The Broncos began team stretches at practice when a familiar song played on the loudspeaker.  

The first tune Friday to start the media viewing period at Broncos Park? The orchestral Monday Night Football theme song, of course. 

“Playing Monday Night Football is always a dream come true,” Broncos running back J.K. Dobbins told reporters after practice. “You grew up watching it as a little kid. You’ve got the Monday Night song. Everybody knows about it, and the whole world is watching.” 

The Broncos (1-2) host the Bengals (2-1) with the NFL spotlight on Empower Field at Mile High. Dobbins embraces that exposure. Because consecutive walk-off losses have created a palpable sense of urgency. 

“We came together and we’re trying to figure out how to finish games,” Dobbins said. “This week, we have a good chance to show that in front of the whole entire world. And I think we will do that.” 

Dobbins is established among the Broncos’ most explosive weapons over three games. The veteran running back averaged 7.5 yards per carry against the Chargers. Dobbins exploded for a long run of 41 yards. He scored his third touchdown this season. But the team’s lacking offensive rhythm led to Dobbins getting just 11 carries in the 23-20 defeat. 

“A loss is a loss to me. I hate it all the time. Like, I hate it more than I love winning, especially to my old team. That hurt a little bit,” Dobbins said. “But I know how it goes. I know that we have the people, and we have the talent and everything to fix that. Because we’re losing the game. The other team is not beating us. We’re just losing the game. And I think that we’re going to change that. I think that once we figure it out, we’ll know how to win.” 

The Bengals were blown out last week, 48-10, by the Vikings. Backup quarterback Jake Browning will get the start on Monday night with starter Joe Burrow on injured reserve (turf toe).  

“Their quarterback is down, of course,” Dobbins said. “But they’re a great team still overall. They’ve got talent everywhere. It’s going to be a good fight.” 

Dobbins has established himself as a team leader over a short period of time. 

“He was immediately himself. It didn’t take long to get to know him,” tight end Evan Engram said on Friday. “We’re locker mates and we’re vets running it together. He brings a lot of great energy. … It translates to the field and I’m looking forward to him being a huge part of offense going forward this year.” 

Clean injury report 

The Broncos, finally, have a healthy roster. 

Every active player on the 53-man roster and practice squad was in attendance Friday at Broncos Park. That included full participation from tight end Nate Adkins (ankle), outside linebacker Nik Bonitto (wrist), Engram (back), defensive end John Franklin-Myers (hip) and inside linebacker Alex Singleton (thumb) on the injury report. 

Inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw (quad) and defensive lineman Malcolm Roach (calf) remain on injured reserve.

Offense in progress 

The Broncos’ offense was stuck facing third-and-long all throughout their loss to the Chargers. They punted seven times. Denver had nine first downs and 10 penalties.  

Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi addressed that lack of rhythm after Friday practice at Broncos Park. 

“I think it is mostly execution,” Lombardi said. “If you have a good run and a good pass, then that run-pass sequence looks pretty good. Seeing what happened on first down and then what situation you’re in on second down, it’s easy to say: ‘We’re going to go run here.’ If you’re second-and-11, you might want to get back on track with a high-percentage completion. So, there’s a lot that goes into it.” 

Lombardi also discussed running back usage. Dobbins has emerged as the lead back playing on 54% of all offensive snaps. Rookie RJ Harvey has played on 30% of all offensive snaps. The Broncos enter each game with a rough plan for how to distribute carries. But that can change based on which running back, including Tyler Badie, has the hot hand.  

“As we mature at the running back position, we can just kind of rotate them in,” Lombardi said. “Then there are certain plays that we feel J.K. maybe plays to his strengths a little bit more, a few plays maybe it plays to RJ Harvey’s strength a little more and then plays where we can just roll them. I think we’re getting to that point where we can rotate them in. … I think long-term, (for) the running backs’ health, it’s going to be very beneficial to those guys to be able to split the load like that.”

Briefly  

Wide receiver Trent Sherfield was named the Week 4 NFL Players Association Community MVP, the NFLPA announced on Friday. Sherfield and his family recently helped distribute diapers, wipes, baby food and formula in partnership with Colorado’s largest diaper bank (WeeCycle). … Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is focused on a common thread between consecutive Denver losses. On Friday, Joseph said: “Right now, the penalties are killing us, and it’s been two weeks of that. I have to coach that out of our players.”