Broncos' OC Addresses Jerry Jeudy's Outlook on Earning Wide-Open WR2 Job

Tim Patrick's injury created a vacuum but can Jerry Jeudy fill it?

Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Justin Outten is painfully aware of how damaging the loss of starting wide receiver Tim Patrick might prove to be. Such is the nature of the pro game — the only path forward is to adjust rapidly and keep moving forward.

Outten put his finger directly on how valuable Patrick is to the team when he detailed how covering for his season-long absence will take much more than finding a like-for-like replacement.

“It takes multiple guys to replace a guy like Tim,” Outten said on Monday. “Being in different personnel, finding ways to get open, putting guys in space, but you have to get more creative now with your personnel and moving people around. He’s a rock and when he’s here, the guys feed off of him.”

The truth is, the Broncos will adopt that spread-the-load policy until somebody else conclusively proves they are worthy of assuming Patrick’s WR2 mantle.

Broncos Country will be desperate for that man to be the uber-talented, former first-rounder, Jerry Jeudy — who many expect to break out in Year 3. Things haven't exactly been easy for Jeudy since arriving in the NFL back in 2020, with an arrest this offseason throwing an additional wrench into things. 

Moving past his troubles, the 23-year-old speedster has wisely stayed extra close to Russell Wilson during team workouts, even sitting in on quarterback meetings. Coach Outten is now seeing a player who is making serious strides in his career path, but Jeudy must step up now with a major window of opportunity swinging open.

“Opportunities arise in this league daily and opportunities in this league also close quickly," Outten said. "With him and anyone else, when an opportunity arises in the room in a competition, pushing for a spot or being the lead guy, that has to be [on] a consistent basis. I think that Jerry has been coming along a lot better than he did in OTAs. I think he feels more comfortable with ‘Russ,' the expectations of ‘Russ.’ He’s meeting them more and he’s put together a good camp so far.”

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Should Jeudy convert his prodigious route running into tangible returns, the sky could indeed be the limit. As far as Outten is concerned, embracing the extra workload is almost a given when Wilson is driving the process behind the scenes and setting the standard the Broncos' receivers must live up to.

“It’s a constant pressure on those guys and testing them in the meeting room, outside, putting them through a walkthrough when they’re not in special teams, always putting them in spots and testing their ability to know the position.” Outten said.

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