ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Denver Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett has a sore quarterback in Russell Wilson that makes the veteran a question mark for Sunday’s game against the New York Jets along with growing frustration in his locker room after Monday night’s 19-16 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Wilson, who suffered a hamstring injury in the fourth quarter Monday, underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam Tuesday morning. Hackett said Wilson will be evaluated through the week to gauge his participation level in practices as well as his availability for Sunday’s game against the Jets at Empower Field at Mile High.
“He’ll be day-to-day, we’ll go ahead and take a look at that and monitor (each day),” Hackett said. ” … We’ll get a feel for him (Tuesday) and into (Wednesday).”
Hackett said the hamstring injury influenced “a little bit there” how he called plays for Wilson for the remainder of the fourth quarter and into overtime Monday. The Broncos finished with minus-9 net passing yards in the second half and overtime combined in the loss.
“I kind of scrambled to move around on one, I had to throw it away, it kind of got me pretty good in the fourth quarter,” Wilson said after Monday’s game. “Just tried to play through it … just trying to find a way to win the game.”
Wilson has already been receiving treatment for a partial muscle tear near his right shoulder since the team’s Oct. loss in Las Vegas, Wilson’s ability to be healthy enough to help the Broncos try to cure some of their ills on offense will be part of the decision about how much he practices this week or if he plays Sunday.
“He’s an ultimate competitor, he’s going to do everything in his power to get out on that field,” Hackett said. “We have to make sure that he’s healthy enough to be able to go out and play at a high level. Whoever has got to go in, whether it’s (Brett Rypien), Josh (Johnson), anybody, we’ll feel confident, we’ll try to build a plan for them that makes them successful.”
Wilson finished Monday’s game 15-of-28 passing for 188 yards to go with a touchdown, but 173 of those passing yards as well as the touchdown came in the first half. He was 3-of-11 for 15 yards over the final three quarters and overtime against the Chargers.
Wilson is currently 30th among the league’s starters in completion percentage (58.6) and has thrown five touchdown passes in six games. The Broncos are currently last in the league in scoring (15.2 points per game), last in the league in red zone success, last in the league in goal-to-go situations and 30th in third-down percentage.
It has all involved on that side of the ball for the Broncos angry and frustrated. Broncos running back Melvin Gordon III and wide receiver Jerry Jeudy were caught on camera during the game in an emotional exchange. And Gordon said after the game he had not been told why he was removed from the lineup against the Chargers after three first-half carries.
Latavius Murray, who was in his first game with the Broncos, finished with 66 yards rushing on 15 carries and had 14 of his carries in the second half. Gordon has four fumbles this season, including one on the Seahawks’ 1-yard line in the season opener and one that was returned for a touchdown against the Raiders.
“Yeah they’re frustrated, coaches are frustrated, we’re all frustrated,” Hackett said. “We want that consistency … they want to win, they want to be part of it, they want to make plays for their teammates, so that happens, that happens when you don’t win a football game.”
Asked if he would meet with Gordon, Hackett said: “We’re going to have a conversation, we have a very good relationship, we want to make sure we’re crystal clear on everything and he knows where I stand. I always like those awkward conversations and always want to be up front and honest with everybody.
“Melvin didn’t do anything wrong, he didn’t, we just didn’t have a lot of plays and in the end he didn’t get the reps that he wanted, he’s a competitor, he wants to be out there helping with his team.”