Following Thursday’s jog-through, Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett didn’t gloss over the debacle that was the offense in Wednesday’s full-pads practice.
Asked if the offense was a little too sloppy, Hackett said: “I would say (calling it just sloppy is) being nice. I lost my voice again.”
The offense was plagued by multiple turnovers.
“In the end, we have a standard and they didn’t live up to that,” Hackett said. “They owned up to it and they understood it. It wasn’t just one guy. But that kind of stuff is unacceptable. You have to continually keep your focus.
“I’m excited (the offense) had that opportunity to see those things that might have gone wrong, watched the tape and now we’re moving on.”
Linebacker swap. The Broncos swapped linebackers, signing rookie Jeremiah Gemmel and waiving the injured Barrington Wade.
Gemmel finished his college career at North Carolina with 38 consecutive starts and started training camp in San Francisco. Wade sustained an elbow injury during practice Wednesday.
Hamler to play. Hackett said receiver KJ Hamler (knee), who returned to team work Monday, is expected to play Saturday night against Minnesota.
“I think we’re going to get him a couple snaps,” Hackett said. “It’s been awhile since he’s played.”
Hamler has not played in a game since tearing his ACL against the New York Jets last Sept. 26.
Disappointing defense. The Broncos’ second- and third-team units were gashed by Buffalo last week, allowing 510 yards in a 42-15 loss.
“The competitor in all of us, we’re never going to be happy with that type of performance, it doesn’t matter if it’s preseason, regular season or playoffs,” defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero said. “We want to be better than that and we have to be better.”
Evero said everything needs to improve against Minnesota.
“It’s more physicality, it’s more urgency, (being) more competitive, better coaching — all of it,” he said. “We all have to be better.”
Martin ready. Sam Martin, who sustained an ankle injury during pre-game warmups at Buffalo, will be available Saturday.
“Never experienced that,” special teams coordinator Dwayne Stukes said of losing a punter in pre-game.
Stukes said the competition between Martin and Corliss Waitman is an “ongoing evaluation. We took it from the offseason, we took it to training camp and now we’re still trying to evaluate these guys during the preseason (games).”
Martin and Waitman will alternate punts in the game.
