More healing is necessary but there’s a chance Broncos tight end Julius Thomas will return to play in the AFC West showdown Sunday night at Kansas City.

Thomas missed the Broncos’ 39-36 victory Sunday against Miami and all but a few plays in their previous week’s loss at St. Louis because of a severely sprained left ankle.

“I have had better days, and I have had worse days,” Thomas said Monday. “You hope you just wake up one day and it feels good again, but that didn’t happen last week. But it has improved.”

Thomas made an NFL-record 12 touchdown receptions through nine games. He had such a big lead that two weeks later he still tops all NFL players in touchdowns.

C.J. and the blockers. At their team meeting Monday, the Broncos awarded running back C.J. Anderson with their king spot parking space in the players’ lot this week — his award as the team’s player of the week. Anderson rushed for 167 yards, the most by a Broncos’ undrafted player, against the Dolphins.

The team also will issue game balls to its five starting offensive linemen — Ryan Clady, Orlando Franklin, Will Montgomery, Manny Ramirez and Louis Vasquez — plus tight end Virgil Green and third offensive tackle-eligible Paul Cornick for their yeoman’s blocking work against the Dolphins.

Unstopping the run. Two weeks ago, the Broncos were No. 1 in rushing defense, allowing only 67 yards per game on 3.2 yards per carry. But in their past two games against St. Louis and Miami, Denver’s defense has allowed 228 yards on 54 carries, 4.2 yards per.

“Teams are being tricky now with personnel,” said Broncos defensive tackle Terrance Knighton, who was on the sideline as the Dolphins were doing much of their running damage in the first quarter. “We just have to adjust.”

Re-introducing Omar. Omar Bolden, a fourth-round pick in the 2012 draft, had one of the best games in his three-year career Sunday as he returned three kickoffs for 100 yards and was in on 15 defensive plays as a safety, outside corner and inside corner.

It felt good to feel sore again Monday.

“This is probably the sorest I’ve ever been,” Bolden said. “Because of returning kicks, too — I’m not used to getting tackled.”

Bolden showed promise as a rookie kick returner, going 103 yards for a touchdown in a preseason game at Arizona and averaging 19.3 yards per return in the regular season.

“Then we signed Trindon,” Bolden said, referring to Trindon Holliday, who was a sensational returner in the 2012 season. “That was that.”

Gutsy Fox. A common gripe Broncos fans have with head coach John Fox is he leans on the conservative side. But Fox made two against-the-odds decisions on one late drive Sunday that turned the game in the Broncos’ favor.

It was the final play of the third quarter, his team was down, 28-17 and facing fourth-and-2 on the Miami 41. Fox had his offense go for it rather than punt and play field position. Just as surprisingly, the Broncos didn’t call a Peyton Manning pass, instead handing off to Anderson, who ran for 20.

Then after finishing the drive with a touchdown to make it 28-23, Fox went for the two-point conversion, even though there was more than 14 minutes remaining. The Broncos’ converted when Manning connected with Emmanuel Sanders to make it 28-25.

“When it works, it’s all good,” Fox said. “When it doesn’t work, you’re the village idiot.”

Injury update. Backup cornerback Kayvon Webster (right shoulder) will miss practice time this week and might miss the game against Kansas City. Cornerback Aqib Talib is day-to-day with a pulled hamstring. It probably won’t be known until later in the week whether linebacker Brandon Marshall clears the concussion protocol.

Mike Klis: mklis@denverpost.com or twitter.com/mikeklis