Todd Davis is poised to return, and the Broncos need him

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Monday at RingCentral Coliseum under the late-afternoon northern California sun, Todd Davis ran. He was at full speed. He kicked his knees up as he went through the paces of his workout.

It wasn’t the first time he’d moved at full speed in his recovery from a calf injury suffered on the first day of training camp. However, Davis pointed out that he only hit that level in the past week.

After seven and a half weeks of a recovery that moved in fits and starts, Davis looked ready.

“I feel like I’ve been out too long as it is,” he said.

But the Broncos opted for caution, and held him out of the 24-16 loss to the Oakland Raiders that followed his on-field workout.

“I think I could have [played],” Davis said. “If my team needed me, I definitely feel like I could have been on the field with them, but I’ll be ready to go this week.”

He was missed. After auditioning young players like Alexander Johnson, Keishawn Bierria, Justin Hollins and Josh Watson throughout the preseason, the Broncos opted to start Corey Nelson, a veteran of four seasons with the Broncos (2014-17) who had been cut by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the roster deadline.

Nelson was game and absorbed enough of the scheme to start, but finished with one tackle in 49 snaps.

“I do know there were some plays he could have done better on but kudos to him for coming in and being ready to play,” Broncos coach Vic Fangio said after the game.

With Davis gone, Oakland exploited the Broncos at the center of the field, especially in the passing game, as Derek Carr went 8-of-8 for 85 yards on passes completed between the numbers within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. That tally included Carr’s lone touchdown pass and a 28-yard catch-and-run by Josh Jacobs, with 25 of the yards coming after the catch.

Davis stood on the sidelines, often with an anguished look on his face.

The Broncos missed his play, but they missed his leadership and fire more. While they no longer have season-long team captains, Davis was one of the players wearing the “C” patch last year.

“I feel like when I’m out there, I bring some more passion and attitude,” Davis said. “I’m nice off the field, but on the field, I say some things that my mom wouldn’t like me to say and act the way that my dad didn’t teach me to act. But I feel like I’m excited to get back out there.”

It’s not just the game that Davis wants to enjoy again. He said in the locker room that he was excited to practice Wednesday. During his recovery, he focused more on upper-body and conditioning work.

“We did a lot of stuff with upper-body training, trying to get my arms right and just riding the bike a lot, trying to keep my wind up while I couldn’t physically run,” Davis said.

Fangio said he would be limited at practice Wednesday, but Davis seemed like a bull confined to a holding pen too long.

“I’m going to try to push it until they tell me to stop,” he said.