INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Broncos offense made enough plays on Sunday to log their first division road win in three-plus years. Imagine how dangerous the group might be if Jerry Jeudy finds any semblance of a rhythm down the stretch.
Denver coach Sean Payton and quarterback Russell Wilson made a concerted effort to push the ball down the field to the talented receiver, but he finished with just two catches for 16 yards on six targets in a 24-7 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Jeudy had two chances to make catches up the right sideline in the first half, but couldn’t come down with either. Then he had a touchdown in the back corner of the end zone wiped off the board just before halftime when he failed to get his trailing foot down inbounds.
Instead of leading by two touchdowns, Denver eventually settled for a short Wil Lutz field goal and took a 10-0 lead into the break. “Oh look, he’ll get his touches. Gosh,” Payton said.
“The key is winning. He had a chance to make a play or two today and he made a few plays early on. I’m not as worried about it.
” To Jeudy’s credit, he sounded just like the head coach in the post-game locker room. “This was a big game for us,” Jeudy said. “It was a must-win.
Coming in here after a loss and getting it done is huge for the team. ” Jeudy, the 2020 first-round pick, hasn’t had more than 64 yards in a game since Week 3, but didn’t seem concerned after the game. “I’m always confident,” he said.
“… Throughout the season you deal with a lot of adversity, but we’ve got guys in this locker room that can overcome that. I’m very confident. ” The Broncos had the injury bug show up Sunday during their convincing win against the Chargers.
In addition to right guard Quinn Meinerz being held in the area overnight due to a heart rate-related concern, outside linebacker Nik Bonitto left the game in the first quarter with a knee injury and didn’t return. Bonitto was not seen in the locker room after the game and Payton said he had no updates on any of Denver’s injured players. Several others, including safety P.
J. Locke, nickel Ja’Quan McMillian and outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper were hurt during the game, but that trio each returned and made a big impact. Locke and McMillian at one point collided, but before that Locke took a helmet to the neck/throat area and after the game barely had a voice.
The Broncos got a pair of big plays in the passing game from their tight end group, a relative rarity this season. First, Lucas Krull made his first NFL grab count on a wide-open 35-yarder that put the Broncos in scoring range before halftime. “It was awesome, man,” Krull said.
“Seeing that Cover 3 look come up, I knew it was going to give me an opportunity to get that ball. It was a great call, it was great to get that first one but also get that win. That’s really all I care about.
This team’s rolling and it’s going to be fun to see where we go. ” That catch alone vaulted Krull past the injured Greg Dulcich, block-first Chris Manhertz and rookie Nate Adkins into second place among tight ends in receiving yards this year behind Adam Trautman Trautman salted the game away with a wide-open touchdown grab from Russell Wilson with 3 minutes, 11 seconds remaining. After pondering for a moment whether it was the most open he’s ever been on a scoring grab in his career, the fourth-year tight end came to a simple conclusion.
“Yes,” he said. .
From: denverpost
URL: https://www.denverpost.com/2023/12/10/broncos-jerry-jeudy-injury-updates/
