After dropping a 50-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter of the Broncos’ win over the Giants last Sunday, KJ Hamler lingered on the MetLife Stadium turf with his head in his hands for a few extra seconds.
The memory hung around even longer for the second-year wide receiver.
“After the game, and the next few days, (the drop) was still on my mind,” Hamler said. “I came out here (to Broncos headquarters) on Monday and I told one of the assistants to just throw me 100 over-the-shoulder deep balls. And the wind was blowing the same way it was when we were in New York, so it was kind of perfect just to get that repetition so that I won’t drop that again.
“Because that’s not my forte.”
Hamler is known as a deep-threat playmaker, not a speedster with sketchy hands. And that’s a rep he’s eager to keep intact, especially considering he’s going to see an increased role throughout the next couple of months with Jerry Jeudy sidelined by a high ankle sprain.
Jeudy suffered the injury five plays after Hamler’s drop, on the same possession. That fact hasn’t sat well with Hamler, who was selected in the second round in 2020 out of Penn State after the Broncos took Jeudy at No. 15 overall.
“It’s messed up that Jerry has to go through this right now, and at the time (of the injury Sunday), I was I kind of putting his injury on me,” Hamler said. “Because if I would’ve caught that touchdown, that probably would’ve never happened.”
Even with that runaway train of thoughts racing through his head, Hamler finished the game with three catches for 41 yards. That included a 22-yard completion the drive after the drop, a catch that moved the chains on 3rd-&-8 and eventually led to a field goal to make it 20-7, putting the game out of New York’s reach.
For that reason, coach Vic Fangio was encouraged by Hamler’s 2021 debut despite Bridgewater’s pass that hit him square in the chest and bounced innocently to the turf, wasting an effective skinny-post route that burned cornerback Adoree’ Jackson. Hamler had three drops on 56 targets last year.
“I thought he played well,” Fangio said. “He had the drop, but it wasn’t an easy catch. He’ll get the next one… All the great ones have had their dropped passes, it’s how you react to them (that counts).”
Hamler, Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick will surely see increased targets during Jeudy’s absence. But Hamler also has the advantage of being an understudy to Bridgewater. The Broncos quarterback had Hamler’s locker at the UC Health Training Center moved next to his after the last preseason game because Hamler says Bridgewater “wants to take a young dude under his wing.”
Bridgewater clearly believes in the potential of Hamler, who was limited to 30 catches for 381 yards as a rookie. Repetitive hamstring issues kept Hamler from getting a good start to the season, and from settling in. But Hamler, who changed his diet and hydration routine in order to combat those soft-tissue injuries, says he’s feeling 100% early on in 2021 and that those issues are behind him.
“KJ’s just got to be KJ,” Bridgewater said. “He’s a special player and he’s here for a reason. He’s explosive, he’s dynamic, he’s shifty, he can catch the ball well, he runs great routes. That’s what we expect of him this week (against Jacksonville). We don’t need him to come in and try to be something that he’s not, and he doesn’t have to pretend to be somebody that he’s not. If KJ can be the best version of KJ, he’ll help this offense go and he’ll continue to grow in this system and in this league.”
"drops" - Google News
September 16, 2021 at 06:27AM
https://ift.tt/3Emctqk
Broncos’ KJ Hamler, ready for larger role with Jerry Jeudy sidelined, insists drops are “not my forte” - The Denver Post
"drops" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2z3v8dG
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Broncos’ KJ Hamler, ready for larger role with Jerry Jeudy sidelined, insists drops are “not my forte” - The Denver Post"
Post a Comment