ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Jerry Jeudy’s 2023 hasn’t gotten off to the start he’d hoped for.
The 24-year-old caught 37 passes for 524 yards and three touchdowns in the final six games of last season. In the first six games of this season, he’s caught 20 passes for 222 yards. He hasn’t scored.
“He’s dying to break out,” Broncos head coach Sean Payton said on Wednesday. “Part of it is us and me giving him those opportunities.”
Jeudy is playing about the same amount of ball as he played last season. He played 71% of the Broncos’ offensive snaps in the games he was healthy last season, and he’s been on the field for 72% of the Broncos’ offensive snaps this season.
Meanwhile, the Broncos are passing on 61% of their plays this season, a step up from their 59% pass rate a year ago.
All signs point toward the same number of opportunities for Jeudy, if not more. But his per-game production has dropped by about a third.
“I believe that he can do some really special things for us,” quarterback Russell Wilson said on Wednesday. “We want him to get the ball. Every time he touches it, he can score.”
For the most part, the defense dictates where a throw will go. The quarterback will have a primary read—a receiver he looks to first—but if the first read isn’t open. Maybe the route is a bad match against the coverage the defense called. Maybe the receiver couldn’t beat his man. Either way, the quarterback moves on to his second read and potentially a third.
“There are times when you can call a primary,” Payton said. “With each route we have, there’s probably a primary, and then certain coverages dictate where it might go.”
The Broncos have emphasized early touches for Jeudy to spark the former 1st-round draft pick.
“A touch early on can go a long way—or a lack of a touch,” Payton said. “In all those years when we had a number of really good receivers (in New Orleans), there were certain ways where you would say, ‘Hey, let’s make sure we—’ in the opening script.”
Against the Chiefs on Thursday, Jeudy caught two screen passes in the first quarter. But he only caught one more pass in the rest of the game, and he finished with 14 yards.
Wilson thinks Jeudy can turn things around.
“He’s one of the most talented guys in this league,” Wilson said. “We believe in him.”
