Shurmur Provides Tone-Deaf Answer to How Phillip Lindsay Can be More Involved in Broncos' Offense
Pat Shurmur's time at the virtual podium on Thursday was... interesting. And perhaps a lot more telling than even he realized.
The Denver Broncos' offensive coordinator came off as tone-deaf on several key issues that have been keen on the minds of fans and media alike with the team sitting at 3-6.
Much of the onus for the Broncos' offensive failings have been placed on the shoulders of embattled quarterback Drew Lock. Missing in action as a means with which to alleviate some of the pressure on Lock has been a viable running game.
As the play-caller, Shurmur has seemed disinterested at worst, when it comes to establishing the Broncos' running game, and uncommitted at best. Phillip Lindsay, who is not only coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons but has averaged a whopping 5.5 yards per carry when given the ball this season, has been completely ignored in each of the Broncos' last two games.
In Week 9's loss to Atlanta, Lindsay received just eight carries and garnered only half that number in Week 10's blowout defeat at the hands of the Las Vegas Raiders. At the podium on Thursday, Shurmur did not seem to share in the media's alarm at Lindsay's abject lack of involvement in the Broncos' offense.
Shurmur was asked whether there's a way to 'force' the ball to Lindsay without forcing the ball to Lindsay. Though the question was imperfect, Shurmur's response was, again, tone-deaf.
“You can hand it to him," Shurmur said. "Obviously, that's one, and then there's opportunities for him to catch the ball, either as a check-down or as a primary [receiver]. We had a couple of those opportunities the other night."
Shurmur tried to act as if the question was elementary and barely deserving of a response. But what he said next belied his indifference and instead revealed that the beleaguered offensive coordinator is perhaps a lot more sensitive to the topic than he lets on.
"I was preparing for this that this might be a question," Shurmur continued. "I think it's good if Phillip touches the ball and we’ll keep trying to get it to him.”
Wait, what? Shurmur thinks "it's good" if Lindsay touches the ball? Thanks for that insight, Coach.
Fans might be disappointed in Shurmur's outlook on Lindsay, but then again, his maiden season in Denver has been just as disappointing as his remarks at the virtual podium on Thursday.
The Broncos have been decimated by the injury bug. No one saw that coming and there was little that Shurmur or the coaches could do to prevent it from happening.
However, outside of losing wideout Courtland Sutton — which was a blow, to be sure — most of the Broncos' most grievous personnel losses have come on the defensive side of the ball. Shurmur likes to talk about the 1,400 reps he and the offense lost out on this past offseason by virtue of OTAs and the preseason being canceled.
But that was an obstacle all 32 NFL teams faced equally. Fans are yet to hear Shurmur stand up and take ownership for the lackluster product on the field. He has presided over the regression of Lock and Dalton Risner and has failed to further develop studs-in-waiting like Noah Fant and Lindsay. That's the bitter truth.
Fans were led to believe that it was Shurmur who purportedly pounded the table for the Broncos to pay Melvin Gordon. And yet, even he has been largely ineffective thus far, although Gordon has had a few shining moments. They've been few and far between, though.
Outside of first-rounder Jerry Jeudy, this offensive coaching staff hasn't developed any of the young talent under its purview. That falls on Shurmur.
Most fans found the content of what Shurmur said on Thursday, as well as his tonality, highly disappointing. Maybe he is frustrated. In fact, I'm sure he is.
But this offense is his baby. It's on Shurmur to stop talking about producing better in the first half of games, or establishing the rushing attack, converting on third downs, scoring points, and minimizing turnovers — and make it happen.
But fans aren't seeing any progress. Like, literally, zero. Nada. Zip. None. The arrow is pointing the other way — towards regression and devolution.
If you thought his response to how getting Lindsay more involved was a head-scratcher, get a load of how Shurmur replied to the same question about Fant.
“I think it's good when he catches the ball," Shurmur said.
Isn't it great when Fant catches the ball? Sure, Coach. But you still didn't answer why Fant isn't getting targeted and how you're going to fix it.
If Vic Fangio is the engineer of this train, the coaching staff and locker room are showing all the signs of being on the brink of quickly careening off the tracks. Somehow, someway, Fangio has to get control of this thing.
Hey, Coach Shurmur. Can you answer why the Broncos' rushing attack hasn't been productive the last few weeks?
“I think it's important when we run the ball that we make yards."
Thanks for the insight, Coach. Shurmur did elucidate, in fairness, a bit deeper than that.
“I think that keeps us out of those long-yardage situations," Shurmur said. "We had some good runs the other day, but we didn't have enough of them. I think it's fair to say in a couple of the games in the last month, as the score stretches out, things change. We’ve got to do more early in the game to keep it in a run-pass situation. Had the game ended at halftime 13-10—I think our field position was a little bit better—it just didn't play out that way. Then we come out in the second half and we have a three and out, which is unfortunate. We’ve got to avoid that as well. But anyways, I believe in running the football and I think it's something that we need to do more and better.”
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
