Miles
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- Mar 18, 2019
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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — After Melvin Gordon's first 100-yard game as a Bronco, he predicted his play would continue to get better as the year continued.
"I get better as the season goes on," said Gordon after the team's Week 4 win over the New York Jets.
That's proven true in the late stages of 2020, as Gordon has rushed for 339 yards and 6.2 yards per carry over the past four weeks. Gordon posted a 131-yard effort against the Chiefs in Week 13 and scored a pair of touchdowns in Denver's Week 15 loss to the Bills.
"He's running hard," Raiders head coach Jon Gruden said Wednesday. "He's a decisive, no-nonsense, physical back. … [I've] always been a big fan of his.
"… He's going to get a lot of work obviously, without [Phillip] Lindsay."
Gordon's 16 carries against the Chargers in Week 16 were the fourth most he's had since joining the Broncos, and he's continued to make the most of his opportunities. He averaged 4.94 yards per carry against the Chargers, his seventh game this year in which he averaged at least 4.5 yards per carry.
With another strong performance against the Raiders, Gordon could reach the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the second time in his career. He currently has 893 rushing yards through Week 16.
"I think it'd be great if he got to 1,000 yards and that was a part of a victory for us," Head Coach Vic Fangio said Wednesday. "We like Melvin, he's a good running back, he was a good running back before we got him and he's still a good running back. He runs hard. He's a very good back in this league. He was before and he still is."
Gordon has also scored nine total touchdowns, and he has rushed for at least eight scores in each of the last five seasons.
And yet, Gordon hasn't been entirely pleased with his own play.
"As far as the 1,000 yards, it's always an accomplishment to get 1,000 yards, but honestly I feel like my play is better than just 1,000 yards," Gordon said. "It's not really the season I wanted. It's not the season I wanted individually or team-wise, but definitely looking forward to changing that next year. We have the young team — everybody knew that — it's not an excuse. Coming here, them getting to know me, knowing how I run, what I like to run and everything. Being close to 1,000 — I haven't got 1,000 yet. I've got to 997 [in a season] before and missed it, so excuse me if I'm not as amped as I should be, but I feel like I'm way better than that."
Gordon hopes he's able to remain in Denver in 2021 to demonstrate that higher level of play, but he declined to answer whether he expects a potential suspension for a DUI citation earlier this season would impact his contract or roster status.
"My job is to go out there and run that ball, so that's what I'm going to do," Gordon said. "As far as the contract and all that stuff, I let my agent handle all that — the void and all that stuff. Hopefully I did enough for them to want to keep me here. I do feel like they have something special here growing and I definitely want to be a part of it. Especially after this year, it just wasn't the year we wanted and I feel like we have a lot more proof to show. Being a part of this Broncos family, honestly I just really don't think I got the full experience of Denver as a whole, just with the COVID rules and everything. I couldn't really bond with the guys as much as I wanted to or as much as I'd like as far as just being with the guys after we leave the facility. I didn't really get a chance to do that. Unfortunately, if I won't be here that'd be a little heartbreaking, just because I didn't feel like I really got the full feel of being a Bronco.
"But like I said, I don't want to speak too much on the contract. My job is to go out there and run that ball. That's what they pay me to do. That's why they brought me in, to make plays running that ball, protect Drew [Lock], catch the ball, do what I need to do to help this team win. I plan on doing that every game I'm here. So, we'll see. Hopefully it works out, and hopefully they like me enough to kind of put all that stuff to the side. I guess in a couple months or so we'll see what's up."
On Sunday, we'll also see if Gordon can post a high enough rushing total on Sunday to break the 1,000-yard mark. If he's able to break the barrier, it would mark the fourth consecutive season in which the Broncos have had a 1,000-yard rusher, which would be the longest active streak in the NFL. C.J. Anderson accomplished the feat in 2017, while Phillip Lindsay crossed the mark in 2018 and 2019.