ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — With five of the team’s six losses by seven or fewer points and an offense ranked last in the league in scoring at 14.6 points per game, Denver Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett will take any sliver of good news.
And Hackett got at least some good news Monday when injuries to wide receiver Jerry Jeudy and center Graham Glasgow were not as serious as the Broncos had feared Sunday night. Jeudy left Sunday’s 17-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans after he suffered a left ankle injury on the Broncos’ first play from scrimmage, and Glasgow left the game late in the third quarter with a right shoulder injury.
Hackett said both players would be day-to-day this week as the Broncos prepare for Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders. On Jeudy specifically, Hackett went as far as to call it a “minor ankle.”
On Glasgow, who was already playing in place of Lloyd Cushenberry III (hip) — the Broncos’ starting center injured in the Oct. 30 win over the Jaguars in London — Hackett added, “We dodged a bullet there. Hopefully he’ll be day-to-day.”
The Broncos didn’t get as good of news on right tackle Billy Turner (knee) and nickel cornerback K’Waun Williams (knee), who also left Sunday’s game with injuries. Hackett said both of those players will miss some time, classifying them as “week-to-week.”
With left tackle Garett Bolles already on injured reserve and his replacement, Cam Fleming, having missed Sunday’s loss to the Titans with a thigh injury, quarterback Russell Wilson‘s well-being is a concern. The Titans sacked Wilson six times, four of those after Glasgow and Turner had left the game, and hit Wilson 18 times.
Hackett had said after Sunday’s loss that he hoped Jeudy’s injury wasn’t serious. Jeudy fell to the ground as he ran a route on the Broncos’ first play from scrimmage Sunday and grabbed the back of his left ankle.
He looked unsteady as trainers initially helped him walk to the bench and then was taken to the locker room on a golf cart and did not return to the game. Jeudy underwent a MRI exam Monday.
When asked about the extent of the injury as he exited the locker room with a walking boot on his lower left leg and foot, Jeudy had said, “I’m not sure.” He went into the game second on the team with 30 receptions and has the team’s longest touchdown play of the season — 67 yards in the season opener against the Seattle Seahawks.
“First play of the game, Jeudy goes down … it’s been tough, been tough, been tough,” Wilson said Sunday. ” … It’s been kind of crazy just to see some of our guys go down as often as we have. We have some world-class players we don’t have out there.”
Jeudy leads the struggling offense in touchdown receptions with three, as the Broncos have scored 16 or fewer points in five of their six losses.