Josey Jewell Explains How Broncos' LB Jonas Griffith 'Excelled' Last Year
The worst possible thing that can happen to an NFL veteran in a contract year is suffering a season-ending injury. But that's what the football fates had in store for Denver Broncos linebacker Josey Jewell.
Jewell suffered a pectoral tear early in 2021 — the last year on his deal. Instead of going quietly into that good night, though, Jewell stuck around.
NFL rules being what they are, he couldn't practice and all that from injured reserve but he could still show up to the building — for more than just treatment. Jewell stayed in the meeting rooms and became an auxiliary coach for the Broncos' previous regime.
Jewell's commitment to the Broncos didn't go unnoticed by GM George Paton and when it came time to decide the linebacker's fate, he was offered a two-year, $11 million contract. Now firmly back in the fold but with a new coaching staff led by Nathaniel Hackett, Jewell is once again at the center of the Broncos' defense.
As coach-in-the-wings last year, one player Jewell got to spend time with and study was Jonas Griffith. A late-summer deal saw the San Francisco 49ers trade Griffith to Denver in exchange for a couple of late-round draft picks.
Griffith was relegated mostly to special teams duty even after Jewell, and his starting counterpart Alexander Johnson, was lost for the season. After Justin Strnad couldn't cut the mustard, Denver's next instinct was to insert rookie Baron Browning into the lineup and acquire another linebacker with starting experience from L.A. Enter Kenny Young.
From the midway point on, that was Denver's starting inside linebacker duo: Browning and Young. Then Young got hurt. After having tried and failed with Strnad, the Broncos turned to Griffith, who started the last four games next to Browning.
On Thursday, Jewell offered a critique of Griffith's play down the stretch and what his outlook is in 2022.
“You definitely saw a couple of steps in the last couple games of last year of where he’s excelled," Jewell said of Griffith. "Whether it be the quickness of the recognition of the plays, the guy is always fast, so you always see that on the field and just the physicalness that started to creep up and come into the last couple of games."
Griffith finished those four games with 40 combined tackles (10 per-game avg.). He was a whirling dervish and all over the field for Denver.
“He showed that he can long-arm guys, he can two-hand them and swim off of them or arm over," Jewell said of Griffith. "And just his understanding of the game. Route concepts and stuff like that, so it’s been fun watching him progress so far.”
Before OTAs, it would have been safe to assume that Jewell's starting partner in 2022 would be Browning. But Hackett and defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero had different plans, moving Browning to rush linebacker.
The next easiest thought would be to pencil in the free-agent addition Alex Singleton next to Jewell. After all, Singleton led the Philadelphia Eagles in tackles twice and brings experience to the table.
But the darkhorse to win the other starting job is Griffith and it wouldn't surprise me in the least to see him leapfrog Singleton. Griffith is longer and faster, plus, he's twitched up.
Adding to the equation is Griffith's drive to be a starter, as he revealed on Thursday. Even though he has to essentially prove himself all over again to a new coaching staff. That's nothing new for a former undrafted guy, though.
“Every day is a competition," Griffith said. "I don’t think I have anything solidified. Every day is an opportunity for me to show this coaching staff what I can do and to improve every day.”
Only time will tell whether Jewell's glowing words for Griffith foreshadow the Broncos' 2022 starting linebacker duo. Even if it does, that second linebacker doesn't project to see a ton of snaps as Coach Evero likes to operate out of sub-packages, which usually sees a defensive back replace him.
That's the scuttlebutt, anyway, but the truth is, Evero is a first-timer so we don't really know what his defense will look like. The sub-package stuff is all conjecture based on how the Los Angeles Rams operated last year defensively, of which he coached the secondary and coordinated the passing game.
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