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DENVER — Denver Broncos head coach John Fox returned to work Monday after having open-heart surgery last month.

“I’m happy to be back,” Fox said at a afternoon news conference.  “I feel tremendous. As my surgeon said, I had a valve that was about as big as a pinhead, now it’s the size of a 50-cent piece. I feel tremendous. Obviously, the doctors feel good about me getting back to work. I actually had looked forward to getting back sooner, but there was a pretty hard deadline of four weeks post-surgery. I honored that and here I am.”

Fox underwent an aortic valve replacement in November. Jack Del Rio has led the team in his stead.

While Fox was away, the Broncos faced some of their toughest opponents including a loss to the New England Patriots and Sundays come-from-behind win against Kansas City to take first place in the AFC West.

Fox joked that it was more painful to watch games on TV while recovering than the actual procedure itself.

The team said Fox has no restrictions but will likely coach from the booth at games instead of the sideline on Sunday’s game against Tennessee.

Fox said defensive end Derek Wolfe, who was take to a hospital Saturday after suffering seizure-like symptoms, is now out of the hospital.

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