ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — When Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall told Pro Football Talk Live that he thought Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski got away with pushing off 98 percent of the time, he didn’t think there would be any backlash.
Then he checked his Twitter mentions.
“I didn’t think that they would blow up like that,’’ Marshall said. “I definitely wasn’t aware that all the Patriots fans would be in my Twitter calling me all kinds of explicit names. I didn’t think that would happen. I said what I said, I can’t take it back. I just have to be ready to cover him.’’
His comments sparked a war of words and when they got back to Gronkowski, the tight end responded with a one-liner not fit for print.
Marshall didn’t back away from the point he made, though.
“You definitely want to be physical, I think, within the 5-yard mark ’’ Marshall said. “You don’t want to get a flag, but you want to put hands on him because the guy is like a freight train running at you. He’s a big body, so you want to be physical and you want to be on him. It’s a tough matchup, but I think we’re all equipped for it.’’
There was a theory the Broncos only brought up Gronkowski pushing off to make sure it was on the referees’ radar come game day. Marshall shot that down.
“I feel like in these games, they’re going to let you play anyway,’’ Marshall said. “So if there’s a slight grab or something like that, they might overlook it because they don’t want a flag to maybe necessarily [change] the outcome of the game.
“So I don’t know if anything I say or anyone else says will have the refs saying, ‘OK, we’ve got to look out for that.’ I doubt that’s going to happen.’’
Harris on mendAfter a full week of practice, Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said he’s confident that the shoulder injury that hampered cornerback Chris Harris last week shouldn’t affect him as much Sunday.
Harris was listed as probable on the injury report, as were the other 11 Broncos on the report.
“He’s had a good week,’’ Kubiak said. “Everything I’ve seen in practice this week tells me Chris is fine to go. I think with every player, you watch him, but he’s had a really good week and I think he’s feeling a lot better than he did going into last week’s game.’’
Harris, who played 96 percent of the Broncos defensive snaps during the regular season, was on the field for just 75 percent of the defense’s plays last week against Pittsburgh, but participated fully in practice this week and said he felt more comfortable being physical with receivers.
However, a sore hip limited cornerback Bradley Roby in Friday’s practice. He was pulled in the back half of practice, Kubiak said, mostly for precautionary reasons.
“He actually said something to [trainer Steve Antonopulos] in the morning,’’ Kubiak said. “He came out and he worked a little bit and just said hey, that’s enough. He should be fine. He should be ready to go, we’re just trying to be smart today.’’
Happy with outcomeHow close was Emmanuel Sanders to becoming a Patriot three years ago? “About eight hours,’’ he said. The Patriots signed Sanders to a one-year, $2.5 million offer sheet in April 2013 after he caught 44 passes for 626 yards and a touchdown with the Steelers. If the Steelers didn’t match the offer, the Patriots would have had to give up a third-round pick in exchange for Sanders, but the Steelers matched the offer just before the deadline. Sanders had no problems going back and playing opposite Antonio Brown, he said, but that was his last season in Pittsburgh. He signed a three-year, $15 million deal with the Broncos in 2014 and he’s been one of the league’s top receivers ever since. “It all worked out for the best,’’ Sanders said . . . Former Broncos Terrell Davis, John Lynch, and Steve Atwater will be honorary captains for Sunday’s game. Kubiak played with Atwater and coached Davis and Lynch. “They’re great players, great Broncos, great players in this league but great people,’’ Kubiak said. “So it’ll be a special day all around and having them with us to start, that’d be pretty cool.’’
Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com.
