The Denver Broncos run probably the most complicated defensive scheme in the league and one of the most, if not the most, complicated offensive schemes (the Shanahan scheme) in the league. As such getting players, particularly rookies, familiar with the scheme on both sides of the ball was going to take time. How long? Well, given the evidence, I’d say four regular season games (plus preseason and in some cases training camp).
Game-day inactives
| game 1 | game 2 | game 3 | game 4 | game 5 |
| Todd Davis | Todd Davis | River Cracraft | Kareem Jackson | Adam Gotsis |
| Bryce Callahan | Bryce Callahan | Bryce Callahan | Bryce Callahan | Bryce Callahan |
| Juwann Winfree | Juwann Winfree | Alexander Johnson | Juwann Winfree | Juwann Winfree |
| Andy Janovich | Andy Janovich | Andy Janovich | Troy Fumagalli | Troy Fumagalli |
| Joe Jones | Joe Jones | Joe Jones | Joe Jones | Josey Jewell |
| Corey Levin | Ja'Wuan James | Ja'Wuan James | Ja'Wuan James | Ja'Wuan James |
| Dre’Mont Jones | Mike Purcell | Mike Purcell | Mike Purcell | Calvin Anderson |
Note that Mike Purcell was active for this game (and played really well despite not showing up much on the stat sheet).