STANFORD, Calif. --Darian Stewart, T.J. Ward and Louis Vasquez all returned to practice on a limited basis Wednesday as the Broncos continued their preparations for Super Bowl 50 on a cloudy afternoon at Stanford Stadium.

The three players were present at practices prior to the Broncos' departure from Denver, but watched drills from the sideline each day.

"They're listed as limited today," Head Coach Gary Kubiak said after practice, via a pool report. "But I think they're right where they need to be, working toward gameday. They need to get their confidence as the week goes on. But they took the step they needed to take today."

Practicing was a key step forward for Stewart, who has maintained the last 10 days that he would play against the Panthers, but was limited to watching from the sideline and taking mental repetitions during individual periods until this week.

"It's a lot better than it was right after the game," Stewart said before practice Wednesday. "I'm waking up not as stiff and I'm just more confident in it."

Stewart said that his rehabilitation work consisted of "a lot of quad sets and quad strengthening exercises and working on my stability."

"On Monday, I had a good workout," Stewart said. "That built my confidence even more. I'm pain-free with all the movement. That just gave me the go-ahead to just keep pushing it."

Ward was limited with an ankle injury. Vasquez has been dealing with a knee problem. All other Broncos on their injury report had a full practice workload.

During practice, cornerback Aqib Talib intercepted three passes against the scout-team defense, according to the pool report provided after practice.

"Our goal here is to be short and sharp," Kubiak said. "We had a really good start today, I thought. Our retention from last week was very good, and guys were very focused."

FOR THE PANTHERS,DE Jared Allen (foot) was the only player who did not have full participation in their session at San Jose State University. OLB Thomas Davis had a full practice workload despite undergoing surgery to place 12 screws and a plate in his arm to recover from the fracture he suffered in the NFC Championship Game.

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