ReportWire

Tag: eyioma uwazurike

  • After dominant Week 18, Broncos’ Eyioma Uwazurike feels ‘100%’ ready to earn starting DL role in 2026

    The first thing Broncos defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike usually sees, lining up on any given Sunday, is the opposing quarterback.

    The second thing he usually sees is the large frame of John Franklin-Myers running from the sidelines to replace him.

    “We’re toe-to-toe with each other at that position,” Uwazurike tells The Denver Post in the locker room Sunday. “Whenever he need, I got my eyes on him, whenever he come in and out.”

    Broncos clinch No. 1 seed, set out on Super Bowl chase: ‘You can see the light’

    Has there been an interior defensive-line competition in Denver, across this now-complete regular season? No, Uwazurike smiles. Not in the slightest. One is a 27-year-old reserve who has a total of 3.5 sacks across four seasons in the NFL. The other is — well, “John Franklin-Myers,” as Uwazurike enunciated. A superstar. A superstar who’s about to get paid.

    But on Sunday, Franklin-Myers missed his first game of the season and the final game of the season with a hip issue. And Uwazurike’s four-year journey in Denver took center stage, from a toolsy fourth-round pick in 2022 to a year-long gambling suspension in 2023 to an indispensable part of this Denver defensive line in 2025.

    “Today, I’m just really holding it down for him,” Uwazurike said postgame. “Waiting for him to get back, let him rest up, and for him to be fresh, so when my time come to officially start — whenever that comes, I’ll be ready for it.”

    He was ready on Sunday, Uwazurike capping off a quiet breakout season in a 19-3 win over the Chargers. It was the first start of that tumultuous four-year career. That meant something, Uwazurike nodded, lips spreading for a toothy grin. The 27-year-old racked up two quarterback hits, four tackles and a tackle for loss, a final showcase of a season spent helping fortify Denver in the trenches against opposing run games. And in the fourth quarter, with Denver trying to slam the door, Uwazurike tossed his blocker aside and swallowed up Chargers quarterback Trey Lance to finish with 3.5 sacks on the year.

    In three months, Franklin-Myers will likely be in another zip code. Denver has shelled out to keep most of its defensive line. It’s held off on Franklin-Myers, who has a career-best 7.5 sacks in 16 games. Uwazurike’s start Sunday not only helped the Broncos secure the No. 1 seed; it also could be a direct window into the future.

    Keeler: Broncos, make us Bo-lieve! If QB Bo Nix plays like he did vs. Chargers, Denver is 1-and-done in NFL playoffs

    “I don’t know what his situation is,” Uwazurike told The Post, asked on replacing Franklin-Myers if he signs elsewhere. “But if he’s not here? Yes. 100%. I feel like I should be able to take over that role completely. Perform similar to this, and hopefully better.”

    To note: there is no bad blood here. Uwazurike described Franklin-Myers, who’s only two years older, as a “big brother.” The two study together every week, filling similar roles in a widespread five-man rotation in the Broncos’ defense. Franklin-Myers just happens to be the starter. Uwazurike, though, has filled the middle on a variety of key downs this season, and has played a career-high 36% of Denver’s defensive snaps in 2025.

    “As long as he here, shoot, we rockin’ together, preparing together, all of that,” Uwazurike said of Franklin-Myers. “So, big shoutout to him. Because if it weren’t for him, wouldn’t have this successful game.”

    Uwazurike’s emergence in 2025 — now finishing the year with 39 tackles, five tackles for loss and five quarterback hits — has helped ease pressure on workload on starting defensive linemen Franklin-Myers and Zach Allen. Theirs is a sort of symbiotic rotation up front, and both Franklin-Myers and Allen finished their 2025 regular seasons with fewer reps than they played the previous season.

    Uwazurike is “the reason” why Allen’s played roughly 15% fewer defensive snaps in 2025 as compared to 2024, as Allen told The Post on Sunday.

    “He now sees what could come,” Allen told The Post, “if he just keeps on going.”

    What exactly could come is still uncertain. There’s still months left for Denver to decide to move some money around and find $20 million a year for Franklin-Myers. He has a uniquely “symbiotic” relationship with Allen, as rookie Jordan Miller told The Post a few weeks back.

    Renck: Broncos secure home field for playoffs, but are not home free from criticism

    Allen told The Post that he hadn’t had conversations with Franklin-Myers on a possible extension for him, and the two were simply focused on winning.

    “He’s been awesome through the whole process. Obviously, it’s tough. But like — I was in his shoes when I was in Arizona and we weren’t close to winning,” Allen said, referring to his final year in Arizona in 2022 before hitting free agency.

    “There’s just so much that goes into getting ready week-to-week that the stat stuff, it’s kinda hard to focus on. And J’s the ultimate professional.”

    Luca Evans

    Source link

  • Renck: Blaming refs for Broncos’ loss to Colts is just plain dumb. This one’s on Denver

    INDIANAPOLIS — Time to run mental lapses.

    And extra gassers at the end of practice.

    Here in Naptown, a poster with Colts players adorns the J.W. Marriott, paying tribute to late team owner Jim Irsay. It reads: For the Boss. For the City. For the Shoe.

    For the love of God, this ending was stupid. A series of cognitive disconnects, each more costly than the last, resulted in a 29-28 walk-off loss for the Broncos.

    This wasn’t just a Denver loss; this was the ultimate brain freeze. Like guzzling a 32-ounce Slurpee through a straw in a single drink.

    Unwisely conceived: Darren Rizzi, why ask Dondrea Tillman to try to block a 60-yard field goal from a kicker who has never made a 50-yarder? Poorly executed: If you are going to speed, even if by one mile per hour over, don’t get caught — and stained by failure.

    The Broncos were dealt their first loss of the season in their first road game of the season in a way that, as far as the internet can tell, was a first.

    In four weeks, if your friends ask you how the Broncos’ special season became ordinary, the story starts here. When they ask you at the office Christmas party why they have to win out against Kansas City and the Chargers to make the playoffs, remind them of the Colts.

    The Broncos put themselves in a dangerous position with upcoming cage matches against the Chargers, Bengals and Eagles by squandering a game the Colts were begging for them to win. Or at least coach Shane Steichen was as he performed his best Nathaniel Hackett Clueless in Seattle impersonation.

    When writing the Broncos’ history since Super Bowl 50, what unfolded before our wide eyes demands an entry. Let’s start at the end and work backward.

    Leading 28-26, the Broncos took possession at their 35-yard line with 8:29 remaining. On an afternoon when the offense finally awoke from its summer hibernation, this represented a chance for a statement drive in a benchmark game. Siphon the clock. Kick a short field goal, and let the beleaguered defense leave with its dignity with a clinching sack of Daniel Jones.

    Troy Renck

    Source link

  • Broncos roster cutdown tracker: Will George Paton flip anymore Broncos for draft capital?

    This Broncos roster, both by Sean Payton‘s own admission and by plain sight, is the deepest it’s been in Payton’s three-year tenure.

    That is an undeniable positive. It also will lead to some excruciatingly tough decisions, with players who’ve put together strong camps nonetheless likely to land on the waiver wire.

    “I was taught at a young age, the most significant thing is the right 53,” Payton said in early August. “So that’s what keeps you up at night — making sure we’re finding that group.”

    Broncos 53-man roster projection: Who will make Sean Payton’s last cut?

    The Broncos’ brass will have long hours this week as cut day dawns, with teams required to reduce their offseason rosters from 90 players to 53 by 2 p.m. MT Tuesday. The team can elect to sign a maximum of 16 players to their practice squad if they clear waivers, and the Broncos have until 11 a.m. ET Wednesday to claim players off waivers who’ve been cut by other teams.

    Luca Evans, Parker Gabriel

    Source link

  • Broncos WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey takes blame after Bo Nix’s early interception caromed off his hands: “It’s a mistake on me”

    Broncos WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey takes blame after Bo Nix’s early interception caromed off his hands: “It’s a mistake on me”

    BALTIMORE — The Broncos didn’t lose because of their second offensive snap of the day.

    They didn’t get beat by 31 points because of one single mistake.

    But when Denver got the ball first, they also couldn’t afford to turn it over against high-powered Baltimore.

    That’s just what happened, though, when rookie quarterback Bo Nix’s first pass of the day caromed off Lil’Jordan Humphrey’s hands and into the waiting arms of Ravens safety Ar’Darius Washington.

    “It was a little roll-out and I tried to go make a play,” Humphrey said afterward. “I obviously didn’t and that’s on me. I know better. I’ve got to put two hands up, you know what I mean. I’ve got to move past it and move forward and on to next week.

    “It’s a mistake on me.”

    Nix hadn’t thrown an interception since a Week 6 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. All six of his picks, now, have come in Denver’s four losses. In those games, he has two touchdown passes. In Denver’s five wins, Nix has six touchdown passes.

    It’s the second straight week that Denver’s first possession ended because of a turnover on a play to Humphrey. He fumbled last week on a catch that eventually resulted in a Carolina touchdown drive. This week the Broncos defense actually forced a Baltimore punt, but the Ravens proceeded to score on seven straight drives after that.

    Sutton’s big day. Courtland Sutton is doing it all. And then some.

    The Broncos receiver not only logged his second straight 100-yard receiving outing — the first time in his career he’s gone back-to-back in that department — but he also threw a fourth-down touchdown pass to quarterback Bo Nix on a trick play.

    “We called it at the right time,” Nix said. “We knew they were going to be in (Cover) 0 funnel and the guy actually made a good play of retreating and trailing. Courtland looked pretty good again on that play.”

    In a Week 7 win at New Orleans, Sutton had no targets for the first time in his career. In two games since, Denver’s top pass-catcher has 15 catches (21 targets) for 222 yards.

    He’s also completed a pair of passes for 30 total yards and a touchdown.

    Parker Gabriel

    Source link