After carrying the ball a measly three times in the Denver Broncos’ Monday Night Football matchup with the rival Los Angeles Chargers, Melvin Gordon was seemingly benched, and spent much of the rest of the game pouting on the sidelines.
Then, after the game, Gordon then went on to like a string of tweets that pushed for the veteran running back to land elsewhere.
All in all, it seemed pretty unlikely that Melvin Gordon would suit up for the Broncos again. However, following a private conversation with head coach Nathaniel Hackett, it appears the relationship is on the mend.
“Of course, we [had a conversation about that],” Hackett told the media during his Wednesday press conference. “It was a great talk. [We] love Melvin (Gordon). So much respect for him as a pro for all he’s done in this in this league. And yeah, we’ll keep all that stuff private.”
Later on in the press conference, when Coach Hackett was asked whether he expected Latavius Murray or Gordon to start for the team on Sunday, against the New York Jets, Hackett showed no hesitation in his response.
“Melvin will start,” the head coach quickly shot back.
Gordon being locked into the starting spot is slightly surprising, despite all the good will he built up during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. His 3.7 yards per carry are comfortably below the ‘Mendoza Line’ of 4.0, and one could argue he’s already fumbled away two games this year, and nearly fumbled away a third.
For a team trying to dig out of a 2-4 hole, that’s a dodgy proposition, especially when Murray has been the more effective back this season, by a comfortable margin.
Murray is averaging 4.7 yards per carry, and has fumbled the ball just once since Patrick Mahomes made his first NFL start.
Even when Gordon gets the start on Sunday, one can safely assume he’ll have a short leash.
