Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning throws during the team's stadium scrimmage on Saturday, August 4th, 2012. (BroncoTalk.net photo/Kyle Montgomery)

Peyton Manning will take his first snap against a pass rush in over 19 months and his first with the Denver Broncos as the Broncos face the Chicago Bears in each team’s 2012 preseason opener. Manning and the starters are expected to play one or two series during the exhibition game, while backup units will play three quarters or more.

Manning’s neck won’t be the only thing being tested; the reunion of former Broncos stars Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall will debut to a sold out crowd at Soldier Field Thursday night. Furthermore, a suite of backups, rookies, and players on each team’s respective roster bubble will start the four-game competition for their NFL lives Thursday night.

“It’s serious business out there on Thursday,” Peyton Manning said. “There’s jobs being competed for, there’s jobs that people are trying to keep. That’s where all of us have something to play for. Sure, you want to win the game, but everybody’s competing, trying to do their jobs well.”

When: Thursday, August 9, 2012. 6:30 p.m. MT

Where: Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

Watch: KTDV Channel 20 Denver, more

Listen: 850 AM KOA Denver, more

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Be sure to follow me on Twitter for more Broncos updates throughout the day.

Denver Broncos News

Broncos at Bears: Preseason Preview | BroncoTalk
Peyton Manning will take his first snap against a pass rush in over 19 months and his first with the Denver Broncos as the Broncos face the Chicago Bears in each team’s 2012 preseason opener.

Bring On The Bears | DenverBroncos.com
The Broncos finally get to battle another team Thursday night, while Peyton Manning makes his debut for Denver.

Broncos’ Peyton Manning again displays penchant for preparation | Denver Post
By now, we’ve heard story after story about Peyton Manning’s extensive preparations. Wednesday provided another example as the team practiced its pre-game routine, including in which order players will jog onto the field, where they will line up for stretching and where they will gather for the pre-game huddle.

Broncos have to get timing down pat | CBS Sports
At times during the Broncos’ training camp, Peyton Manning and his new wide receivers look as though they’ve worked together for years. At others, they look exactly like they are — a group that, with the exception of Brandon Stokley, is new to the 15-year veteran.
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No, the Denver Broncos are not going to play against a CFL or UFL team in 2012, as the title of this article may suggest.  Rather, they’ll open the season against the Gotham Rogues.

That is, if you consider the Pittsburgh Steelers and Gotham Rogues one and the same, which they are.

The Dark Knight Rises came out in late July and former Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward has been identified in the film’s trailers.  In all, about a dozen Steelers players are in the film, portrayed as members of the Gotham Rogues football team.

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Peyton Manning and other Denver Broncos quarterback prepare to throw as they warm up for the first training camp practice of the 2012 season. (BroncoTalk.net/Kyle Montgomery)

BRONCOS AT BEARS TV SCHEDULE

The Denver Broncos and shiny new quarterback Peyton Manning kick off the 2012 preseason in Illinois to face the Chicago Bears Thursday, August 9th, 2012. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. local time (6:30 MT).

The NFL does not offer live television coverage outside of local markets for most preseason games, and DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket Package does not kick in until the regular season. So, here’s how, where, and when to watch or listen to Thursday’s preseason opener.

• IN DENVER (or surrounding areas)
• IN CHICAGO (or surrounding areas)
• NON-LOCAL (during the game)*
• AFTER THE GAME

*Locals can use this option too.

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Denver Broncos guard Chris Kuper stretches during training camp on July 30, 2012. (BroncoTalk.net photo)

The Denver Broncos are playing it safe with starting right guard Chris Kuper. The seventh-year player, who suffered a gruesome ankle injury during last year’s regular season finale, has steadily seen his workload increase in camp, but the Broncos still will not risk playing him this Thursday.

Kuper told Darren McKee of 104.3 The Fan in Denver that he will travel with the team, but he will be inactive for Thursday’s preseason premiere against the Chicago Bears.

D.J. Williams, who has not been regularly participating in team drills with a six-game suspension looming, will also travel with the team. No word on whether he’ll play.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for more Broncos updates throughout the day.

Denver Broncos News

Returning The Favor | DenverBroncos.com
Ben Garland’s teammates and the Air Force Academy come together to help replace items lost in the Waldo Canyon Fire.

For Peyton Manning and Broncos receivers timing is everything | Denver Post
When the eyes have it, that’s when the Broncos’ offense will be all it can be. Yes, when what isn’t said is just as important as what is — when a look, a nod, just before the snap turns into a touchdown.

Two-minute drill doesn’t go as Manning wanted | CBS Sports
If Broncos QB Peyton Manning can marshal a drive during Thursday night’s preseason opener at Chicago, he hopes it turns out better than the two-minute drill did at Tuesday’s practice.

Broncos Training Camp Practice Report: Day 11 | Max Denver
Brock Osweiler’s fortunes on the practice field will rise and fall, sometimes precipitously, sometimes within the span of two plays. He knows this; it’s part and parcel of being a rookie quarterback.
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(Image courtesy of Joe Mahoney/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

The Denver Broncos and quarterback Peyton Manning will be relieved—or, in Manning’s case, disappointed—to know that Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher has been ruled out for the team’s preseason opener Thursday evening in Chicago. Urlacher has missed six consecutive training camp practices.

Sidelined with a sore knee, Urlacher has been excused from practices by Chicago for “personal reasons,” according to NFP.  The Bears remain confident that Urlacher will be back in time for the regular season.

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(AP Photo)

Football season officially kicked off Sunday night when the New Orleans Saints defeated the Arizona Cardinals 17-10 in the Hall of Fame Game on NFL Network.  The game started the league’s 2012 preseason and debuted Nike’s new uniforms.

And New Orleans’ were awful.

Saints players looked like they had black Count Dracula fangs coming out of their shoulders courtesy of Nike’s contrasting-colored Flywire collar.  The design is one that will be implemented by Nike across most of the NFL starting this season.

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Denver Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil participates in practice on the first day of training camp on Thursday, July 26, 2012. (BroncoTalk.net photo)

“I’ve been confident all along and know I didn’t do anything wrong. It was a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and I’m just ready for football.”

Those are the words of a relieved man — Denver Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil — who found out today that charges will not be filed against him stemming from his arrest in Miami on July 14th. Dumervil was arrested for aggravated assault with a weapon, a class 3 felony with a minimum sentence of three years.

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Denver Broncos coach John Fox and quarterback Peyton Manning during the team's 2012 training camp. (BroncoTalk.net photo)

From Rick Reilly’s piece last weekend —

While everybody in Denver squirms waiting to see whether Manning’s four-times-operated-on neck will hold up when he gets hit hard for the first time in 19 months, Manning himself can hardly wait.

“I’d like to get it over with,” he says. “I really would. I’d kinda just like [Chicago Bears linebacker Brian] Urlacher or somebody to get a good clean shot and just lay me out. Kind of shake the cobwebs out. So I can get up and go, ‘Yeah, OK. I’m ready now.’ And at least Urlacher wouldn’t use me like a footstool to get up, either.”

Count me among the guys squirming for that first hit. We’ve all been told Manning’s neck is 100% — better, even — but we won’t know until someone like an Urlacher or Julius Peppers lights him up during this Thursday’s first preseason game.

Do we want to know? Do we want to have that certainty, one way or another? That’s the magic of the NFL offseason, isn’t it? The potential, the possibilities, the on-paper-championship-ness. It’s a trait shared just about every offseason, but this year’s Manning-driven frenzy has upped the hype quite a bit.

It turns out Urlacher might not even play, but still — I’d rather just keep sitting in La La Land myself. Protect that blind side, Ryan Clady. Let’s keep the mystery going a bit longer.