After Alex Singleton got out his first play call Sunday, he was fine. Before that, things were a bit shaky.

In the Broncos’ 20-12 win over the Tennessee Titans in the opener at Empower Field at Mile High, the linebacker played in his first regular-season game since suffering a season-ending torn ACL injury in Week 3 of 2024.

“I couldn’t really get the first play call out,’’ said Singleton, who calls Denver’s defensive plays. “I was kind of emotional, but we figured it out.”

The Broncos sure did on defense. While the offense had its share of struggles, Denver had six sacks of rookie quarterback Cam Ward by six different players and held the Titans to just 133 yards of total offense.

Singleton had a solid outing, being fourth on the team with six tackles.

“It was just really exciting,’’ he said of his return. “I guess I don’t know how to put it fully into perspective. I was just really happy.”

Singleton played in Denver’s preseason finale Aug. 23 at New Orleans, but he has yet to team up with fellow inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw, who signed as a free agent last March but missed all three preseason games and sat out Sunday due to a quad injury suffered in a July 31 practice. Justin Strnad started for Greenlaw and had a sack.

Strong debut for Hufanga

Safety Talanoa Hufanga made his much-anticipated Broncos regular-season debut, and it went quite well.

Hufanga had a team-high of 10 tackles, nine in the first half. In the second quarter, he forced a fumble by Titans running back Tony Pollard on a hard hit and safety Brandon Jones made the recovery.

“This was an incredible opportunity on a new team for me to be here, (be) part of a great organization,’’ Hufanga, who signed as a free agent last March. “The fans really brought it. … During the fumble, I was just doing whatever they asked me to do.”

After the game, Hufanga spoke to the media wearing a Bo Nix T-shirt. The Broncos quarterback threw two interceptions and lost a fumble against the Titans.

“Whether he throws interceptions, we have to do our part defensively,’’ Hufanga said. “We have to step up, too. I have a lot of confidence in Bo. I wouldn’t be wearing this shirt if I didn’t have confidence in my guy.”

Bonitto has sack after signing big deal

Broncos outside linebacker Nik Bonitto insisted there was no extra pressure on him to perform well Sunday three days after he had signed a four-year, $106 million contract extension.

“Not even,’’ he said.

Bonitto had one of Denver’s sacks. He had played in Denver’s first preseason game but then sat out the final two after he missed time to have a bone spur removed from his foot.

“I’ve been itching to get back out,’’ he said.

Bonitto on Saturday put on social media a picture of him with the news he had signed a marketing deal with Nike. Bonitto told The Denver Gazette after the game the deal actually was signed “a couple of months” ago.

“But they wanted me to announce it (Saturday) because the season was about to start,’’ Bonitto said.

Bonitto said he is “100%” excited about the deal. He laughed when it was suggested he might change his name to “Nike Bonitto.”

Barron takes home a ball

Broncos rookie cornerback Jahdae Barron took home a souvenir from his first NFL regular-season game.

With the Broncos up 20-12 and the Titans facing fourth-and-10 at their 36 with 47 seconds left in the game, cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian sacked Ward and forced a fumble. Barron, taken No. 20 in last April’s draft, fell on it with 41 seconds left to wrap up the game

“We aren’t going to let go of this one,’’ Barron said while holding up the ball, saying he likely will give it to his mother Techonia Davis.

McMillian is Denver’s primary nickel back, however the Broncos found opportunities to get the versatile Barron plays from scrimmage.

“I actually didn’t have (butterflies),’’ Barron said of taking the field. “Preseason, I did. It felt a little weird, a little awkward. But with those fans (Sunday), there weren’t any.”

Badie active, McLaughlin inactive

For the first time in his three-year Broncos career, running back Jaleel McLaughlin was a healthy scratch.

McLaughlin was inactive Sunday. The Broncos instead went with Tyler Badie as their No. 3 running back behind J.K. Dobbins and rookie RJ Harvey.

Badie did not get any rushing attempts but had six targets. He caught two passes for 16 yards, had one drop and the other three targets were not really catchable.

In addition to McLaughlin and Greenlaw, also inactive for Denver were tight end Nate Adkins (ankle) outside linebacker Que Robinson, defensive end Sai’vion Jones, tackle Frank Crum. and quarterback Sam Ehlinger.

Briefly

Broncos coach Sean Payton said he’s tired of questions about the growth of Nix. “We’re not going to have a growth meter in … his second year,’’ Payton said. “I love the player. … He can be a huge reason why we win games, and so we’re not going to have that weekly meter … Broncos tight end Evan Engram was lost for the game in the third quarter with a calf injury. … Broncos rookie punter Jeremy Crawshaw was inconsistent in the preseason but looked good Sunday, punting three times for a gross average of 48.0 and net average of 44.0. … Fans were asked to leave the stadium for the concourse during halftime due to the threat of lighting and players were delayed in returning to the field for warmups. But after halftime extended about five minutes, play resumed.