During the Broncos’ voluntary veterans’ minicamp last month, several players said the on-field connection between Wilson and Jeudy was easy to spot.
ENGLEWOOD — jerry jedy had zero touchdown catches last season with the Denver Broncoswho averaged fewer than 20 points per game for the fifth straight season, as he continued his search for a solution at quarterback.
And Thursday no touchdowns was not the plan when the Broncos He was selected in the first round of the Draft 2020from Alabama, where he scored 24 times during his final two seasons. With that in mind, no player on the roster of the Broncos will benefit more from the arrival of the quarterback Russell Wilson what Thursdaywho seems to recognize him.
“There are things you can control and things you can’t control,” he said. Thursdaywho caught most of his passes from Drew Lock o Teddy Bridgewater During his first two years in the NFL. “Those first two years are gone now, so I’m focused on this year.”
Thursdayin fact, he offered a glimmer of promise in last season’s opener. He had 72 yards on six receptions with just under nine minutes left in the third quarter against the New York Giantswhen he suffered a high ankle sprain after being knocked down by James Bradberry.
He was wheeled into the locker room on a cart, missed the next six games, and never really got the moment back as the Los Angeles offense Broncos it became an agglomeration of different parts that did not fit into a scheme that did not work. now it comes Wilsonwho arrived with enormous expectations, big plans and a mentality of iron to the bottom from his first moments in the complex of the Broncos.
Wilson he has already seen for himself what he can do Thursday. During the volunteer mini-camp for veterans of the Broncos last month, several players said the on-field connection between Wilson y Thursday it was easy to identify.
“A guy like jerry jedy — just being around him — we’ve had some amazing discussions and great talks,” he said. Wilson. “We’ve put in the extra work.”
“He could help me a lot, he’s a great quarterback, a quarterback of Hall of Fame who comes on offense as a leader,” said Thursday. “He’s going to get the best of me, too. He’s going to help me a lot this year … Just the energy. He’s always cheering the guys on and motivating the guys to go out there and keep working hard … he’s the guy that comes and correct the mindset for that.”
Los Broncos haven’t exactly been the “receiver’s heaven” he once described Emmanuel Sanders during the era of Peyton Manning. They’ve been a revolving door of quarterbacks and four different offensive coordinators have passed over the last five years.
During that time, the Broncos they’ve had a wide receiver —Courtland Sutton in 2019 — finishing with at least 1,000 yards, and at tight end Noah Fant –now a member of the Seattle Seahawks as part of the exchange for Wilson— leading the team in receptions in each of the past two years. Last season, the club’s top three wide receivers —Sutton, Thursday y Tim Patrick— finished with seven combined touchdowns (five of them courtesy of Patrick), or nine fewer than the league leader, Cooper Coup from Los Angeles Rams.
At the end of last season, the general manager of the Broncos, George Patonwho signed contract extensions for Sutton y Patrick in November, he was clear about the changes that needed to be made to the offense. He was particularly clear about the receivers, who he said “they have to be better and we need to do everything we can to get the best out of them, we all want that, but there’s no question they have to be better.”
The non-scoring season of Thursday, while continuing to show elite route running that consistently created room to work, was marred by dropped passes. Jeudy was visibly frustrated at times in an offense that scored 13 points or fewer in five of the last eight games of the season.
Wilson he has insisted throughout the early offseason with “game-altering plays” in the passing game.
“I call them gap plays,” he explained. Wilson. “It’s three or four plays, maybe one or two, that change the game and the awareness of that. Where did the game change? Where did the game move? That was a big part of it for me. What are the strengths and What are the areas to improve?