Fangio Cautions Jerry Jeudy's Multi-Drop Game Could be 'Defining Moment in His Career'

If you perused the box score and looked only at the number of catches and yards Jerry Jeudy produced in Week 16, you'd think, "Solid game for the rookie." But if that quick glance was all you gleaned, you'd be dead wrong about Jeudy's role in the Denver Broncos' 19-16 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

Jeudy was targeted a whopping 15 times — the most of any wideout in a Broncos uniform since Emmanuel Sanders in September of 2017 — hauling in just six receptions for 61 yards. Of the nine incompletions that went Jeudy's way, at least five were drops.

I say 'at least' because although the NFL's official count was five drops, I counted at least one more — probably two. It was unprecedented the number of times the rookie first-round dropped the ball.

The drops weren't just run-of-the-mill. Jeudy dropped a touchdown, at least one third-down that would have moved the chains, and the dagger — the drop down the left seam that saw Drew Lock deliver a dime with the Broncos trailing 19-16 with 35 seconds to go that would have set the offense up with a 1st-&-10 in Chargers' territory.

One more quick completion out of bounds and the Broncos would have been well within kicker Brandon McManus' field goal range to tie the game and send it to overtime. Instead, a few plays later, Lock had to heave a hail mary from the 50-yard line that was intercepted in the end zone.

Jeudy's faux pas didn't just hurt him. This time around, the drops absolutely crushed the Broncos' chances at winning the game.

After that last drop, Jeudy could be seen holding his head in his hands on the bench with teammates and coaches trying to console him. It was so alarming that many fans, and some media, questioned whether the former Alabama star can ever come back from ignominy.

“He's got to come back from it—[it] could be a defining moment in his career," head coach Vic Fangio said post-game. "He's got to come back, have a great week of practice, catch a bunch of balls, and then show up on Sunday when the balls are thrown to him, he’ll catch it.”

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Fangio's remarks serve as both a caution to Jeudy and a call to action. If the rookie wideout allows this stinker of a performance to linger, it could haunt his career. Unless he attacks next week's preparation for the season-finale vs. the Las Vegas Raiders, Jeudy will enter the 2021 offseason with the worst kind of momentum.

It hasn't been all bad for the rookie this year. Jeudy has 41 receptions for 655 yards and two scores. However, his 91-to-41 target-to-catch ratio is abysmal and among the NFL's worst.

Part of that is the lack of chemistry between Jeudy and his QB Lock. Most of it is due to the receiver's untimely and unfortunate knack for dropping the ball.

The Broncos still believe in Jeudy but after his Twitter tantrum a couple weeks back in which he passive-aggressively cast aspersions on Lock and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, the luster has really faded from his first-round star.

Jeudy's quarterback is still going to bat for him in the court of public opinion, despite no sign of reciprocity.

"I told him that you're one of the most talented guys I've ever been around and you're one of the most talented guys in this league," Lock said post-game. "You're going to play for a really long time and you're going to have days like this because of how good you are and how many chances you're going to get to go out and catch the ball, you have to let it go... I told him that he's just too good to hang his head and too good to be upset. There's a lot of opportunities for me to hang my head this year and it's all about how you respond how you get back up and I know Jerry has been so good to this point that this might be one of the first times he's struggled."

Only time will tell whether Jeudy can in fact bounce back from this but I concur with Fangio. This could be a watershed moment for Jeudy — for better or worse — and the onus is on him to dig deep and do whatever it takes to ensure that it's the former.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.

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