ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Brandon Marshall shook his head when thinking back to Saturday and came up with only one word to describe his play.



“Shitty,” he said. “Shitty, to say the least.”



The Broncos’ starting cast came away with a similar feeling. The offense sputtered with a pair of three-and-outs, the defense was gashed with two big runs and a touchdown allowed, and before they all knew it, they were on the sideline watching their backups trying to reverse course.



It’s just preseason, but the first exhibition game left many wanting more, wanting better.



Marshall was among them.



On the Vikings’ opening drive, he whiffed on a tackle of running back Latavius Murray that led to a 20-yard gain, then struggled to get off a block as Murray gained another 21 yards. It wasn’t how Marshall envisioned his return to the field after seven months of training and altering his physique, but...