ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos will have some big-play speed back in their offense for the game Sunday against Washington.
The Broncos activated wide receiver Jerry Jeudy and tight end Albert Okwuegbunam, two of the fastest players on the depth chart, from injured reserve Saturday. Jeudy suffered an ankle injury in the season opener and has not played since; Okwuegbunam has missed the past three games with a hamstring injury.
Jeudy has practiced for the past two weeks, but was held out of Friday’s practice for what coach Vic Fangio said were “conservative” measures after experiencing soreness in his ankle.
After a 3-0 start, the Broncos’ offense has been increasingly sluggish amid a four-game losing streak. The team has not held the lead in any of the past three losses and had the lead for just 3 minutes, 57 seconds in the loss to the Baltimore Ravens to open the month.
The Broncos are 24th in the league in scoring at 20.0 points per game.
Jeudy had six receptions for 72 yards in just 31 snaps in the opener before his injury.
Okwuegbunam, who ran faster than many of the wide receivers at 2020 scouting combine (4.49 in the 40-yard dash), had played 45% of the offense’s snaps in the first four games.
Fangio said in recent weeks defenses were “selling out” to stop the Broncos’ running game — attacking the line of scrimmage because they don’t fear getting beat downfield.
“I still see that,” Fangio said this week. “That’s part of the things that we met upon in these last few days, trying to figure out a way to get it going. Part of getting it going, too, is to throw it a little better on the early downs. We have to have a good mix, and hopefully get some better looks to run against.”
The Broncos on Saturday also activated linebacker Jonas Griffith from injured reserve and moved up linebacker Barrington Wade from the practice squad for Sunday’s game.