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Why isn’t Broncos rookie Jerry Jeudy getting more touches? Fangio, Shurmur, Lock explain

Jeudy

Jerry Jeudy wants the ball more.

It sounds obvious — every NFL wide receiver wants the ball more, especially someone as talented as the Broncos’ rookie wide receiver. But lately — the last three games to be specific — Jeudy hasn’t had the production he’s wanted, catching four passes for 43 yards. He’s only caught one for 5 yards over the last two games.

And following last week’s game against the Chiefs, in which he caught that one pass, Jeudy took to Twitter to let everyone know he was frustrated.

“At least I got my conditioning in,” he tweeted Sunday night and later deleted.

Coach Vic Fangio was asked about Jeudy’s frustration earlier this week and why his targets have gone down, which can be somewhat attributed to an ankle injury Jeudy has been playing through and not to mention the Broncos played without a traditional quarterback against the Saints two weeks ago.

“Well, the last three games — the game before this past one (vs New Orleans) — obviously he wasn’t going to get many balls thrown to him that day,” Fangio explained. “I don’t think he’s hit the wall at all. I think he’d just like to have more catches and I don’t know of any receiver that doesn’t feel that way. I’m glad he’s a little frustrated that he’s not getting more production. We want our guys to feel that way. I don’t know what he said or didn’t say on Twitter, but I’m OK with Jerry. Jerry’s in a good spot.”

Still, Jeudy’s tweet has become a topic of discussion all week ahead of Denver’s game with the Panthers on Sunday and it picked up even more steam after former New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. openly criticized Broncos offensive coordinator and former Giants head coach Pat Shurmur on the “All Things Covered” podcast with Patrick Peterson and Bryant McFadden.

Bekcham Jr., now with the Cleveland Browns, essentially blamed Shurmur for his New York departure and low production in his final two years with the Giants.

“We got a new coach (Shurmur) in there, and I feel like that’s a situation I can be honest now, because people have come out, like anonymous coaches, when we know who it really was,” Beckham Jr. said. “I felt betrayed in a sense that this coach tried to turn me against my brothers and my coaches and was telling the young guys to stay away from me because I’m not a good person or not a good team (player) or role model or this and that.”

The above quote made rounds on social media Tuesday, which is when Jeudy tweeted “It all makes sense now lol” in what many assume is in connection to Beckham Jr.’s comments on Shurmur.

Shurmur was asked Thursday about Jeudy’s low production in the last few of weeks, in which he attributed some of it to not having a preseason. Shurmur said that’s when most rookies are able to find a groove and build a relationship with their quarterback. Jeudy, of course, didn’t have that.

“He’s out there competing. There were probably a couple other times when he could have gotten the ball the other night,” Shurmur said. “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.”

Either way, it’s clear Jeudy isn’t happy, despite having the fourth most targets among rookie wide receivers. Though, he’s ranked 31st among rookies in reception percentage, catching only 38 of those targets or 48.1 percent. Among rookies, he ranks fifth in receiving yards (594), seventh in receptions (38) and is tied seventh in touchdowns (two).

The majority of the blame for Jeudy’s recent low productivity has been pointed at second-year quarterback Drew Lock, who is statistically one of the worst quarterbacks in the league. He ranked 26th in passing yards (1,918), 27th in passing touchdowns (8), 30th in QBR (44.4), 33rd (last) in completion percentage (55.4) and second in interceptions thrown (13).

Lock admitted this week he needs to get Jeudy the ball more, but also said this is part of a learning curve for every rookie receiver.

“If he’s happy about not getting the amount of balls that he wants, then there’s something going on there,” Lock said. “You want a receiver that wants the ball. You want a guy that wants it in his hand and wants to make plays. That’s what we like about Jerry. He wants the ball in any situation — the beginning of the game or crunch time towards the end.

“People play him a certain way, and you go throughout the game and you make your reads. Sometimes you don’t end up getting to him, and sometimes you hit the guy. He could have been the second person on the read, but one was open. It’s how the game flows, and I know he’s learning that right now.”

Whether or not Jeudy gets more looks Sunday remains unknown. But what is certain is that the Broncos want the ball in his hands. And Jeudy’s made it clear — so does he. 

“The ball just didn’t seem to go his way,” Fangio said, “but he’s definitely a guy that we like to get it to, want to get it to, and I foresee us getting it to.”

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