Legendary Former Bronco Utterly Eviscerates Jerry Jeudy & Courtland Sutton
The Denver Broncos are suffering from a woeful lack of intensity — and it stretches across all three phases, including the defense, obviously. One of the most complicit position groups is the wide receiver corps.
Turn on the tape, and you'll see Broncos wide receivers jogging routes, short-arming passes, and going through the blocking motions in the run game. This shameful lack of want-to has been noticed by everyone, including former Broncos offensive guard Mark Schlereth.
Co-host of Schlereth and Evans on 104.3 The FAN's, the NFL commentator ripped into Broncos wideouts Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton in the wake of the team's fourth loss in five games.
"The effort from our starting wide receivers—shame on Jerry Jeudy for even thinking he can utter the name of Rod Smith in his tweets. Shame on you because you're not a professional. You're not a professional. And you don't know what effort is. Your quarterback is under duress, you're locked up—somebody locks you up in man coverage on an underneath route—to call it trotting would be an insult to trotting. You just quit. You gave up. You said, 'Well, the ball's not coming to me.' Hey, you're a lantern holder shining a light on Russ. 'Hey, Russ. You're under duress. I hope it works out for you because I'm not gonna do anything to bail your a** out. Good luck with that. Oh! A sack. Weird.' Courtland Sutton not coming back to the ball. Neither of those two guys would play for me. I would cut both of those guys. They would not play. Jerry Jeudy would not be on my team. Jerry Jeudy couldn't play on the teams I've played on if his life depended on it. He's not tough enough, he's not focused enough, he's not good enough, he's not anything enough. He could not play on our teams. Mike Shanahan would cut him tomorrow. I wouldn't have him on my team. You can have him. And that's the reason that the Broncos stink."
Kaboom.
Consider Jeudy and Sutton utterly chastised. But especially Jeudy.
Schlereth's credibility comes from not only his resume as a player who won three World Championships but he also stays fully engaged in the NFL as a color commentator for FOX Sports television broadcasts. The man knows what he's talking about.
Jeudy offered a passive-aggressive response to Schlereth on Twitter.
And nothing Schlereth said is wrong. Schlereth's reference to his former teammate, Rod Smith, was due to Jeudy clapping at the Broncos' No. 1 all-time receiver on Twitter following Week 3. Jeudy also disrespected Phillip Lindsay in the same thread.
As it stands, Jeudy has 17 receptions for 208 yards, and he hasn't found the end zone since last December. Meanwhile, Sutton has 21 receptions for 229 yards and three touchdowns this season.
The issue Schlereth speaks to is an overall spiritual crisis the Broncos are currently in the throes of. It's honestly the source of 90% of what ails this team.
Unless Payton can find a way to exorcise these demons and get his players to perform with the intensity befitting a true professional, the Broncos' 2023 season will only continue to spiral down the drain.
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