ROOKIE SUTTON SHOWS PROMISE
Broncos rookie wide receiver Courtland Sutton made his first NFL start Sunday against the Texans and played a careerhigh 56 snaps.
There were ups (a 22-yard catch and run) and downs (an illegal blocking penalty the next snap), but the decision to trade Demaryius Thomas to Houston made sense watching Sutton once again flash star potential.
“He made some plays for us,” coach Vance Joseph said Monday. “He got a little tired yesterday. That comes with being the main guy. Playing more downs and playing full speed for 50 plays, that’s tough. He has to get in NFL football shape. When that happens, he’s going to, in my opinion, be a special player. You could see it (Sunday). He can make plays with the ball in his hands. It was fun to watch him do that.”
Sutton finished with three receptions for 57 yards.
“It was awesome to be able to go out there and do that,” Sutton said after the game. “From the team aspect, I wish we would have gotten the win big picture wise.” Paradis out for season. Broncos center Matt Paradis played his 3,850th consecutive career snap Sunday before a devastating injury late in the second quarter. Joseph confirmed Monday that Paradis fractured his fibula and suffered torn ligaments. He will be assigned to injured reserved and is out of the season with surgery ahead.
Paradis will be replaced at center by Connor McGovern, Denver’s former starting right guard, shuffling Eli Wilkinson and Billy Turner into the mix up front.
“You won’t replace Matt’s football IQ or his play,” Joseph said. “But we have to adjust to do what’s best for the players that are going to play in his place.” Some TMZ-style drama from Sunday? CBS cameras rolled on Texans coach Bill O’Brien as Houston left the field for halftime, shortly after a Broncos’ missed 62-yard field goal attempt with 22 seconds on the clock allowed the Texans to get a last-second field goal. An amateur lip-reading makes out O’Brien shouting: “Good job Vance, you dumb (bleep).”
Joseph told reporters that Denver’s communications staff informed him of the widely shared video on social media, but that he had not seen it. Joseph added: “I’m not concerned and focused on that.”
Houston media addressed the alleged diss with O’Brien. He denied those were his words, despite the video evidence, and he said: “I was yelling at someone on our field-goal unit. I wouldn’t say that about another head coach.”
Last week, the Broncos waived wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie — Denver’s No. 172 overall pick (fifth round) of the 2017 NFL draft — and promoted wide receiver River Cracraft to the active roster. McKenzie’s unemployment didn’t last for long. The Bills (2-7) picked him up Monday on the waiver wire.
McKenzie’s career statistics with the Broncos: 12 games, four catches for 29 yards, three kick returns for 50 yards and 23 punt returns for 196 yards.