Bailey hopes to put best foot forward

ENGLEWOOD, COLO. As if Champ Bailey wasn’t trying hard enough to recover from the sprained foot that forced him to miss the last 10 days of the preseason, there’s the nagging memory of his last real game that just won’t go away.

Bailey, the Denver Broncos veteran cornerback, has spent all offseason hearing about how he got burned — twice — by Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith for long touchdowns in Denver’s double- overtime playoff loss in January.

It was perhaps the worst game of Bailey’s 15- year career, and he has had to watch the replays over and over as the Broncos studied tape to prepare for Thursday’s season- opening rematch at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

“It’ll be good to go back and redeem myself a little bit,” Bailey said Monday.

He likely won’t know until Thursday if he’s going to get that chance because of the foot injury.

Bailey has healed fairly quickly — ditching his crutches and the walking boot in less than two weeks — but has yet to be cleared to return to practice.

He has been on the field in a jersey, but not in cleats or wearing a helmet, for the first two practices this week.

He’ll speak with Denver’s trainers and coaches today to decide if he can go through the final practice.

He’ll go through the same process again before they collectively decide Thursday if he will play against the Ravens.

“It’s my feet, so I have to make sure I’m making a smart decision,” Bailey told USA TODAY Sports. “It just depends on how it feels. There is a fine line there.

“You don’t want to risk it getting worse, but I definitely don’t want to miss any games either.”

Bailey isn’t the only Broncos defensive back hoping for a shot at redemption against the Ravens. Safeties Rahim Moore and Mike Adams and backup cornerback Tony Carter each had plays in that playoff loss they’d like to forget.

For Moore and Carter, it was Jacoby Jones’ 70- yard tying touchdown in the final minute of regulation.

Carter gave Jones a free release from the line of scrimmage, and Jones got behind Moore, the free safety.

Moore badly misjudged Joe Flacco’s throw to the right sideline, then failed to knock the ball down or be in position to tackle Jones once the receiver made the catch.

Jones’ touchdown, known around Denver as the “Fail Mary,” might have been the most replayed play of the offseason.

Moore insists he hasn’t dwelled on it and said not having a Twitter or Facebook account helped him avoid being engulfed in negativity.

“It’s not about me, it’s about the team. I’m a team player,” Moore said.

“We all lost together. We all suffered. The good thing about it is that it’s a whole new year.

“Nobody remembers what you did last year.”

RON CHENOY, USA TODAY SPORTS Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey is working toward being cleared from a sprained foot that sidelined him at the end of the preseason.