Broncos OC Pat Shurmur's Message to Rookie WR Jerry Jeudy: 'Stay Consistent, Keep Fighting'

The Denver Broncos were thrown into a controversy of sorts this past week after rookie wide receiver Jerry Jeudy's eyebrow-raising Twitter posts. In the best sense, Jeudy's tweets could be interpreted as cryptic.

In the worst interpretation, the tweets were passive/aggressive shots at Broncos' quarterback Drew Lock and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. Following the Broncos' 22-16 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night, in which Jeudy was targeted four times with one reception for five yards, he posted a tweet (which soon after deleted) that said, "Well, at least I got my conditioning in."

Would that Jeudy's Twitter tantrum ended there. But it didn't, as the rookie first-rounder went on to tweet and retweet some Odell Beckham, Jr. shade that was directly pointed at Shurmur.

The squeaky wheel so often gets the grease and in that spirit, it's likely that Jeudy gets the targets he's pounding the table for publicly. But navigating the ups and downs of the traditional rookie learning curve requires multiple virtues, one of which is patience.

"Patience" was GM John Elway's message to Jeudy earlier this week and Shurmur somewhat echoed that sentiment when he was asked about his talented, but disgruntled, rookie wideout.

“With regard to Jerry, he’s out there competing," Shurmur said on Thursday via Zoom. "There were probably a couple other times when he could have gotten the ball the other night. I think sometimes it comes in bunches. I feel as though he wants to make an impact on the game, he’s out there competing, and it makes sense to throw him the ball and we’re going to continue to do that. Unfortunately, he didn’t get as many targets as maybe we would have liked, but then as we go through this just stay consistent, keep fighting and that’ll come your way."

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Undoubtedly, Jeudy must stay patient and if he wants to avoid careening directly into the proverbial "rookie wall", he will have to keep fighting as his coordinator advises. Knowing what we do about Jeudy, as a competitor, it's safe to assume he'll oblige and come out swinging on Sunday vs. the Carolina Panthers.

The rookie has a juicy matchup this week in Carolina. There won't be a better 'get right' game for the Lock-to-Jeudy connection to be rekindled than Week 14.

An important thread in this tapestry is the reality that the man in charge of delivering the targets to Jeudy is himself barely more than a rookie. Lock is entering just his 15th career start and is still navigating his own NFL learning curve.

Reading the field, going through his progressions, and making the right decisions are still an inconsistent process for Lock. And that has, unfortunately, revealed itself in the recent lack of production for Jeudy.

While there's some truth to Lock's point, earlier this week, that game-flow and how the defense is playing the Broncos, affects which receivers get the targets, the reality is, the second-year quarterback could be (and should be) looking Jeudy's way more often.

"It’s how the game flows, and I know he’s learning that right now," Lock said on Wednesday. "As a receiver in this league, there are times where it’s tough to get the ball every once in a while. It’s about fighting through those games and getting ready to practice the next week and go into the next one thinking you’re going to catch 15 that game. Just being ready for that opportunity for the next Sunday.”

After the media firestorm Jeudy created this week with his Twitter antics, he no doubt feels the onus of the spotlight. Lock feels it, too, and not just for Jeudy, but for himself.

I predicted in the Mile High Roundtable on Friday that the squeaky wheel that is Jeudy will get greased in Carolina. Look for the talented rookie out of Alabama to approach double-digit targets this Sunday and for Lock to look his way early and often, especially now that he's healthy and recovered from the various ailments that have hindered him somewhat, including a rib and ankle injury.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.