Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib summoned cameramen and reporters with a lively urgency to deliver a message that has been trending this way for the last week.

“I’m back, baby,” Talib screamed. “I feel great. My back feels great. I had a three-week break, so my legs feel fresh. I feel super fresh right now.”

In seven games with Talib, the Broncos have allowed an average of 175 yards passing per game. In Talib’s three-game absence because of a lower-back injury, the Broncos allowed an average of 255.7 yards passing per game. So it’s safe to say Talib’s excitement was reciprocated throughout team headquarters.

Along with Talib, defensive end Derek Wolfe (fractured elbow) returned to practice Monday. Quarterback Trevor Siemian (left shoulder) and fullback Andy Janovich (broken hand) are trending toward being 100 percent again.

Coming off their bye week, the Broncos (7-3) are refueled and prepared for a difficult stretch run that will test their resolve to win a sixth consecutive AFC West title. The gauntlet starts with Sunday night’s home game against the Kansas City Chiefs (7-3), who have been Denver’s toughest division competition since 2012.

“We’re in a great position. We’re in the same position we’ve been in the last five years. It’s on us,” cornerback Chris Harris said of the Broncos and the AFC West race. “We’ve got a chance to win it. We’ve got a chance to take it. We hold our own destiny.”

But the Broncos’ areas of weakness couldn’t be more apparent. The coaching staff used the bye week to make adjustments to correct those issues. Each position group received individual challenges and expectations for the stretch run, with the margin of error becoming minuscule.

“It wasn’t really a message. It was just facts,” Talib said. “It was what we’re giving up, it’s what we’re doing well, it’s how teams were attacking us. We’re 7-3; why wouldn’t the bye be good for us?”

Denver’s offensive line will need to show the biggest improvement as the key component in a struggling passing and running game.

Coach Gary Kubiak said there is competition between Donald Stephenson and Ty Sambrailo at right tackle on the offensive line. Both will play, and Kubiak said the Broncos could play seven offensive linemen overall. At right tackle, there will be a week-long battle to determine who starts and receives the majority of the snaps.

“I looked at the situation and we’ve told them, ‘Whoever plays the best is going to stay in there,’ ” Kubiak said. “We need to improve up front at that spot. We need more consistency at that spot.”

The shift from Stephenson as the undisputed starter at right tackle came after back-to-back poor performances against the Oakland Raiders’ Khalil Mack and the New Orleans Saints’ Cameron Jordan. Stephenson was benched in the second half against the Saints.

Sambrailo, a former Colorado State star who was the Broncos’ second-round pick in the 2015 draft, attributed his struggles to getting reacclimated after a two-month absence because of a hyperextended elbow and switching between guard and tackle. An increase in reps at tackle has led to Sambrailo’s resurgence and praise from the coaching staff.

“It’s starting to flow together. I feel a little more in control,” Sambrailo said. “Before I didn’t feel like I had as much command over my technique, my sets, hands, eyes. Now I’m in control of all the little things.”