Broncos' Gary Kubiak explains decision to play Jordan Norwood

DENVER — “It’s a tough play that I have to make,” Denver Broncos receiver Jordan Norwood said after the game.

Unfortunately for Norwood, that quote could be applied to a lot of plays he didn’t make on the day. The one that will stand out the most was his muffed punt after the Broncos forced a three-and-out to start the game. The Patriots fell on the ball and gladly took three points a few plays later. Coincidentally, those three points would match the Broncos total output on the day.

That wasn’t it for Norwood, though. Later in the game, he hesitated to make a fair catch, letting the ball drop and roll 15 yards. To top it all off, during a desperation drive at the end of regulation, Norwood coughed up the rock for the second time, officially putting the dagger in the Broncos’ hearts.

Interestingly enough, coming into the day, most wouldn’t have expected Norwood to be active, and he certainly wasn’t expected to be returning punts. Over the last two weeks, the Broncos had found some “juice,” as they described it, in their return game with undrafted rookie Kalif Raymond. Raymond was averaging more than 10 yards per punt return. Today, though, Raymond was inactive, giving the return job back to Norwood, who lost it after fumbling multiple times against Kansas City.

After the game, head coach Gary Kubiak explained the decision to have Norwood in there instead of Raymond.

“What we did offensively today, I wanted Jordan up,” the coach said. “Jordan plays in three-wide sets for us and does a good job. Jordan has done a lot of good things around here for this football team. What we were doing offensively today, working a lot of no-huddle, a lot of stuff like that, so that’s why he was up.”

From the sound of it—and the look of it as Raymond has yet to see offensive reps yet—the rookie isn’t quite ready to contribute in other facets of the game and the Broncos felt they needed that today. As for continuing to put Norwood back for punts, well, it’s part of Gary Kubiak’s willingness to put faith in his players. Sometimes it pays off, this season, though, it seems it’s often bit Kubiak in his rear.

“I believe in players. All players battle their tail off,” Kubiak said. “He made some mistakes; he’s also made a lot of plays for this football team. I believe in people, and I keep encouraging them to do their job and battle. It’s a hard game, you know? He didn’t want to go out there and make a mistake; he wants to go out there and make plays, and he’s done that for this team many, many times over.”

Kubiak’s belief runs deep, but it would come as a huge surprise if that belief in Norwood didn’t run out on Sunday.

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Kubiak on his decision to play conservatively at the end of the half

“We were concerned we might be backed up because of where they were, they had two timeouts. We were getting the ball coming out of the second half, we had been moving the ball extremely well, we’re in a one-possession game, definitely didn’t want to give it back to them. That was the thought process.”