Talib, Wolfe among Broncos returning to practice after bye

Before breaking for a few days last week with a bye, Denver Broncos head coach said he hoped his squad would come back from their time off refreshed and ready for the six-week home stretch of the regular season.

And they did, with two defense starters in tow.

Cornerback Aqib Talib and defensive end Derek Wolfe practiced fully for the first time in several weeks and “looked good,” Kubiak said.

“They were moving around pretty good. It’s great to have those guys back as expected,” Kubiak said. “They both had a good week while the other guys were getting a break, too. They made up some ground.”

Talib, who did practice some in the days ahead of the bye, hasn’t played since Oct. 24 against the Houston Texans while dealing with lower-back issues. Wolfe’s been out nearly as long, suffering an elbow injury on Nov. 6 against the Oakland Raiders.

Kubiak said, aside from a rest day for center Matt Paradis, Monday’s probably was probably the first at full strength since the preseason.

“That’s a good thing, and you can just tell. We were competitive. We weren’t trying to rest 10 guys and get through a Wednesday or Thursday practice. We were back at it in competitive situations,” Kubiak said. “Hopefully we can stay healthy and stay that way the last six weeks.”

Talib said after practice that he feels great and his only issue will be condition.

“(When) you sit out three weeks and you don’t play football for three weeks, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing, you’re going to be tired. The more that you can do the better you will be,” said Talib, who stayed in Denver during the bye to catch up on conditioning.

Cornerback Chris Harris said after practice it was “definitely hard” playing without Wolfe and Talib, though the team managed a couple of wins in their absence.

“Now it’s time to turn it up a whole other notch. In our games the leaders have to step up. The A-plus players need to be A-plus for the rest of the season,” Harris said.

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.