Broncos OC Hints at Expanded Role for WR KJ Hamler
After Denver Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett sat most of his starters during the preseason, his cautious approach to playing third-year wideout KJ Hamler should come as no surprise.
Returning to the playing field is a minor miracle in itself for Hamler, considering the severity of the injury he suffered a year ago. The 23-year-old has had to clear serious physical and mental health-related hurdles during his arduous recovery.
Those in Broncos Country expecting Hamler to hit the ground running were, in truth, being rather unrealistic. So far, Hamler has only caught two passes for 65 yards in the three games he's appeared in. Definitely not the kind of returns the Broncos wanted to see from a player they had penciled in as WR3 and as the offense's potential game-breaker.
On Friday, Broncos offensive coordinator Justin Outten admitted that his desire to involve Hamler is real and that his explosive abilities were never far from the coaches' collective consciousness.
“We’d love to get KJ more involved," Outten said. "You just have to deal with him coming back and just being on a pitch count as far as the reps and being patient with that process. He’s a guy that’s an explosive player still. [It’s a] credit to him, coming back from that ugly injury that we didn’t even know if he was going to play again. He’s earned that right to get more opportunities.”
Getting the speedster's sea legs back underneath him has been a long and mostly frustrating experience thus far, which boiled over in Week 5 when Russell Wilson missed a wide-open Hamler in the end zone, which would have won the game in overtime. Instead, the Broncos collapsed at home against the Indianapolis Colts, dropping to 2-3.
Getting Hamler more involved in the offensive game plan has had to wait. Meanwhile, the offense has suffered.
Hamler's straight-line speed came back fairly quickly, but what has taken more time is his ability to accelerate in and out of his cuts, at least according to Outten.
“We were smart throughout the whole process of him coming back and as he grew and got more confident in his legs again and being able to make the cuts that he used to make, it’s progressively gotten better,” Otten said of Hamler. “Those rep counts are going up.”
Trusting that the surgical repairs allow him to go full speed largely depends on confidence and trust. Of course, that only comes from repetition and absorbing some big-boy hits along the way, so sooner or later, both Outten and Hackett have to reward Hamler's progress by giving him an expanded role.
Pushing their chips into the middle of the table with Hamler might come as early as Monday night in what looks like a classic, 'must win' matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers.
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