

Denver will be replacing Shiloh Keo with Ward, barring any setbacks.

When asked about the return of Denver’s two star safeties; defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was calm but visibly excited. “Well, I mean that’s half of our secondary. We’ve been missing half of our secondary the past several games.”

18-year veteran Peyton Manning was seen at practice throwing today and was impressive in the eyes of Kubiak.

“He had a good week,” told the head coach. “Worked really hard this morning—well, he worked every morning, but worked out really hard this morning conditioning wise and throwing wise. I was over there and saw it firsthand. I thought it was a really good week, so real positive.”

Kubiak likes the progress Manning has made but has made it clear that the team will be riding on the tall shoulders of quarterback Brock Osweiler for the foreseeable future.

Denver has not played their best football in the second half of games this season; in fact, Denver has not scored a single point in the third quarter in six straight games. Things need to be changed for the orange and blue this Monday night. Having Ward and Stewart will be a step in the right direction, on the defensive side, for such a crucial game.

Cincinnati currently sits in the number two spot the AFC playoffs and will be without notable players such as QB Andy Dalton and TE Tyler Eifert. There is no better time to show the league that Denver deserves to in the Super Bowl conversation; a statement win at home on Monday night is a must.

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