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Melvin Gordon's Mom Picks Apart Broncos RB: 'I Told Him He Looks Slow'

Mama Gordon hath spoken.

Melvin Gordon finished the 2020 campaign as the Denver Broncos' leading rusher, ranking 10th in the NFL with 986 ground yards. He added nine touchdowns on 215 carries across 15 appearances.

It was Gordon's best statistical season since 2017, when he starred for the rival Chargers.

But hardly good enough for his eagle-eyed, sharp-tongued mother, now rocking orange and blue.

"I told him he looks slow — 'You need to work on that in the offseason,'" Carmen Gordon said earlier this week at a youth football camp, via the official Broncos website. "'When you're coming out of that hole, you're looking a little slow.' And [I notice] a little footwork and whatnot. Just seeing things that probably nobody else sees, because I know how he usually moves."

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Stuck in a timeshare with then-RB2 Phillip Lindsay, Gordon did what he could as Denver's de facto workhorse. He was by no means bad; the 28-year-old largely kept a wayward offense afloat. But for a sixteen-million-dollar back, he wasn't overwhelmingly great, either, leaving yards on the field — and, too often, the football.

His fumbleitis (assumingly) cured, those closest to Gordon, whose contract expires after the season, anticipate the two-time Pro Bowler returning to prior all-star form.

"I'm expecting him to come out shooting — I'm expecting Pro Bowls and some more mess this year, because he's really been working hard," Carmen said. "Let's see how that works out with all that work he's putting in."

About that: Gordon skipped voluntary Organized Team Activities in May before showing for the Broncos' mandatory minicamp practices last month. He has, however, trained on his own alongside the likes of Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott and appears in excellent physical shape entering training camp.

Where he'll face his new counterpart, second-round rookie Javonte Williams, in an attempt to retain backfield superiority. Out goes Lindsay, the past. In comes Pookie, the future.

Leaving Gordon, the present, needing to heed his mother's call.

"Obviously they bring in competition every year and every position," he said in May, per the Broncos website. "You can look at things in two different fashions. With the Javonte situation — you bring in a back in the second round, my contract is about to be up — so you could look at it as, they brought him here to replace me. Or you can just look at it as, it's just another way for me to get better. Another guy to push me to greater heights and see what I can do, see what I can bring and bring it out of me. … NFL teams, GMs, head coaches — their jobs are to continue to bring in talent to keep competition at an all-time high. You can be down about that, or you can show people, this is why I'm the guy. I've been competing my whole career."


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