If needed, Riley Moss is ready to make his debut for Broncos

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Riley Moss isn’t a safety. But that doesn’t mean he can’t help out as the Broncos compensate for the absence of three of their top four safeties.

The domino effect of losing P.J. Locke, Caden Sterns and now Justin Simmons is that core special-teamer Delarrin Turner-Yell could be in line to make his first regular-season start Sunday in Miami. And that means Turner-Yell might not be available for coordinator Ben Kotwica’s special-teams unit.

That — plus the Broncos’ need for more depth at cornerback — could make Moss crucial. And after being deactivated the last two weeks, the third-round pick is ready for action.

“I’m kind of bouncing off the walls right now, because I’m just kind of going crazy,” Moss said. “So, I’m ready to roll.”

The third-round pick missed the entire preseason because of a core-muscle injury that necessitated surgery. The first positive indicator of his potential return came when the team chose not to move him to injured reserve one day after the 53-player roster deadline. The next came the following week, when he practiced on a limited basis.

BUT IT TOOK A COUPLE OF WEEKS FOR RILEY MOSS TO BE READY

The limited practice work for Riley Moss became full work on Sept. 14 and 15. But that still wasn’t enough to have him in the lineup for Week 2 against Washington.

“Last Sunday was a little iffy,” Moss recalled. “I took a big step this past weekend, just resting my legs and taking it easy. This past week was big.”

The build-up over the last fortnight helped. By this week, Moss’ name didn’t even land on the injury report.

“It’s going good. I’ve been going along with the process, and I think each and every day, I’m getting better,” Moss said.

“Not just with my injury, but in terms of my stamina and stuff like that, because, me and Alex [Singleton] were just talking, when they try to get you back, you’re running and conditioning, it’s totally different than playing football.”

Nevertheless, the football stuff came into play, as well. And he was able to begin making up for lost time this week in terms of learning the Broncos’ defensive scheme and his responsibility within it.

“I think the biggest thing is, when you’re playing cores and stuff, a lot of people see it differently in terms of the routes they run and who needs to help off those routes, who needs to zone off those routes, and that was a big thing that I saw.

“So, that was nice to kind of be able to sit back and see.”

That learning will continue over the weeks and months — even years — to come.

But physically? Well, “Put him in, coach,” as John Fogerty once sang.

Riley Moss is ready to play. Today.

“Absolutely, 100 percent,” he said.

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