Broncos' Devontae Booker takes ownership of disappointing debut

[Elite_video_player id=”23″]

ENGLEWOOD, Colo – Denver Broncos rookie running back Devontae Booker was showered with hype from the moment the Denver Broncos logo came up next to his name on draft night. He was almost instantly anointed the second running back spot by the fans, some even clamoring for him to be the starter.

To his credit, Booker backed up the hype in training camp. Also backing up his comments that he was in Denver to “take someone’s job” rather than carry their pads. He got that second RB job, and he took a job from Ronnie Hillman.

The hype train, though, slowed down considerably on Thursday night when Booker fumbled on the very first carry, killing a scoring drive for the Broncos. Later, Booker contributed to another turnover when he missed a protection, leading quarterback Trevor Siemian to rush a throw that was intercepted.

When it was all said and done, Booker had just three carries for eight yards, and he certainly didn’t have any illusions about his Orange & Blue debut.

“I just played bad, honestly,” he admitted. “That’s in the past, and I’m ready to just continue to work this week and turn the page. You don’t ever want to fumble in a game but stuff happens, it’s football anything can happen. It was bad because it was my first carry but we’re past that now, and I’m just looking forward to doing good things this week against Indianapolis.”

“He struggled, let’s face it,” added head coach Gary Kubiak. “His first carry he put the ball on the ground. He struggled on the protection, but I’ll tell you what, this kid is a good player. . . It’s just a great lesson to learn, but we have to throw him right back out there next week because he can help us.”

Not only do they have to put him right back into the fire because they believe in him, but they have to because he’s one of just three backs on the roster. C.J. Anderson simply cannot shoulder the entire load all season.

“That shows that they have a lot of trust in me,” Booker said of Kubiak’s comments. “They know I’m too talented to not be playing. It shows their confidence in me in putting me back out there and handing me the ball again right after that happened. For them to do that again this week shows that I am doing something right.”

The good news for Booker—and the entire Broncos offense—is that the Colts defense isn’t nearly as menacing as the one he faced in his first career game.

“Just based off of watching them on Sunday I feel like the run will be pretty good this week,” Booker said. “I want to go out there with the same approach and just make sure I protect the ball extra tight and go from there.”

The Broncos put a ton of confidence in Devontae Booker when they cut their most experienced running back and put him at No. 2 on the depth chart; the rookie needs a bounce-back performance this week to keep that confidence from wavering.