ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Alex Singleton and Dre Greenlaw will finally line up alongside each other in the middle of Denver's defense when the Broncos open their season Sunday against the Tennessee Titans and No. 1 overall draft pick Cam Ward.

“It's going to be great,” defensive tackle D.J. Jones said Monday. “They're two veteran players who know what to do. Having them out there is going to be amazing.”

Both of the Broncos' starting inside linebackers are coming off multiple injuries, both major ones that sidelined them much of last season and some nagging setbacks over the summer.

Greenlaw, a prized free agent addition for the Broncos, appeared in just two games last season as he recovered from a torn Achilles tendon he sustained in the Super Bowl in the 2023 season and also a calf injury. He didn't play in the preseason or participate in Denver's joint practices with the 49ers and Cardinals after dealing with a troublesome thigh that limited his offseason work.

Singleton participated in the Broncos’ joint practice with the Cardinals and logged a dozen snaps against the Saints in Denver’s preseason finale after spending the offseason recovering from a torn ACL in his left knee that he sustained in Week 3 last September. He also missed about a week of practice this summer after undergoing surgery on his left thumb, which he broke in training camp July 28.

Three days later, Greenlaw came up limping and coach Sean Payton said the seventh-year pro was dealing with scar tissue from a quadriceps injury in April that sidelined him through Denver's offseason program.

Singleton said he's been eagerly awaiting the duo's debut ever since Greenlaw joined the Broncos in free agency.

“Crazy, beyond excited,” Singleton said. "He's one of the best players in this league, so being in meetings with him every day, picking his brain and just seeing how we're going to work off one another it's awesome.

“I love every single day coming to work with him. It's been a ton of fun. He plays fast, he plays violent, physical, everything you want out of a linebacker. So, to be able to play together, play off each other, it's special. I'm enjoying every second of it. I can't wait until we get to put it on display what we're going to do.”

Their workload will be monitored closely, especially Greenlaw, who logged just 36 snaps last season.

“He (didn't play) in the preseason, but he’s gotten a lot of work," said Payton, who has compared Greenlaw's physical play to former boxing great Mike Tyson. “We are being smart. We’re being conservative relative to the approach. It’s a long season. So most importantly, having him not only healthy early on, but for the long haul is the goal.”

Payton is also relieved to have Singleton back.

“He’s a great communicator," Payton said. "There are a couple of things that I’m not going to say are musts, but are certainly pluses for inside linebackers. No. 1 are instincts, tackling, but he is a calming influence relative to getting the defense lined up. He wears the green dot, his leadership. So all those things outside of just his ability to play and tackle. He communicates well, he’s I’m sure considered one of our leaders.

"So it’s hard to replace that when there’s a lot of intangible things that you lose when you lose a player like that.”

Greenlaw said when he got to Denver he quickly realized he and Singleton are a lot alike.

“I see a lot of the same leadership qualities in Alex,” Greenlaw said. "Alex is a vocal guy when he needs to be. He’s also a tackling machine. Just having somebody like that, I just knew that somebody who is going to go out there and that’s going to battle, that’s going to fight, that’s going to give it all they’ve got every play. I saw that in Alex that I see in myself, so I thought this was going to be a great little duo.”

Titans' revamped offensive line faces big test against Broncos strong defense

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans knew if they drafted a quarterback with the No. 1 pick overall that they would have to improve the offensive line.

The time has arrived that they start finding out just how well the renovation turned out.

Cam Ward and the Titans open this season Sunday at Denver against a Broncos defense that led the NFL with 63 sacks and ranked second defending the run.

“We got a real stiff test, so we’re going to find out," Titans coach Brian Callahan said Monday. “But I feel good about where we’re at. I think a lot of it’s due to the work put in. We're a more talented group up front, I think from positions one through five.”

The Titans certainly revamped the line. Only l eft guard Peter Skoronski stayed in the same spot with JC Latham moving from left tackle to right as the team's only offensive linemen to play every snap in 2024. The other returner is center Lloyd Cushenberry limited to eight games by an Achilles tendon injury.

They signed left tackle Dan Moore Jr. and veteran right guard Kevin Zeitler in free agency.

General manager Mike Borgonzi said the protection has been good through the preseason and he feels good about the offensive line. The Titans went 2-1 with joint practices against Tampa Bay and Atlanta and a preseason finale against Minnesota.

Tennessee tied with New England in allowing 52 sacks last season, ahead of only Houston, Seattle, Cleveland and Chicago. That helped the Titans rank ahead of just Cleveland with a minus-16 turnover differential in the NFL.

That made improving the line an offseason priority.

“The biggest thing was protecting him (Ward), and I think we’ve done that with the offensive line,” Borgonzi said. “There’s going to be bumps in the road as you go along the season here. But we feel good about the group that we have out there right now.”

They have nine linemen on the roster and four more on the practice squad for crucial depth. One brought back to the practice squad is Corey Levin, who has played 71 games going into his seventh NFL season. He worked at center all offseason with Cushenberry recovering.

Denver coach Sean Payton isn't surprised at what the Titans did, especially having worked with Tennessee offensive line coach Bill Callahan before.

"He is a fantastic line coach, and I’m sure they felt they had to get better in that area and they committed a lot of resources there,” Payton said.

The Titans signed Cushenberry to a four-year deal in March 2024. He returned from the physically unable to perform list Aug. 18 and didn't play in the preseason. Callahan said Monday that Cushenberry has worked with Ward to build chemistry snapping the ball.

“Yeah, we would like more, but I think they’ve made up for lost time pretty quickly here," Callahan said. "And Lloyd’s a real pro. He’s a vet. He knows how to get ready.”

Cushenberry said he never doubted he would be back for opening week, bugging trainers on the timeline. He wants to prove to himself that he deserved the big deal he got, and Cushenberry said all the offensive linemen know talking does nothing.

“We've got to go prove it and get better from last year,” Cushenberry said.

Run blocking also is an area Tennessee has plenty of room to improve off last season when the Titans went 3-14. They tied for 19th in the league in averaging 109.1 yards rushing a game. Offensive coordinator Nick Holz said they see improvement there especially with Latham and Zeitler on the right side.

“There’s just more balance through the O-line,” Holz said. "I think then you can kind of not just be a left-handed dominant run team, which we were at times last year. And now you hopefully can kind of run to both sides a little bit and have a little better feel for that.”

Drew Gilbert homers and gets 4 hits as Giants top Rockies 8-2

DENVER (AP) — Drew Gilbert had a career-high four hits, including one of San Francisco's three home runs, and the surging Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 8-2 on Monday.

Rafael Devers and Willy Adames also went deep for San Francisco (69-69), which has won eight of nine to pull within five games of the New York Mets for the last National League playoff berth.

Gilbert, who made his major league debut Aug. 8, has seven hits over the past two games.

Kai-Wei Teng (2-3) allowed two runs and struck out a career-best eight in 5 1/3 innings, his longest major league outing. Teng was making a spot start for the Giants in place of injured Carson Whisenhunt.

Giants second baseman Casey Schmitt exited with a bruised right elbow after getting hit by a pitch from starter Chase Dollander.

Dollander (2-12) plunked two batters and walked three in five innings for the Rockies (39-99), on the verge of their third straight 100-loss season.

Devers hit a solo homer in the first, his 29th of the season, and Gilbert added a two-run shot in the third. Dollander walked home a run in the fifth and Dominic Smith made it 6-0 with a two-run single.

Yanquiel Fernández's RBI double in the sixth made it 6-2, but Adames answered with his 26th homer, a two-run shot in the seventh.

Key moments

Teng thwarted Colorado in consecutive innings. The Rockies had runners on the corners with one out in the second, but he struck out Kyle Karros and Fernández. In the third, Teng fanned Hunter Goodman and Jordan Beck after a pair of one-out singles.

Key stats

San Francisco extended its home run streak to 15 games, longest in the majors this season. The previous time the Giants homered in 15 straight games was July 22 to Aug. 7, 2001.

Up next

Giants RHP Logan Webb (12-9, 3.16 ERA) faces Colorado LHP Kyle Freeland (3-13, 5.28) on Tuesday night.