With Riley Moss out, focus again turns to Broncos backup corners

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — It’ll be another week of waiting for Riley Moss.

The second-year cornerback whose emergence galvanized the Denver Broncos secondary before his MCL injury Nov. 24 at Las Vegas was ruled out for a second-straight game after not practicing all week. Moss stretched with teammates for all three practice days this week, but continued to focus on rehab and recovery from the injury.

So, as the Broncos did against the Cleveland Browns, they’ll have to adjust. The question now becomes: with whom? Levi Wallace started and struggled in the 41-32 win over Cleveland, beseiged by a career night from Jerry Jeudy.

Wallace subsequently owned up to his performance in the game. But defensive coordinator Vance Joseph absolved Wallace of culpability.

“Obviously, I didn’t call a great game if he didn’t play a great game,” Joseph said. “It falls on me first. It’s never on the player. It’s my job to make his job easy.”

By the final moments of that game, Joseph and Sean Payton relieved Wallace in favor of rookie Kris Abrams-Draine, who was active for the first time in his pro career.

“Well, when you draft these young players at certain positions, it takes more time for those guys to develop to get ready to play for you,” Joseph said. ” Obviously, corner is a position where if you’re not ready, it could be — a bad deal for you.

“But he’s practiced well. He’s smart, he’s engaged in meetings, he’s ready to play. You know, he competed well on Monday night, so the more he plays, the more he’ll improve.”

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Payton also noted Abrams-Draine’s intelligence.

“He’s smart. He’s got a savviness to him,” Payton said. “I think he’s getting stronger physically and I thought he handled his role Monday night, you know, going in there and playing. I thought he had a pretty good game in the kicking game. That’s important. So overall, I was pleased.”

Presumably, that means pleased enough to turn to Abrams-Draine if needed again. But with Joseph taking the burden of responsibility off of Wallace and placing it on his own shoulders, he showed that within the Broncos’ walls, faith remains in the veteran Wallace, who at one point was neck-and-neck with Moss for playing time before a training-camp injury.

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