Broncos' OC Pat Shurmur: Getting Phillip Lindsay Back is 'Huge'

The Denver Broncos surprised many in media and the fanbase when the team signed ex-Chargers running back Melvin Gordon to a two-year, $16 million contract this past spring. Sure, it was a lot of money to give to a running back but it was somewhat mystifying because the Broncos had back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher Phillip Lindsay under team control through 2021.

However, the Broncos had a vision for a two-headed rushing attack and the newly-hired offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur was the man in charge of articulating it and making it a reality. Unfortunately, that process was interrupted when Lindsay suffered a turf-toe injury late in the second quarter of the season-opener that caused him to miss the next three-and-a-half games.

At that point, the Broncos looked prescient because without Gordon in the backfield to carry the load over those three-plus games, I shudder to think just how bad that offense might have gotten with the likes of Jeff Driskel and the completely untested Brett Rypien under center. Then Gordon went and got cited for DUI, which cast an entirely new pall on the Broncos' decision to pay him.

For Shurmur, though, that's all peripheral noise. He's got an offense to design and a game-plan to implement with Lindsay coming back in the lineup this week as the Broncos travel to take on the New England Patriots.

Once again, Shurmur will have his two-headed Pro Bowl running back attack. He's fully aware of what it means to get Lindsay back. Combined with the return of starting QB Drew Lock, and things are really looking up for Denver offensively.

“Getting another good player back is important for us," Shurmur said on Thursday. "You’ve heard me say it in these meetings a bunch of times, but you need multiple good running backs. To be able to add Philip Lindsay back to the mix is huge."

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The question on everyone's mind is how the Broncos will utilize both Lindsay and Gordon. We received a few hints in the two quarters the duo played together in Week 1, but due to the flow of the game, it was never fully fleshed out.

"There are ways we can use them both together, and we tried to do that in the first game when they were out there together," Shurmur said. "Then, there is ways for them to go in there and be the featured guy. I like to run the football and I like to call plays that gain yards. We always go in thinking these are the things we want to do to run the ball and have success running the ball, so having Philip back just kind of adds to that.”

This is a great opportunity for the Broncos to really establish the run. Despite Gordon's DUI, which is likely to come with an imminent three-game suspension by season's end, there's no reason to doubt that he'll be in the lineup this week.

With Lock returning for a stiff test against a Bill Belichick defense, which is always gap- and scheme-sound, the best arrows in the young QB's quiver will be two productive running backs. That does put the onus on the big boys upfront to get the inside- and outside-zone runs blocked, but the rest comes down to Shurmur dialing up some plays that gets the ball into Lindsay's hands in the open field, as well as Gordon's.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.