DENVER — Apprised in the UC Health Center locker room Wednesday afternoon that his head coach said he’d be the Broncos’ starting running back on Sunday against the New York Jets, Melvin Gordon smiled a knowing smile.
“Who started last week?” he responded.
He did, of course, and then proceeded to see just nine snaps and three carries in Denver’s loss to the Chargers on Monday night. Latavius Murray, signed two weeks ago off of New Orleans’ practice squad, played 28 snaps and got 16 carries while Mike Boone played 21 snaps in mostly passing situations.
Head coach Nathaniel Hackett and Gordon on Wednesday both acknowledged that they’ve met since Gordon spent the better part of the final three quarters on the bench in Los Angeles.
“It was a great talk, love Melvin and have so much respect for him as a pro and all he’s done in this league,” Hackett said.
Gordon’s take: “It was good. It was a talk that probably should have happened two weeks ago, but it happened and I’m glad we hashed it out.”
Did he get an explanation for why the reps went the way they did against the Chargers?
“Yeah, kinda, sorta,” Gordon said.
During the game, ESPN’s cameras showed an apparently frustrated Gordon on the sideline multiple times. He didn’t know until after the game when he started receiving messages of support from family and friends.
“I thought (the cameras) would be pointed at the game, I didn’t think they’d be pointed at me,” Gordon said. … “I heard they were making a big deal out of it, which I hate. But I can’t help that.”
He insisted the last thing he wants to be is a distraction to his teammates.
“At the end of the day, my teammates didn’t do (anything), so it’s not for me to isolate myself from them,” he said. “I’m still just looking at the iPad when I can, seeing the runs, seeing what was hitting, just in case, watching the defense and helping them boys out. … My teammates have nothing to do with it. It’s nothing against them, so it’s not for me to go out there and be a bad teammate.
“They caught some clips of me being, like, (upset), but I mean, that was more so, too, us not being able to drive and going three-and-out and just not playing good football. It’s a mixture of both, but people made it seem like I was just upset and mad. I wasn’t playing and standoffish. If you really paid attention, you’d see that wasn’t the case.”
Even so, it’s been a rocky road for the veteran back so far this season. He fumbled four times in Denver’s first four games, then took over as the lead back against Indianapolis on a short week of preparation after Javonte Williams sustained a season-ending knee injury. He started a second straight game Monday, but then saw his workload disappear.
For the season, Gordon is averaging 3.7 yards per carry and 4.5 yards per touch overall. Williams before his injury averaged 4.3 per carry and 4.4 per touch, and Murray garnered 4.4 per carry in his first outing as a Bronco.
Gordon isn’t alone in struggling to generate big plays in the Denver running game. The longest rush by a running back so far this season was Boone’s 18-yarder in the fourth quarter against the Colts, which came on the same drive as Gordon’s season-best 17-yarder.
“It takes all 11. That’s one thing that we preach in the run game,” Hackett said. “It’s on the offensive line for the first level. Then it’s running backs being able to set up blocks and be able to get to that second level. The explosive plays come from the wide receivers as they block downfield. Whenever we’re doing anything in the run game, we always preach that it’s about all 11 on the field, whether it’s the quarterback booting out or trying to hold somebody out on the backside.
“Anything and everything, we all have to be linked as one.”
Gordon said earlier this season that, knowing he was the No. 2 option behind Williams, he felt the need to prove himself every time he touched the ball and that perhaps he pressed too much.
Now he’s starting, but not sure what his role will look like against the Jets and going forward.
“I hate that I’m in the media for the wrong reasons and not because I had a stellar game,” Gordon said. “I hate that more than anything, because I don’t want people to look at me and be like, ‘It’s always something,’ rather than, ‘This guy is out here killing it.’ The narrative has changed and I don’t like it at all, but it’s adversity and it’s this chapter in my life.
“I’m being tested as a man, mentally, and I’ve got to overcome it and make it happen.”
