ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Move aside, Nathaniel Hackett. Russell Wilson is accepting blame, too.
“First of all, I got to play better,’’ Wilson, the Broncos’ starting quarterback, said Wednesday at his weekly press conference. “It starts with me.’’
Entering their 10th game of the season Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Broncos have the league’s worst-scoring offense at 14.6 points per game. In recent weeks, Hackett, the head coach, has been saying “it starts with me” when addressing the team’s offensive woes. Now Wilson is shouldering up next to his coach.
“I’ve got to find ways to make more plays for us,’’ Wilson said. “More touchdowns. It’s something you continue to work toward every day. … I’ve been down before. It doesn’t mean we can’t come out on the other end of it all. … I think we’ve got a lot of football left. A lot of football left. A lot of football left.’’
Compton returns
With Garett Bolles and now Billy Turner on injured reserve, and Cam Fleming missing the last two games with a quad injury, the Broncos are getting veteran offensive tackle Tom Compton back better late than never.
Compton has been out since a couple of months after he signed a one-year, $2.25 million deal with the Broncos because of a back injury that required surgery in late July.
“I’ve never had an injury where you’re out a long period of time. It’s always been minor stuff,’’ said Compton, who is about to begin his 10th NFL season. “It’s been tough. You want to be out there but you trust the trainers and the process and it’s all you can do.”
He has been activated from the physical unable to perform (PUP) list, and Hackett indicated he’d like Compton to play Sunday against the Raiders.
“We sure want him to,’’ Hackett said. “He’s a player that’s played a lot of games in this league. We need him. We need him for this team. This is going to be a big week for him to be able to take a big step forward.”
If Compton isn’t quite ready for live action on an every-snap level, Fleming would be called on to start at right tackle with Calvin Anderson expected to get his fourth start at left tackle.
Compton looked like he was moving around pretty well during the media-viewing portion of practice Wednesday.
“We’re pretty close,’’ Compton said. “We’re just trying to be smart. You obviously don’t want to reinjure, so just easing back into it and hopefully be out there soon. We’re taking it day by day, how practicing is going and how it feels. Hopefully play [against the Raiders], but at the end of the day it’s their decision.’’
Compton played for offensive line coach Butch Barry last season in San Francisco, one reason why he signed with the Broncos.
“We spent a lot of time together last year and I respect the hell out of him,’’ Compton said of Barry. “That wasn’t the only reason, but it was a big reason to come here, my familiarity with him. I think he’s a helluva coach, helluva guy. It made sense.”
Long snap exchange
The Broncos placed long snapper Mitchell Fraboni on injured reserve with a fractured finger. He’ll be replaced by the guy he replaced – Jacob Bobenmoyer, the Broncos’ long snapper the previous two seasons and until he suffered a fractured thumb in the Broncos’ game 5 loss against the Indianapolis Colts.
Browning returns
Outside linebacker Baron Browning returned to practice Wednesday for the first time since straining a hip flexor 3 1/2 weeks ago in the Broncos' loss to the Jets. Browning, safety Justin Simmons (knee), center Graham Glasgow (shoulder) and receiver Kendall Hinton (shoulder) all warmed up in the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse during the media viewing portion of practice while the rest of the team stretched and ran through position drills on the outdoor practice fields.
But after the media got the boot, Browning, Simmons, Glasgow and Hinton all returned to practice, per the team’s injury report.
Simmons said he's looking forward to playing in part because of the chance to beat this week's opponent. The Raiders have won five in a row in the rivalry series, including a 32-23 win in Vegas earlier this year -- a game Simmons missed because of a thigh injury.
“Me personally, I don’t like the Raiders anyway,'' Simmons said at his weekly press conference Wednesday. "That’s just a part of me being here for—this is Year 7 now playing in those games and playing against those guys. I don’t really like them anyways, but on top of that, yes, it sucks. I didn’t play that game, either. They’ve had success prior. This one is going to be important for us to go down, especially at our home field, and set the tone.”
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