ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Denver Broncos began their abbreviated practice week with only two new injuries to report as they opened their preparations for Thursday night's game against the San Diego Chargers. Cornerback Omar Bolden, who had also lined up as the Broncos' kickoff returner at times Sunday, is not expected to be available for Thursday's game. He suffered a concussion in the closing minutes of the win over the San Francisco 49ers and is now under the guidelines of the league's concussion protocol. Bolden suffered the injury with 1 minute, 19 seconds to play in the game when he collided with 49ers wide receiver Bruce Ellington. Linebacker Steven Johnson, a special teams regular, suffered what Broncos head coach John Fox called a "mild ankle sprain." Fox said Monday the Broncos also spent some of their time this past offseason reviewing how to construct the team's schedule in a short week after last season's loss to the Chargers in a Thursday night game. The Chargers' 27-20 victory on Dec. 12 was the Broncos' only home loss last season. "We've already addressed this long before now," Fox said. "Just preparation and I think we've got a good plan, we'll see how we execute it." And the Thursday night games have been a target of criticism this season with questions about whether the short week has affected the quality of play in those games. At least publicly, the Broncos offered Monday they were ready to get back to work to keep their current win streak going. "I like it," said linebacker Von Miller. "I like playing on Monday nights, I like playing on Thursday nights. You hear a lot about it's a short week and all this stuff, but I like it. I enjoy it; it's another prime-time game. They are doing the exact same thing that we're doing. They have a short week also. So I like it. You ... just hop in the ice tub, get stretched, get some body work and you'll be ready to go. I enjoy playing on Thursday nights and I'm looking forward to it." "You just have to look at the game as a quick turnover, meaning it's a good thing or you check your oil on those type of games ... in saying what type of team are we," said Broncos defensive end DeMarcus Ware. "I think [the criticism is] overblown. I don't see any guys complaining on our team about having a Thursday game, we're just looking at it as yes, it's a quick turnaround and we have to do what we have to do to get the job done."
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