ENGLEWOOD, Colo — Denver Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy suffered a hamstring injury and was carted off the practice field Thursday morning.
A source confirmed to 9NEWS that MRI results revealed Jeudy will be sidelined several weeks with a decent chance he will not be able to play in the season-opener Sept. 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders.
If the Raiders' game is all Jeudy misses, the Broncos can count themselves fortunate.
While the cart was brought out as a precaution, according to a source, the hamstring strain was significant. Jeudy was participating in practice when he pulled up after a run in pain. Two members of the trainer's staff had to help Jeudy to the sideline, and then onto the cart.
"It's a hamstring,'' Broncos head coach Sean Payton confirmed.
Asked about possible replacements Payton said: "We have a lot of guys. Hopefully, it's not anything longterm."
Jeudy was running an end-around during an 11 on 11 period against the Rams defense. There wasn't much of a gain and as he approached the sideline, Jeudy reached back to grab his hamstring as he pulled up. He was holding his right upper leg as he was carted off the field.
Jeudy played all 16 games as a rookie in 2020 before missing six games with a high ankle sprain in 2021 and two more games last year with another sprained ankle.
A strong finish last season enabled Jeudy to set career-bests with 67 catches for 972 yards and 6 touchdowns - production that caused the Broncos to pick up his 2024 option for a guaranteed $12.987 million.
Payton was asked if he feels snakebit at the receiver position as the Broncos have lost Tim Patrick to a season-ending Achilles injury, KJ Hamler to a heartbeat irregularity and Jalen Virgil to a season-ending knee injury that required surgery to repair a torn meniscus.
"It's just me I don't believe in being snakebitten,'' Payton said. "We've had a really good offseason program. Beau (Lowery, the Broncos director of sports science) and these guys have done a great job of getting a number of players all coming back, Justin (Simmons), (Mike) McGlinchey, you're going to see these guys all ready and healthy for Las Vegas (in the season opener Sept. 10). I think if you looked around and tried to truly analytically evaluate the other 31 teams I think you'd see that ... I don't feel anything unusual.
"You want to stay healthy. And the soft-tissue ones I feel like ... those are the ones that are preventative more than the Achilles that happened. ... Those are the ones you work to improve on.''
The Broncos host the Rams in the third and final preseason game on Saturday at Empower Field at Mile High. The Broncos and Rams kick off at 7 p.m. Saturday.
As the Denver Broncos' hometown television partner for a 13th season, 9NEWS is home to the team's preseason games.
Coverage of the Broncos and Rams begins at 6 p.m. Saturday on 9NEWS, NBC, 9NEWS.com, and the 9NEWS+ streaming app for those in 9NEWS' viewing area.
Steve Levy returns as play-by-play commentator and is joined in the booth by color analyst Ryan Harris. 9NEWS sports reporter Arielle Orsuto is the sideline reporter on the broadcasts.
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