Broncos
ESPN’s Adam Schefter, in a radio interview, reported he believes the Broncos were offered a third and fifth-round pick for WR Jerry Jeudy at the trade deadline. Broncos HC Sean Payton spoke about the team declining what they thought was not enough to acquire the young receiver.
“He’s an important part and an important piece of what we’re doing,” Payton said via USA Today’s Jon Heath. “I don’t think my words prior to the trade deadline were ever, ‘Hey, we’re staying pat.’ It was we’re not the ones to be interviewed. Go ask the people that are purchasing. We’re building and putting a team together and can’t control — we kind of went through this in the offseason with a handful of players, and understandably so. In other words, I get it. It’s harder for us to be the ones speaking on topics like that when we’re not the ones that are involved in initiating any of the contact.
“When we’re talking about Jerry, shoot, he’s a guy that we think is dynamic. He’s the guy that last week — sometimes it’s a fickle game in that all of a sudden, we’re into the fifth week of the season and Brandon Johnson has three touchdowns and Jerry doesn’t have one. Sometimes that’s the nature of the passing game, but each week, there’s a lot that goes into what we’re game planning. He played extremely well last week, and we think he is going to be very important for us going forward.”
- Schefter also mentioned the Broncos got some trade interest in CB Patrick Surtain II but they wanted more than the two first-round picks and fourth-rounder the Rams gave to the Jaguars for CB Jalen Ramsey and the offers never came close to that.
- Other Broncos players who drew trade interest included C Lloyd Cushenberry, WR Courtland Sutton and S Justin Simmons, per Schefter.
Chargers
The Chargers’ pass rush has been much better in 2023 and put on a show in Monday night’s win against the Jets. Having both Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack healthy has helped, but what has really turned the position into a strength for Los Angeles is the emergence of second-round OLB Tuli Tuipolotu. The rookie has hit the ground running with four sacks in eight games.
“He’s got great respect for the game for a young player,” Staley said via Omar Navarro of the team website. “With young players, you’re worried about them being a pro. You hear that [a lot] — learning how to be a pro — well, he’s pretty advanced for his age. He’s not there yet, but he’s pretty advanced for his age. And he’s never satisfied.”
“That’s what the special players do, they always know they can be better. He’s been playing well but he believes he can play better,” Staley added. “And I believe he can play better. That’s where we can go with him. Like, ‘Hey, you can do this thing at a high level. So the demand that we’re going to put on you is going to be high because you’ve proven you can do it.’ He has the appetite for the work where there’s nothing that’s going to be too big or too small for him.”
Raiders
- Raiders HC Antonio Pierce says LB Robert Spillane broke his hand against the Lions, kept playing, had surgery, and then played against the Giants. (Vic Tafur)
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