ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Wes Welker celebrated Labor Day by practicing for the first time since sustaining a concussion on Aug. 23. That meant Peyton Manning had his front-line offence intact as the Denver Broncos began preparations in earnest for their opener against his former team, the Indianapolis Colts, on Sunday night. Welker donned his up-sized helmet and ran short routes during the 20-minute viewing period open to the media at the start of practice, He added a few minutes of extra work with rookie Cody Latimer afterward. With injury reports not required until Wednesday, coach John Fox was coy when asked how much work Welker did in between. "Hes still in the (concussion) protocol. Hes still exercising. I feel good about his progress. Well keep you posted," Fox said. Welker declined to talk with reporters on his way inside team headquarters after practice, saying he had to rush to a team function. His concussion in a preseason game against the Houston Texans was his third since Nov. 17. In a sign that his latest head injury wasnt as serious as last years pair of concussions in a three-week span, Welker ran a few routes in a pregame workout for starters who didnt play in the exhibition finale at Dallas on Thursday night. Welkers return to action leaves the Broncos with just two key players sidelined: linebacker Danny Trevathan (leg) and kicker Matt Prater (suspension). Key backups Ronnie Hillman and Kayvon Webster were limited in the early portion of practice four days after falling ill during the Broncos exhibition finale at Dallas. Welkers return to the lineup would allow the Broncos to keep burner Emmanuel Sanders on the outside and available to stretch the field by going deep along with Demaryius Thomas. Welker caught 73 passes for 778 yards and a career-high 10 TDs last season despite missing most of the final month. He returned for the playoffs and grabbed 18 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown. His latest head injury came when he tried to duck following a catch over the middle and absorbed a helmet hit by D.J. Swearinger that sent his head recoiling off the ground. That drew a 15-yard penalty for Swearinger and the wrath of Manning. The quarterback raced up to say some choice words to the swaggering safety after throwing a long TD pass to Sanders on the next play. The five-time MVP was whistled for the first taunting penalty of his career and was fined $8,268, money Manning called well spent. The NFL, meanwhile, deemed Swearingers hit legal. Mannings feistiness further galvanized the Broncos, who are trying to become an edgier team in their quest to get back to the Super Bowl and win it this time. Several starters who skipped the Super Bowl while rehabbing from injuries are back, including Mannings blindside protector, Ryan Clady, and defenders Von Miller, Chris Harris Jr., Rahim Moore, Derek Wolfe, Quinton Carter and Quanterus Smith. At the top of GM John Elways to-do list following Denvers dud against Seattle was to toughen up his defence -- yes, sort of like the Seahawks. So, he added DeMarcus Ware, T.J. Ward and Aqib Talib in free agency and Bradley Roby in the draft. Only three defenders who started in the Super Bowl are still starters seven months later: tackles Terrance Knighton and Sylvester Williams, and linebacker Nate Irving. Among Elways toughest cuts last weekend were defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson and safety Duke Ihenacho, who was snatched up by Washington. "Its a situation you want to be in, having to make a lot of tough decisions," Elway said. "This is by far the deepest team since Ive been here and the toughest decisions weve had since Ive been here." This should also be the toughest team hes had in Denver. And not just on defence. The offence has a new edge to it, too, as evidenced by Mannings feistiness. "Thats how we are," Talib said. "He was defending his teammate. Thats what hes about -- all of us." NOTES: Five Broncos were voted captains by their peers Monday: Manning, Thomas, Ware, Knighton and David Bruton. ... The Broncos filled out their practice squad by signing DE Zach Thompson, a rookie from Wake Forest who was in training camp with the Jets. Air Max 95 Sale .com Tours Nova Scotia Open. The 27-year-old Sloan, a former Texas-El Paso player from Calgary matched first-round leader Rodriguez at 10-under 132 on Ashburn Golf Clubs New Course. Wholesale Air Max 95 . -- Adam Tambellini scored three times and set up one more as the Calgary Hitmen won their sixth in a row by crushing the host Lethbridge Hurricanes 8-1 on Saturday in Western Hockey League play. http://www.airmax95sale.com/. Keenum will make his first appearance in a regular-season game against the rugged defence of the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, where the fans just set a Guinness record as the noisiest outdoor stadium in the world. Air Max 95 Outlet .Y. - Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby captured his second career Art Ross trophy on Sunday after leading the NHL in scoring this season. Air Max 95 From China . Louis Blues and Buffalo Sabres came to an agreement on a big trade that may only offer incremental improvement to the Blues in their quest for a Stanley Cup.BOCA RATON, Florida - NHL General Managers convened for the first of three days of meetings and picked up on a discussion that has been ongoing for the last few years and picked up traction the last time the group met back in Toronto in November: namely how to reduce the number of games that are decided in a shootout. “The shootout, theres nothing wrong with it, I think its an exciting part of the game but its just one small aspect,” said Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman. “Its a skill exhibition. If you can get it back closer to regular hockey and have it decided that way; that would be my preference.” “I dont think its a knock on the shootout, I think more of the managers would like to see it end in overtime,” added Washington Capitals GM George McPhee. “Shootouts fun though, people like it, kids love it.” In 2011, 14.7% of games were not decided by the end overtime. While it fell to 13.5% in 2012, the number has been on the rise again, climbing to 14.1% in 2013 and 14.3% so far this season. Collectively, the sentiment among the group continues to trend towards the desire to see more games end in regulation or overtime but the methods to go about achieving that are being disputed. Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland has long been an advocate of featuring three on three play after five minutes of four on four overtime. While he pushed for it back in November, the concept appeared to have little support this morning. The problem is that because it occuurs so rarely in games, its difficult to truly understand what impact it might have on the game before implementing it.dddddddddddd “You see three on three for maybe a minute or forty five seconds and the one team might just be waiting to get their power play so they might attack a little bit differently than if it was a full two minutes,” said Blues GM Doug Armstrong. “To see it, you have to see it for the full two minutes with everyone at even strength.” So far, the ideas that appear to be gaining the most support are more subtle by nature, avoiding a drastic alteration in the game the way extending overtime or shifting to three on three would. Potentially changing ends to start overtime so that teams would have to stray farther from their own end to change as they do during the second period of regulation and doing a dry scrape of the ice after regulation instead of waiting until before the shootout seemed to pick up some traction. While it wouldnt be a radical difference, Stars GM Jim Nill pointed to the inclusion of the rule preventing players from changing after icing the puck prior to the 2005-2006 season as a subtle tweak that had a positive impact. “Its amazing how some little things can have a big impact,” Nill said. “Years ago if you would have said if you iced the puck and had to stay on the ice, everybody would have said its not that big of a deal. But it is a big deal. Its amazing how little things can change the game.” ' ' '