ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Can’t these former NFL stars stop picking on the Broncos’ stars?
Eli Manning, a retired two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback for the New York Giants, made a snarky remark about Russell Wilson during the Monday Night Manningcast presentation on ESPN2.
Wilson struggled until late in the Broncos’ 11-10 win Sunday night against the San Francisco 49ers, a defensive-dominated game in which Denver’s Corliss Waitman punted 10 times with six landing inside the 20.
“They should’ve paid that punter $235 million instead of Russell,’’ Eli Manning said in jest. His number was off. It was a $245 million contract extension over five years Wilson received four weeks ago.
Like many jokes when someone is the foil, not everyone found it funny. The Eli tease went viral, forcing Eli to squirm and attempt to recant in a welcome-to-the-media moment.
Wilson was asked during his press conference Wednesday about the Eli dig.
“Chad Powers? Yeah, you know, I’m 3-0 against Chad Powers,’’ Wilson said smiling, referring to a character skit Eli did for the Manning brothers’ Omaha Productions.
Now, that’s a fine retort. Wilson went on to say nice things about the Manning brothers, Peyton and Eli.
“It’s part of the game, those guys are just having fun,’’ Wilson said. “I always looked up to those guys so I’m not stressed about it.”
Then there’s Broncos’ Hall of Fame and Ring of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe, who knocked Jerry Jeudy’s inability to catch during the game Sunday night game against the 49ers (the ball was tipped by a defensive back). Jeudy retaliated by quote-tweeting a comment about Sharpe’s breath. Jeudy later deleted his response.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,’’ Jeudy said Wednesday when asked about taking on the Hall of Famer, then walked away.
Waitman honored
He didn’t get $235 million but Waitman did receive the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his primetime Sunday night performance against the 49ers. Waitman punted 10 times with six landing inside the 20 without a touchback.
“You saw the game, those gunners helped me out a lot,’’ Waitman said in his sit-down Wednesday with 9NEWS. “Because the ball has a mind of its own sometimes.”
Running back Mike Boone especially had a nice tightrope run along the 2-yard line to pin the 49ers deep.
“Yeah, he came through, that was nice,’’ Waitman said. “I told him today, “Thank you, again.”
It set up a Jimmy Garoppolo walk off in the end zone for a Broncos’ safety – the 2 points being the difference in an 11-10 win.
Meinerz returns
Sooner than planned, right guard Quinn Meinerz returns to more regular practice this week and is expecting to play Sunday at Las Vegas.
“Still going to take it one day a time, don’t want to look too far ahead, don’t want any setbacks but right now my mind is set on playing Sunday,’’ Meinerz said.
When Meinerz suffered a second-degree hamstring strain in the Broncos’ season-opening loss at Seattle, the initial diagnosis was a four-week injury. If he plays against the Raiders, Meinerz will have only been down two weeks.
“Yeah, they kind of gave me four weeks as what they normally see with this injury but I was in doing everything and more,’’ Meinerz said. “I know everybody always says that, that’s a cliché’, but I’ve really been doing that. I’ve had getting ready for this game on my mind for a little bit.’’
Because it’s the Raiders?
“Every (AFC) West team, it’s easy for me to buy into rivalries,’’ said Meinerz, who is barely into his second season. “I know (I’m only in second season) but it’s easy to buy into them. You can feel the energy in the stadium. It’s cool to be a part of that.’’
Bronco Bits
Billy Turner’s recovery from knee surgery is not going as hoped. Projected as the Broncos’ right tackle after he signed a one-year, $2.5 million free-agent deal in March, Turner’s status went from a full practice participant the previous two weeks to not practicing Wednesday.
“We’re just trying to get him over the hump,’’ said head coach Nathaniel Hackett.
It appears veteran Cam Fleming will make his fourth consecutive start at right tackle Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Injury report
Starting left guard Dalton Risner was held out of practice Wednesday with an ankle injury. Also held out were receiver Tyrie Cleveland (hamstring), outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper (hamstring) and cornerback Darius Phillips (hamstring). Outside linebacker Randy Gregory was given his usual Wednesday practice off.
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