Special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi had an interesting explanation for rookie punter Jeremy Crawshaw’s rough day punting last week against the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday Night Football.
“There’s really a big difference between a ground wind and a wind up in the air. People wouldn’t think that,” Rizzi said after Thursday’s practice ahead of a game against the Kansas City Chiefs. “The ball wasn’t getting affected too much once it was up in the air. But man, the operation was a struggle for both sides.”
Crawshaw simply mis-hit his first punt, Rizzi said, but then the wind affected his drops on the next couple. That included a punt that the broadcast showed hitting up around his ankle. He finished the night with seven punts for an average net of 41.6 yards, with the latter his second-worst showing over 10 games.
“Their punter obviously dropped one,” Rizzi said. “Unfortunately, we weren’t rushing on that one. Jeremy, his whole deal was with his drops. The ball was moving on him in the air when he was dropping the ball.”
Rizzi called it “probably one of the most odd wind days I’ve been a part of,” because it wasn’t bad during warmups but got worse as the game started and progressed.
Fair warning: Lil’Jordan Humphrey tried to warn the Giants. He said, in his new (and old) offensive coordinator’s retelling, he kept telling teammates on the visiting sideline not to ride too high. Not against the Broncos.
The upstart New York Giants led Denver 19-0 a few weeks back at Empower Field. The Broncos were snuffed into the fourth quarter.
Then came the torrent: A quartet of touchdown drives and a walk-off Wil Lutz field goal.
A record book-rewriting 33-point fourth quarter.
“It was funny listening to LJ, he said he was on the sideline when we were down against New York and they were acting very confident,” Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said. “He was like, ‘Guys, you don’t know what’s going on over there. Those guys don’t care. They’re going to keep playing hard. Do not let up and do not expect this thing to be easy the whole way.’”
This is all coming up again now because Humphrey is back with the Broncos after Denver signed him off the Giants’ practice squad. He practiced in Denver for the first time this season on Thursday.
Lombardi, who coached Humphrey the past two seasons in Denver and Humphrey’s first two NFL seasons in New Orleans, sounded like a coach who plans to have the veteran receiver involved right from the jump Sunday against Kansas City.
“He’s smart and he’s a good blocker,” Lombardi said. “He’s more productive than people give him credit for. I think if you really understand what he does, or what he’s done for us in the past, you’ll appreciate what a big role player he’s been for us.
“I know he’s not the flashiest player, but he’s a good, solid player. You know exactly what you’re going to get from him, and you know that if you give him a job, he’s going to get it done.”
Dobbins trending in wrong direction: Denver got some good news on the injury front Thursday when WR Trent Sherfield returned to practice and TE Nate Adkins stretched with the team for the first time since injuring his knee last month against Dallas.
It’s clear, though, that the Broncos are going to be playing shorthanded in a couple of key spots against Kansas City.
Running back J.K. Dobbins (foot) was not seen for a second straight day, and four others did not participate: Adkins, CB Pat Surtain II, ILB Alex Singleton and OLB Jonah Elliss.
Payton said Wednesday there’d be clarity at some point on Dobbins’ status going forward, which could be as simple as ruling him out for Sunday on Friday’s injury report, or could include a Saturday injured reserve placement.
Surtain is also expected to miss a third straight game. Since the time of his injury against the Cowboys, the schedule has set up to where if he returns Nov. 30 at Washington, he’ll beat the timeline he would have faced if placed on injured reserve.
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