The talk from the NFL office a couple of months back was Brandon Marshall better brace for an absence of four to eight games for his off-field conduct.

So the announcement Thursday that the Broncos receiver will miss only one game, plus another game check in fines, has to be considered a best-case scenario for the team and player.

Marshall will miss the Sept. 8 opener at Oakland but will be in uniform when Denver faces AFC West favorite San Diego on Sept. 14.

"I'm happy," Marshall said from Arizona, where the Broncos close their preseason schedule tonight. "I'm glad for the opportunity to be there for my teammates against the Chargers, a division rival. And I'm going to do my best Week 1 to stay physically and mentally up to par."

On Aug. 5, Marshall was assessed a three-game suspension under the NFL's code of conduct because of three arrests in a year. Commissioner Roger Goodell gave Marshall the ability to pare the penalty to two games if he stayed out of trouble and received counseling.

But Marshall returned to New York on Tuesday with his lawyer, Denver-based Harvey Steinberg, for an appeal hearing.

Steinberg presented the case for 21/2 hours before Harold Henderson, chairman of the NFL's management council executive committee. Goodell, based on Henderson's report, then arrived at the reduced penalty, which includes more than $52,000 in lost salary.

"This was a situation of looking at all the evidence, the entire situation with Mr. Marshall, the changes he's made and commitment he has, and all that came together," Steinberg said.

Marshall added it wasn't so much a case of selling himself to the league as "showing them who I am."

Steinberg criticized the NFL when the original suspension was announced for its handling of the matter. But he lauded its professionalism this time.

"I was happy that the NFL was willing to take a second hard and fair look at the situation and . . . resolved it in the fashion they did," he said. "I want to thank them for that."

Marshall will be barred from Broncos facilities beginning Saturday. He's eligible to return to the active roster Sept. 9.

All in all, the receiver expressed relief the experience is behind him and admitted that, while it has been tough, "It's time to get past this thing."

"Whenever you go through things, you can always take some positive out of it. This definitely has been an experience for me and I'm just glad my teammates have stuck behind me," Marshall said. "I can't ask for a better situation than Denver, and I want to spend my whole career here. It's an exciting time for me."