The Denver Broncos were already facing an uphill battle against the tremendous Tennessee Titans on the road, and now that hill may be unsurmountable.

On the first offensive play for the Broncos on Sunday, Russell Wilson dropped back into his own end zone and uncorked a deep pass to Jerry Jeudy. Unfortunately, no one was within 10 yards of the football, and that was because Jeudy slipped and fell on the field and was writhing in pain.

Jeudy, the third-year receiver, grabbed for his lower leg as he rolled around in pain on the field. After being helped off the playing field, Jeudy was seen being carted off the sideline and into the locker room.

Last year, Jeudy inured his right ankle against the New York Giants in Week 1 of the regular season and then missed the next six weeks due to the high ankle sprain.

The Denver Broncos ruled him out with an ankle injury.

David J. Chao, “ProFootballDoc” who guesses injuries from videos, thought Jeudy may have torn his Achilles tendon. Ian Rapoport says a source told him it’s not an Achilles injury.

 

The surface in Tennessee seems questionable as we’ve seen not only Jeudy slip and fall, but Courtland Sutton fell on a key third-down completion, forcing him to haul it in with one hand.

At the end of the first quarter, the Broncos and Titans are tied 0-0 and have exchanged seven punts to this point. Denver and Tennessee each possess physically dominant defenses, so this 0-0 tie isn’t a huge surprise early. We’ll see how much the offenses can do as this game goes forward.

For Jeudy personally, he had just been getting into a groove with Wilson over the last few weeks, including his six receptions on seven targets for 63 yards and touchdown. He was becoming one of the few bright spots of the Broncos offense and now may be done for the rest of the season, if not at least some significant time.