The first time Riley Moss stepped on an NFL field, he wasn’t nearly as nervous as he thought.
“Juiced up,” he said, but strikingly free of anxiety.
“I always had this vision that it would be this whole thing and it would be so much different, but to be honest with you, I was a lot less pressured doing this than I was my first college game,” the rookie cornerback told The Denver Post recently. “So definitely my expectations were a lot higher, but it really isn’t that crazy.”
An NFL debut is an NFL debut, and Moss’ came in Week 3 against Miami on the opening kickoff. Since then, that’s been his role. He’s played 71 special teams snaps over the past four weeks, nearly two-thirds of the Broncos’ work in the third phase of the game, but has yet to play a defensive snap.
“Obviously it’s a little bit more high-pressure when you’re playing defense, but at the end of the day that’s why we practice so much,” Moss said. “So that when you get into that position you don’t feel the pressure and you can just go out there and fly around.”
The Broncos’ two other Day 2 draft picks, receiver Marvin Mims Jr. and inside linebacker Drew Sanders, have seen more playing time so far this season. Mims has been Denver’s most dangerous receiving threat and Sanders has started three of the past four games on defense while playing 119 defensive snaps in addition to special teams work.
Denver traded up in the third round to make sure it got Moss, but he’s been behind the curve because of a core muscle injury that required surgery and kept him out nearly the entire preseason.
It took him several weeks to get back up to speed fully when he got back to work around the season opener in September.
“I feel a lot more confident, especially with the way I’m moving and stuff,” Moss said. “That was the biggest thing coming back. It’s easy to get back into conditioning shape, but people don’t realize that when you take off a good month, month-and-a-half and you haven’t been doing the movements you’re used to for a long time, it definitely affects you mentally, your movements and how your body feels with the way that your brain is trying to tell you to move. It’s a whole thing. But I’m starting to get back to where I was at.”
His core still isn’t as strong as it was before the surgery, Moss said. He had dealt with some soreness all the way back to college, but the issue became worse during the first week of training camp and then reached a point of no return just a few days in.
Now, he feels like he’s ready to contribute on defense. There’s just not a spot for him at the moment. Corner Pat Surtain II is an All-Pro, and second-year man Damarri Mathis’ play has steadied in recent weeks on the other side. Former undrafted free agent Ja’Quan McMillian has settled in at nickel while K’Wuan Williams continues to recover from August ankle surgery. The next man up has been veteran Fabian Moreau.
Perhaps Moss will jump over somebody and into the action at some point. Perhaps injury or trade deadline action will shuffle the depth chart in some way over the coming 10 days. Or maybe this will be the role for Moss during his rookie season.
“It’s the same question as when we look at the stat line every week and say, ‘Man, I’ve got to get Mims more touches,’” Payton said Friday. “The vision for him is outside corner. Do I think he can play nickel? Yes. But long. He’s prototype for the outside position, so we’ve just got to keep looking at ways within each (game) plan of, how can we use him?”
Regardless of if that happens on defense soon, down the stretch or next year, Moss says he’s ready.
“If my role right now is special teams, I”m going to bring effort and energy, cheer on my teammates and get this thing rolling,” he said. “I’m going to own my role and if they need me on defense, then I’ll be ready to go on defense.”
Number to know
31st: Answer to a question several readers have asked. If you take away the historic 70-point meltdown from Denver’s defense, it ranks No. 31 in the NFL in yards per play allowed (6.0). Vance Joseph’s group would also check in at No. 30 in yards per game allowed (383.2) and tied for 27th in scoring defense (26 points per game). Obviously the 70 points and 726 yards the Dolphins piled on count, but even in the other five games it’s overall been a struggle for Denver.
Hindsight is 20/20
Tyler Lancaster made his Broncos debut against Kansas City, playing 13 snaps on the defensive line. Before that, all 59 games of his NFL career came in Green Bay. It’s been a bit — Lancaster signed with Las Vegas last year but missed the whole season due to injury — but he might have some unique insight to the way the Packers play. More than that, though, he’s got friendships to look back on and look forward to rekindling Sunday even if the practice squad-er doesn’t see the field.
“It’ll be extremely special. It’s really unique and it’s pretty awesome,” Lancaster told The Post. “I know some guys might feel bitter when they go away and they have that pride and everything, but I’m excited to see everybody. I really enjoyed my time there. I’m blessed to still be in this league and I’m just excited to play against them.”
What’s it like to watch film of your friends and figure out how to beat them?
“It’s different because now I know who you are personally,” Lancaster said. “Before, they’re names and numbers and you get some stats and tendencies, but now there’s a personality to the name. It’s pretty cool. And having that ability to try to help and scout and everything is pretty awesome.”
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