Running back group may get even stronger

The Broncos have so far relied solely on the legs of C.J. Anderson and Jamaal Charles in the run game. Rookie De’Angelo Henderson has yet to get his first carry, and Devontae Booker is still working his way back from a wrist injury.

There’s a chance Booker could return for the Broncos’ game at Buffalo on Sunday, but coach Vance Joseph refused to make any promises.

“Not sure,” Joseph said Monday. “He has to get in football shape. He hasn’t played since the spring, really.”

Against the Dallas Cowboys, Anderson and Charles combined for 164 yards rushing as Anderson took the bulk of the snaps. In two games, he’s had 45 total carries, putting him on pace for 360 this season.

“Everybody makes it seem like a lot of us in the National Football League didn’t have a workload before,” Anderson said. “Maybe it wasn’t at the highest level of football, but I’ve had games — you can look it up — I’ve had 34 carries in games and 40-something carries in games. I’m 26 years old, so it’s fine.”

Joseph has said Anderson is the bell cow back, but the Broncos’ running back rotation is “a work in progress.”

“C.J. is in great shape,” Joseph said. “He’s playing great football right now. Jamaal comes in the game for 10-12 snaps and runs really hard. I think Jamaal in going to get better and better as we go. Obviously, C.J. is having a good run right now. Once we get (Booker) back in the fold, it’s going to be a three-man punch there. And, De’Angelo is still healthy enough to play. We’re going to have four backs that we can feature each weekend.”

Cautious with Roby. Broncos cornerback Bradley Roby was seen wearing a boot on his foot in the locker room Monday. Roby played 62 defensive and 13 special-teams snaps against the Cowboys on Sunday and was not among the named injured players after. The boot is said to be simply a precaution.

T.O. mistake. Joseph said the decision to use a timeout with 1:38 remaining in the first half after a 7-yard completion by the Cowboys was his mistake.

“The timeout was on me,” Joseph said. “I had three timeouts, and offensively we were rolling pretty good. …I was going to stack the timeouts. I was standing where I couldn’t see the gain. It was (a 7)-yard gain, so I shouldn’t have called that timeout. I was hoping to win the first down and call a timeout, put them in second-and-long and a timeout again. Put them in third down, timeout again and get the ball back with a 1:10. So that was strictly on me.”

Footnotes. The Broncos will re-sign undrafted nose tackle Tyrique Jarrett back to the practice squad after he clears waivers, according to a league source. … Joseph handed out honorary game balls to Anderson, quarterback Trevor Siemian, the entire offensive line, wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, the entire defense and long snapper Casey Kreiter.