Jerry Jeudy’s injury revealed after being carted off
James Bradberry's body landed on Jeudy's ankle causing the sophomore receiver to writhe in pain on the Meadowlands turf.
Denver's star receiver Jerry Jeudy suffered a high ankle sprain after being carted off with a gruesome lower leg injury during the Broncos' opening-day win at New York.
Jeudy had an X-ray on his lower leg which returned negative according to NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero. Pelissero said Jeudy suffered a high-ankle sprain, and crucially not a broken ankle which had been feared.
Jeudy's leg got caught underneath Giants' cornerback James Bradberry’s body as he caught a pass during the third quarter. Bradberry's body landed on Jeudy's ankle causing the sophomore receiver to writhe in pain on the Meadowlands turf.
Despite the heavy collision, Jeudy somehow managed to hang on to the ball -- initially ruled a fumble -- for a 20-yard catch to the New York 15. Jeudy was eventually carted off on the field with his head in his hands. Not long after, he was officially ruled out for the game.
The Broncos' managed to score a touchdown four plays after the Jeudy injury as quarterback Teddy Bridgewater found tight end Albert Okwuegbunam to put Denver up 17-7. The former Alabama receiver amassed the most receiving yards -- 6 receptions for 72 yards -- despite exiting the game with 8:33 left in the third.
There's no timeline on Jeudy's return to the field but former Bengals star Chad Johnson told Twitter he could have No. 10 "ready for the next game easily."
Head coach Vic Fangio would've been forgiven for indulging in the Green Day Classic Wake Me Up When September Ends, after his team had an 0-7 record in the NFL's opening month.
Fangio's decision to go for it and convert three of three fourth down attempts were critical in ensuring September started off right.
"It definitely was big," Fangio told reporters post-game. "That would've been the story all week, now you guys gotta throw away those stories and write a new one!"
Fangio may never want it to end after his team's dominant 27-13 victory over the Giants. The much-maligned quarterback Teddy Bridgewater executed superbly in a surgical offensive performance, going 28/36 for 264 yards, two touchdowns and critically zero interceptions.
The running game held its own with rookie Javonte Williams rushing 14 times for 45 yards, while Melvin Gordon's 70-yard fourth quarter touchdown took him 101 yards off 11 carries. Denver’s defense lived up to the hype, holding New York to just 60 rushing yards, 50% conversion on third down and one-for-three on fourth.
Von Miller returned to the field in captivating fashion, playing his first game since Week 17, 2019. The eight-time All-Pro had two sacks, two quarterback hits and three tackles-for-loss. All of it came without star pass rusher Bradley Chubb who was inactive with an ankle injury. Fangio provided an update on his status moving forward.
"Early in the week I thought he was going to play, everybody did, but then his ankle never really improved much during the week," Fangio said. "So hopefully he'll be back here sometime soon but we'll see."
Miller, Teddy Bridgewater and first-year General Manager George Paton were given the game balls in Denver's first September victory under Vic Fangio.
Mark Schlereth questions Vic Fangio’s head coaching credentials
Three-time Super Bowl champ Mark Schlereth gave a blunt assessment of Vic Fangio's coaching as the Broncos get set for the 2021 season.
Three-time Super Bowl champion and former Denver Bronco Mark Schlereth gave a blunt assessment of Vic Fangio's head coaching credentials as the Broncos get set to start their 2021 season.
Schlereth - a member of Denver's 50th Anniversary Team - questioned Fangio's credentials as an NFL head coach during an insightful appearance on ESPN's Keyshawn, J-Will and Max.
"I think it should be hot," Schlereth said when asked if Fangio should be on the hot seat.
"I think the bottom line is oftentimes - and we joke around here in Denver, but it's not really a joke, jokes are always funny because there's always partial truth to them - Vic Fangio is really the coach of the defense. He's kept the play-calling duties on the defensive side of the ball.
"After practice they (Denver media) ask him about offensive things [and he says] 'Oh, I don't know, I was watching the defense I'll have to go back and watch the film.' There's some things that just don't seem, they just don't seem like head coach material."
Fangio has had an underwhelming time as head coach at Mile High. Since his arrival in 2019 the Broncos have a combined record of 12-20, only eight NFL teams - Atlanta, Carolina, Washington, Detroit, Jacksonville and both New York clubs - had a lower win total during this time.
AFC West rivals, Los Angeles Chargers, have an identical record to the Broncos (12-20) since 2019. Interestingly they - along with the eight teams aforementioned - have a different head coach to the man in charge at the beginning of the 2019 season.
Schlereth didn't dispute Fangio's tactical nouse, however he did illuminate an area of concern in his mind.
"I always say this about head coaches -- I travel around the league for Fox and calling games and talking to head coaches all the time -- there are guys, regardless of their knowledge of X's and O's, there are guys that are just good managers," Schlereth told Keyshawn, J-Will and Max.
"They do a great job of coaching coaches and letting the players kind of play and understanding strengths and weaknesses in putting guys in positions to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses.
"They have this kind of overall CEO type of view of their football team and they let their coaches coach and I think sometimes, even as an offensive play-caller or defensive play-caller, you get so entrenched in that way of thinking that you lose sight of some of the management parts of the game on Sundays. And that really is where Vic has struggled, in the management sections of the games, timeouts - you know he saves timeouts like he can sell them on eBay.
"At some point you've gotta use them and you've gotta strategize and so that's been a real issue and then obviously when you're 7-9 and 5-11 under Vic Fangio in two years and you haven't produced - even on the defensive side you were like 27th, 28th in the league last year - and I understand you had a bunch of injuries but the bottom line [is] none of it has been very good so far.
"You're 0-7 in September and your turnover differential is -8, you've turned it over 10 times under his tutelage and you've only taken the ball away twice. You're going to be on the hot seat."
According to PFF, the 2020 Broncos ranked 24th overall, 31st in offense, 7th in defense and last in special teams.
Broncos name Drew Lock & Teddy bridgewater co-starters
Broncos head coach Vic Fangio has given no quarter on who his team’s #1 signal-caller will be.
It’s a mile-high shootout in Denver. Broncos head coach Vic Fangio has given no quarter on who his team’s #1 signal-caller will be.
The three-time Super Bowl champs brought in Teddy Bridgewater this offseason to compete with Lock, and he’s doing exactly that.
Lock meanwhile has shown greater poise in camp thus far, despite a league-low completion percentage among eligible QBs last season. Though his arm strength and deep ball ability is unquestioned.
If he can clean up his decision-making, Lock has far greater upside to help the Broncos offense compete with division rivals, Los Angeles and Kansas City.
Bridgewater may not have the explosiveness of Lock but he provides the Broncos with a safety blanket that Lock’s relative inexperience may not afford him.
Whichever option Fangio decides to go with, the Broncos need their offense to hold up its end of the bargain if they want to be in with a shout of the AFC playoffs come January.