**
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- **The Broncos' first joint practice with the Chip Kelly-led 49ers was marred by the sight of Derek Wolfe being helped off the field after rolling his ankle on the first play of a team period late in the session.
"Hopefully he has a speedy recovery, because we need him," OLB Shane Ray said.
Ray and the Broncos got their wish. An MRI on the ankle revealed no extensive damage, and his time away from practice is expected to be minimal.
And during Wednesday's practice, his absence did not prevent the defense from having a strong practice, particularly in the move-the-ball period that concluded the day's work.
NOTES:
... All three lines of defense stopped the 49ers at the end of practice. San Francisco began each possession at its 40-yard line with one timeout and 1:20 on the clock, but failed to get past midfield on any series.
The 49ers' first team only lasted three plays against the Broncos' No. 1 defense. Justin Simmons ended the series by reading Blaine Gabbert's pass to Blake Bell, stepping in front of the pass near the sideline to end the drive.
Heavy pressure, including some solid rushes from Billy Winn and Adam Gotsis, led to a turnover on downs forced by the No. 2 defense against San Francisco's second-team offense. Rookie quarterback Jeff Driskel misfired on four passes under pressure, leading to the stop.
Former Broncos quarterback Christian Ponder led the No. 3 offense, and in his first on-field work as a 49er, he fared no better. After John Tidwell nearly intercepted Ponder in the left flat, Kayvon Webster finished the job one play later, picking off Ponder in the same area.
.. On the other field, the Broncos' offense went 1-for-2 in its two-minute drill work. Mark Sanchez led the No. 1 offense on a downfield sprint, going 4-for-4 for 60 yards, including a deep touchdown strike to Emmanuel Sanders.
... Siemian's drive with the No. 2 offense did not go well. A Tank Carradine sack on the first play forced the offense back into second-and-17 at its 33, and it never recovered.
A 3-yard gain and a third-down incompletion forced by pressure from Corey Lemonier -- who burst through an attempted blitz pickup from Ronnie Hillman -- set up fourth-and-14 from the 36. Siemian promptly uncorked a deep pass up the left sideline for Taylor, but he failed to come down with it in single coverage.
"Trevor makes a great throw in the two-minute drill; we've got to make the play," Head Coach Gary Kubiak said.
The double horn blew to end practice before the Broncos' No. 3 offense and San Francisco's No. 3 defense could run a series.
... All three quarterbacks did well in the seven-on-seven red-zone period. Sanchez threw two touchdown passes -- one each to Sanders and Jordan Norwood -- in six attempts. Siemian fired touchdown passes to Virgil Green and Jordan Taylor, and Paxton Lynch hit Durron Neal for a beautiful leaping touchdown grab.
... Kubiak did not name a starting quarterback for Saturday's game. "I'll probably work on that tomorrow," he said. However, he had praise for all three quarterbacks after practice.
"I thought they did a really good job," Kubiak said. "It's good for them to see different stuff, so they were looking at different coverages and those types of things."
... Multiple scuffles broke out during practice. James Ferentz, Dillon Day, Virgil Green and San Francisco's Eli Harold and Aaron Lynch were involved in skirmishes. Another came during a field-goal period and involved Donald Stephenson and 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman.
"There were a couple of situations. You're always adjusting to how each team practices," Kubiak said. "But I thought it was pretty good. Usually when they start talking too much, something gets [askew]. That's what causes these things -- not so much the football."
... Riley Dixon handled all the holding work on Brandon McManus' placekicks during Wednesday's practice. McManus was 7-for-7 on attempts ranging from 23 to 48 yards.
**
The Broncos welcomed the San Francisco 49ers to UCHealth Training Center on Wednesday for the first of two joint practices.
INJURY REPORT:**
... TE Jeff Heuerman joined Garrett Graham on the sideline early in practice. Heuerman was pulled because of a hamstring issue. He battled a hamstring injury during OTAs, which kept him out of team-period work for three weeks.
... OL Robert Myers Jr., S Ryan Murphy, CB Taurean Nixon, WR Bennie Fowler and OL Ty Sambrailo remained sidelined. PARTICIPATION REPORT:
... OL Kyle Roberts saw some first-team work at right tackle late in practice. "He [went] in there and [did] some good stuff," Kubiak said.
... Injuries to Heuerman and Graham and the need to ease John Phillips back into full work after he missed two weeks because of an ankle injury left the bulk of the tight end repetitions to Virgil Green and Henry Krieger-Coble.
WEATHER REPORT:The final training-camp practice open to fans took place under sunny skies with temperatures that rose from 73.0°F/23°C to 82°F/28°C during the session.
