Broncos HC Hints at WR Jerry Jeudy's True Outlook for Week 3
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On Friday, the Denver Broncos listed a whopping 10 players as questionable for Sunday night's tilt vs. the San Francisco 49ers — seven of whom are starters. One of those questionable starters is third-year wide receiver Jerry Jeudy.
Jeudy was a limited participant in Friday's practice after missing Wednesday and Thursday. Were the Broncos just being cautious with Jeudy?
There are harbingers to suggest Jeudy is on track to play on Sunday Night Football. Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett further elaborated without guaranteeing anything.
“Yeah, he's doing a good job," Hackett said of Jeudy on Friday. "He's doing everything he can. He wants to be out there, [and] he wants to be out there for the team. We'll see. We'll take it, continually, day by day.”
The apt reporters in attendance prodded Hackett a bit, asking whether Jeudy would perhaps be a game-time decision.
“Again, we're going to go day-by-day," Hackett said. "We have a lot of time now before that next game, so just want to be sure we do the right thing.”
Jeudy has a huge Week 1 performance, catching four Russell Wilson passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. It was Jeudy's first score since his rookie year.
After playing 11 snaps in Week 2's victory, Jeudy exited with this rib/shoulder injury. He did catch one pass for 11 yards before being sidelined.
Jeudy's exit made things particularly difficult for Wilson, who, also being down fellow wideout KJ Hamler, kept going to Courtland Sutton and to great success. Behind Sutton that day, all the Broncos had were Kendall Hinton, Tyrie Cleveland, and rookie Montrell Washington.
Obviously, it would be a big shot in the offense's arm to get both Jeudy and Hamler back on Sunday night vs. the Niners. Hamler was a full participant in Friday's practice, so his outlook for suiting up on Sunday is currently brighter than Jeudy's.
“Yeah, he's done pretty well," Hackett said of Hamler. "Again, because of the limited role that we've had the guys in practice [and] still trying to get all the reps, we wanted to be able to test them and see them, but at the same time not overload them, by any means. But he's gone out there and we've asked him to execute. He's done a good job.”
Through two weeks, the Broncos are the seventh-ranked offense in total yards (391.5 YPG) and the eighth-ranked passing offense (265.5 YPG). Wilson has been able to rely on Sutton, but when defenses cheat coverage his way, the Broncos have to have other receivers step up and separate.
Jeudy did a fine job of that in Week 1. Here's to hoping Denver's two 2020 draft picks, selected in back-to-back rounds to open the draft, are healthy and available for Wilson on Sunday night because the Niners field the NFL's top-ranked passing defense, relinquishing just 142.5 yards per game through the air.
As Mile High Huddle's Erick Trickel wrote on Thursday, Wilson is 16-4 all-time vs. San Francisco and 8-2 vs. Kyle Shanahan's Niners. In his past six meetings with the Niners, Wilson has completed 66.6% of his passes on average for 215 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.
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